Different Strokes - Under the spotlight

My entry for the ongoing challenge at DSFDF. I love top views, even in still lifes. There is something that really attracts me to the top view of something, as opposed to any other normal view. This is a killer reference, for the view and the gorgeous play of light. I had a great time painting it, though the guy at the bottom was a complete nightmare. I could not get him right for the life of me, and after a dozen attempts I just left it at that. I worked and reworked that one face so many times that I lost patience after a while. Other than that face, I think this one turned out decent. Your comments are welcome!

Under the spotlight
Acrylics on Canvas, 11 * 14 inches
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

Have a look at other wonderful entries here.

Different Strokes - Return of the muse!

I have not painted for a while, a long while actually. Been more than a month since I did anything worthwhile. Too many things have come in the way and have kept me occupied. And somehow I have not managed to focus on my art. The husband says I should seek solace in art and do it all the more when I am stressed. Though I do agree he has a valid point, more often than not I need to be at peace to be able to focus well. I need to be in a clear mind to pick up a brush and make the first stroke, and then it flows.

But then came along this utterly compelling reference from Karin, and I just could not let it go. Different Strokes has turned a year old, and this reference is to celebrate the success of the blog. I would like to thank Karin for all the time and effort she puts in to this blog, for the challenges she comes up with. It is a phenomenal effort, and has helped so many artists in very many ways. I have met up with so many different artists through this blog and its been so much fun taking part in it. I have been somewhat regular with my entries and hope to be so. While Karin celebrates the birthday of DSFDF, I thought I would celebrate the return of my muse, finally, after a long absence. Hope it doesn't run away again!

Return of the muse
Acrylics on Board, 5 * 7 inches
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

Don't forget to check out the hundreds of utterly delicious cupcake paintings. They are simply lip smacking.

In the meanwhile, I finally got a chance to meet up with a group of local artists here, and I even attended a meeting of the group, entirely in Deutsch! How cool is that! My language skills are certainly improving and it was a lot of fun. Regular programming will shortly resume at the other blog as well!

Different Strokes - Row, row, row your boat

My entry for the ongoing challenge at the Different strokes blog. The image is full of greys, shot on an overcast day. I just felt like adding a little more color to it, and that's what I have done. Just made the waters and the ripples a tad more pronounced than in the reference. Had a tough time painting the ripples! It's been a while since I painted water and was feeling quite rusty!

Row row row your boat
Acrylics on Canvas, 18 * 24 cms
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

All the entries together can be seen here. Your feedback is welcome.

Different Strokes - Summer Vegetables

Just managed to sneak in my entry on time for the ongoing challenge at DSFDF. I have been very busy over the last couple of weeks and had no time to get to this one. But I so wanted to do this challenge, and I am glad that I could get it in just in time.

Summer Vegetables
Acrylics on Canvas, 18 * 24 cms
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

Your comments are welcome. All the entries can be seen together here.

Different Strokes - Pennsylvania Poppies

This is my entry for the ongoing challenge at Karin's blog. It was a fun challenge, to invent color for a black and white image. I have always wanted to paint colored fields, and thought this was a good chance to do so. I attempted to do bring in some poppy fields in the foreground, and I am not entirely happy with how it turned out. This painting actually looks very sketchy, and I might try to do it again for a better result. I liked the image and had fun and would love to give it another shot.

Pennsylvania Poppies
Acrylics on paper, 5 * 8 inches
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

A big thanks to Karin for a wonderfully unique challenge. She continues to inspire artists and helps them stretch themselves. Have a look at all the paintings here. There are a lot of interesting interpretations.

Different Strokes - Red Signal

Here is my entry for the ongoing challenge at Karin's Different Strokes blog. I have never painted a Cityscape before, though I have planned to paint a hundred! I have scores of references, my own references of very nice cityscapes, but I am very very apprehensive to get to them. A crowded scene kind of intimidates me. I get bogged down by thinking where to start and how to go about it. And that is exactly the point Karin makes in her pep talk, to break down a crowded scene and simplify it.

Red Signal
Acrylics on Canvas, 7 * 11 inches
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

I loved this scene and wanted to do it in full. It is a scene so full of life, and I loved the long format of the image. I also had a 7 * 11 canvas lying around for sometime, so I thought I'd use that one up and do this image in a vertical format. When I got to it however, I changed my mind. I did use the same canvas, but tackled the image in a horizontal format, focussing on my most favorite parts of the reference, viz. the taxis. Such a burst of color, aren't they? As I started the background, the numerous buildings again gave me jitters. Then I squinted and squinted so many times, and all I could see was vertical lines of varying value. Looked much simpler than I thought! I am not sure if I have achieved a good feel of distance, but definitely much better than I expected myself to do.:)

Since I was too busy with my daughter's portrait, I almost missed the deadline for this one. Thankfully I remembered it just on time and got to it. I started working on this only this morning, and due to the lack of time, I was forced to keep it really simple and loose. So instead of nitpicking over too many details, I tried to bring in a feel of the scene and painted as quick as I could to finish it on time. :)

Have a look at all the entries here, they make an awesome collection.

Different Strokes - Diana's companion

I love looking at sculptures. I enjoyed the sculptures in the Louvre as much as I did the paintings. It is such a terrific art to be able to bring something alive from stone. I have so many favorites at the Louvre, the Hermaphrodite quickly comes to mind. I absolutely love it. Whoa! While I love Indian sculptures for their intricacy and craftsmanship, the western ones have a unique appeal too. Like this one of Diana's companion. What a beautiful figure, I loved the dress, her skirt and the folds in it. Among my extremely limited travel experience in India, my favorite spot for sculptures is the Somanathapura temple near Mysore. I was there last year and it was worth all the trouble of traversing through the pathetic roads. The figures just blew me away! Totally worth a visit.

Diana's Companions
Graphite on paper, 9 * 12 inches
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

This is my entry for the ongoing challenge at Karin's Different Strokes blog. Its been ages since I painted a sculpture. Long long ago, about 12 years back to be precise, I did a sculpture in graphite, of one of the figures in Halebid. Though I lived in Bangalore for so long, I never got to visit Halebid which is quite close. So after 12 long years, this was my first attempt at doing a sculpture. I have a lot of photos of sculptures, from the Louvre and from Rome. I am inspired to go paint some of them. We'll see.

Karin had requested the figure to be painted as a whole, without cropping. I have flipped the reference image horizontally though. I wanted to do this as a monochrome initially, with various shades of brown. But when I started sketching itself it screamed graphite, hence the choice of medium :) All the entries for this challenge can be seen here. Most of them aremind blowing, absolutely mindblowing. Have a look.

Different Strokes - Having fun

This is my entry for the ongoing challenge at the Different Strokes blog. The reference is a subject Karin paints so well, a beach scene. I love her beach scenes as much as her gallery scenes. It is a new subject to me though, its been a while since I've done beach waters.

Having fun
Acrylics on Paper, 9 * 12 inches
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

After very detailed painting with my still lifes, I wanted to really loosen up and paint this one. The reference is a very crowded one, with many people vying for attention. The focus would first go to the girl with the surfing board, as if in deep thought. But beyond the figures in the foreground, I was instantly attracted to these little girls having fun in the water. That's what the beach means to me, a place to really let yourself free. So I restricted my focus to these two girls, and had a lot of fun with the water too. Your comments are welcome.

Different Strokes - Sushi rolls

I was painting till late in the night, hoping to complete the remaining three pieces in my apple series. It was taking much longer, and I was too tired to continue after I signed two of the pieces. Just before going to bed, I just checked my blogroll to see if there are any new posts, and there it was, the new challenge at DSFDF, posted less than half an hour ago. When I went to see what was the reference image, I was hooked by Karin's pep talk. It is about painting with intuition, and I strongly recommend all artists to read it.

Sushi Rolls
Acrylics on Paper, 6 * 6 inches
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

Now coming to this painting, I have not even seen what a sushi roll looks like. I was intimidated by the previous challenge, of the wigs. Wanted to give it a shot, but never really got to sit and plan my composition or anything. I would have felt the same way about this reference too, because I have never painted food before. I would have given it a miss, but Karin's post compelled me to give it a shot. I was so inspired by the post that I wanted to paint something immediately. Though I had packed my bags for the day, I reopened my paints and decided I was going ahead with it. I just went for it, following the shapes, keeping it all very loose. I did not sketch at all. The colors used here are all those I am using in my apples too, so just continued with paints directly. It was done in just 10 minutes. It was 12.26 am when I started, and after getting it to a recognizable shape I just decided to sign it. I did not want to get into any more detail. It was then 12.36. It is not very small, it is about 6 * 6 inches. Normally, even a sketch takes longer than this for me, and I was pleasantly surprised at myself for painting something so loose and so quick. I had great fun with this. Karin Jurick is such an inspiration, and if you haven't done it yet, please go and read her pep talk NOW.

Different Strokes - San Francisco Victorian

Here is my entry for the ongoing challenge at the Different Strokes blog. I had a lot of fun with this one, done entirely in colored pencils. I have tried to bring in more color than in the reference. I initially thought I would do the little trees in acrylics, as I have never handled foliage in CPs. But changed my mind later and went ahead in CPs itself. That's why I love these challenges, they give so much room to experiment. There's another week to go for this one, and I might sneak in another entry, let me see if time permits.

San Francisco Victorian
Colored pencil on paper, 9 * 12 inches
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

You can view all the interpretations here.

Different Strokes - Jefferson Memorial

My entry for the ongoing challenge at the Different Strokes blog.

Jefferson Memorial
Acrylics on Canvas, 9 * 12 inches