Orange still life

This is a still life I did as part of the ATC Exchange at Wetcanvas. This picture is based on a beautiful photo by Henz Fotojam in Flickr. I had asked his permission to paint the photo, to which he graciously agreed. I initially wanted to try an oil painting of this one on a black surface, but ended up doing a colored pencil drawing on white stonehenge paper.

Still life with Oranges
pvt collection of Ardith
(c) Nithya Swaminathan

I was mainly attracted to this reference because of the beautiful flowing fabric that was so rich in color. I absolutely suck at doing fabric, and wanted to give it a go. I am sure I did not succeed fully, but was happy for a first step.

Also, I tried a complementary underpainting with this one, where I did the first layer in red and crimson for the fabric and mild blues for the oranges. Then went over them with the actual colors. As I had mentioned already, the ATC project gave a chance to try a lot of new things, since it was very less consuming thanks to the miniature size.

Remembering Kumarakom - my only 'Indian' ATC

From the backwaters
pvt collection of Rose Herczeg
copyright Nithya Swaminathan

Excuse the poor quality of the scan, I am sure this looks *much* better in person! I had a blast doing that water and those reflections. Coincidentally, most of my cards turned out to have some kind of reflections, and they were all so well received. Talk about a warm group of friends!

My first ACEO

Once I signed up for the ATC exchange, there was no looking back. I was the only Indian participant, and initially thought that I should send everyone a card that depicts something Indian. But then, I started doing some birds and they were such a pleasure to do in the small size, that I forgot all about the Indian theme and stuff. I did a dozen cards of colorful birds, and another dozen fall landscapes. They were such a delight to do.

Scarlet Macaws - 2.5 * 3.5 inches.
Private collection of Charlene
copyright Nithya Swaminathan

My first card was of a pair of scarlett macaws, I was pretty pleased with the result. Have a look, and do shoot in your C & C. This was done for an artist Charlene, and I am glad she loved it.

My foray into miniature painting

Art Cards aka ATCs aka ACEOs are tiny little pieces of art, measuring only 2.5 * 3.5 inches. That's about the size of my palm, smaller than that infact. They make nice collectibles and are very popular.

I was continually fascinated by the idea of painting something so small, and the staggering level of detail some artists are able to achieve in the size. Always wanted to give it a try, but my laziness always got the better of me. So recently when there was a project announced at Wetcanvas, I jumped in at the first chance.

A group of 26 artists got together to do a fun ATC exchange, wherein each of us would do 25 paintings and mail them to the others in the group. The project is still on and has been a resounding success so far. I have received several little gems in the mail, and all my ATCs have been extremely well received too. The group has been totally awesome, very supportive and encouraging. The fun part was that we would not post the card online until the recipient gets it, so it would be a surprise package in the mail. Isn't that really cool? I'd open every cover with bated breath only to find a stunning piece of art inside. I've received landscapes, abstracts, still lifes, birds, wildlife, portraits etc etc. Seeing everyone else work was such a great motivation that I completed 25 pics in one shot, in less than 3 weeks. Now that all my cards have reached their new homes safely, I can post them here too. Look forward to a series of ACEOs in this space.