Getting back to some more apples

I hope my readers will remember the apples and glass series of paintings that I had done couple of months ago. Well I had some more references of the same, and started them. So here is the ninth painting in the same series.

Apples and Glass #9
Acrylics on Canvas, 8 * 8 inches
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

I am grown so much in love with painting apples, that I like to think it is the best thing to do when in an extreme phase of self doubt :) It clears all doubts about myself and keeps me going. I did not take any progress shots this time so all I have is the completed image. There are more to come.

Richeson 75 Juried Show - Accepted!

I am thrilled to let you know that my painting Apples and Glass is accepted into the Richeson 75 Still life & Floral competition, conducted by the Jack Richeson company. My painting will be displayed next month in Kimberly, WI, in a show that will showcase seventy five best still life and floral pieces. The paintings will also be published in a full color catalog along with other finalists and select pieces. I had sent two of my apple paintings for this juried competition, and this one got selected. Yet another apples and glass was not juried into the show, but has been accepted to be published in the book. The finalists will be displayed on their website too, and I will post an update once that is available. 

Apples and Glass gallery

I set up a still life with a whole apple, a sliced apple and a glass of apple juice. There was some sharp sunlight, and the reflections were in all their glory. In my previous series with the Oranges and Glass bottle, my canvasses had a lot of empty space. This time around I tried to fill up the canvas as much as I could. So I opted for closer crops, and also included some fabric to create an interest to the viewer. it was also my first experiment with the square format.

Click on each image to see the corresponding blog posts and works in progress. In the post for each painting, I have included a work in progress image, that shows the complete transition of the painting from underpainting to signature. Hope you enjoy it and find it useful. All your feedback is welcome.

This gallery by the way was very easily put together by Windows Live Writer. It rocks!

Apples and Glass #8 – Completed

So finally, we are done! This piece was the most difficult for me in terms of motivation. It was like preparing for an exam on the last day during school and college. During every exam, while preparing for the last paper, invariably my thoughts would be more focused on the impending holidays than on the exam at hand. Similarly, I was thinking about what to start next, rather than trying to finish this piece well. So with great difficulty, I got myself to concentrate again and do justice to it.

Apples and Glass #8,
Acrylics on Canvas, 18 * 24 cms,
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

I will put up a gallery of all the apple pieces together soon. In the meantime, your feedback is welcome on this one, and the series as a whole. As in the previous pieces, I have put together the various stages the painting has gone through. It might be of interest to you, enjoy. Click on the image for a better view.

Apples and Glass # 8 - Work in progress
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

Apples and Glass #8 – yet another update

This is the last update before I post the completed image, I promise. With this piece, we are done with apples for a while. Until my obsession begins to show its face again. This one’s a rather boring arrangement compared to all the previous ones. There are no folds in the fabric, no complex reflections etc. However, the shadows are very interesting in this one. The fruits are almost entirely in the shadow, and it helps me experiment a lot with color. I have already used a lot of blues and greens in this, and I will use more of them as I go further. I love deciphering colors in shadows, it is absolutely exciting.

In all probability, I will complete this one tomorrow, and then later this week, I will post all the 8 pieces together. That will be interesting, I hope. Stay tuned.

Apples and Glass #7 – Completed

We are slowly inching there :) I have completed the penultimate piece in the apples series, as of now that is. I have completely run out of small sized canvas panels, and until I replenish my inventory, the apples wont resurface. But I have already shortlisted couple of more from my reference set and I am itching to make it a round number, like 10 :D Let’s see when I am able to get to those.

Apples and Glass #7
Acrylics on Canvas, 18 * 24 cms,
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

I am quite pleased with this one, I tried a different arrangement of the fabric from the previous ones. The glass was also a nightmare in this piece. Took me a lot of time, even though I had done SIX similar glasses before! I am happy with how it has turned out. Please have a look at the work in progress below, from start to finish. Click on the image for a better view.

Apples and Glass #7 - Work in progress
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

Apples and Glass #6 – Completed

This is the first among the rectangular apple pieces. The set up is very similar to Apples and Glass #1, with just the angle being a more toppish view. I had great fun working with the glass in this. I thought it has a lot more color than the other glasses.

Your comments are welcome.

Apples and Glass #6
18 * 24 cms, Acrylics on Canvas
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

Since it is easier to see the work in progress in one shot than to navigate through separate posts to see the various stages of the painting. So, I have put together the work in progress, please have a look. I could take the maximum number of pictures in this piece, so it shows the transition quite nicely I must add. Click on the image for a better view.

Apples and Glass #6 - work in progress
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

Apples and Glass #5 – Completed

The weekend was lousy, I was down with a stiff neck and I just could not paint at all. Got to work on the 5th apple piece and complete it today. This piece, though I started with the first batch, was getting really delayed for no reason. This piece has a lot of shadows in the fruit and I really went wild with the color here. I have used a lot of greens and blues in the shadows. I tried to keep the fabric folds a little abstract by just indicating some blues.

Apples and Glass #5
8 * 8 inches, Acrylics on Canvas
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

A snapshot of the work in progress for you. All your feedback is welcome. Click on the image below for a better view.

Apples and Glass #5 - Work in Progress
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

Apples – next update

   I don’t want to number these paintings until they are completed. I know how confusing it can be to the reader, to keep seeing painting #x, stage #y over and over again. In my system, I know what number this painting is, so that’s enough. So yeah, this is one among the next four apple still lifes, and it is about 90% completed. I have completed the glass and the fruit behind. Some more work is pending on the fruits in the foreground, and the fabric. The shadows all look similar, I need to bring in some variation in them.

  I am next planning to start a new series of still lifes with pears and some white fabric. I have so far done only one painting of pears, and I loved it. So I am eager to move on to the next series, and I hope to complete this ongoing series asap. Stay tuned.

Apples - some progress

The apple still lifes are taking time, this time as expected. This is my progress today on one of the new apple paintings. I have almost completed the fruits, started work on the glass. I hope to complete the glass to a large part tomorrow, and tweak everything together one last time. Your comments are welcome.

I have just opened a twitter id and am still in the process of figuring out what on earth twitter is. I am just testing the waters, to see if it will direct more eyes to my art. Blogging itself is time consuming, and it takes a lot of effort to keep a blog alive with new stuff. I don't really think I will have time for something like twitter, but lets see. Just in case you wish to follow me, I can be found here.

Update on the apples

Here is a small update on the three new apple paintings. I have completed work on the fabric. The apples get their turn tomorrow.

Revamping the blog

I wanted a sleeker look for the blog, and have gone with a complete overhaul. The update is not fully done yet, I downloaded a new template and not yet done with customizing it fully. So kindly excuse me if there are random changes happening over the next few days. Regular programming will resume soon.

The painting btw is the current stage in which the 5th painting in the apple series is. It should be completed tomorrow.

All your feedback is welcome regarding the blog changes. I welcome any valuable suggestions.

Apple obsession continues

I had taken a lot of references when I set up the apple still life. Initially I started with 5 paintings, 4 of which are completed now and the 5th one is almost done. I was just browsing the remaining references to check if I can manage decent paintings from any of the, and I have started not one but three new paintings! I am totally having a blast with this set of references. So here goes, apple paintings 6, 7 and 8. The first stage of the WIP that is. Your feedback is welcome.

Apples and Glass #4 - Completed

This one is a top view for a change, so will be the next one too. I used a little more blue in this compared to the previous pieces, and I need some time to see if it works well. The shadows are largely warm, with only a hint of blue so far. I will have a look at this piece after a while, and change it if the blue doesn't go well. I had a great time doing the apple, and the glass too.

Apples and Glass #4
Acrylics on Canvas, 8 * 8 inches
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan



Here is a look at the work in progress. Click on the image for a better view.

Apples and Glass #4 - Work in Progress
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

Apples and Glass #3 - completed

I am really happy with the left most apple, but not at all happy with the slices. No amount of work seems to make them okay. So I am just calling this done.

Apples and Glass #3

Acrylics on Canvas, 8 * 8 inches

Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

Here is the work in progress, as a set of images. Click on the image for a better view.

Apples and Glass #3 - Work in progress
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

Some more progress

A little more progress on 2 more apple pieces. The series should be done, in all probability, with one more sitting.

Apples and Glass #2 - Completed

Major part of the work again from the previous update has been on the glass. Getting glass objects to look glassy enough is a big challenge, and I think I have fared reasonably well. I have tried to keep the fabric folds as loose as possible, only suggesting folds without getting into too much detail. I like how it looks in the thumbnail, but in the bigger format I tend to look for more detail. Since I have always been used to working quite detailed, it is not very easy getting to loosen up and I am trying as much as I can. I am not going to add any more detail to this, I am calling it done. All your feedback is welcome.

Apples and Glass #2
Acrylics on Canvas, 8 * 8 inches.
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

Instead of putting up a slideshow, I thought it would be better to see the progress as an image itself. I personally find it to be more usable than a slide show. So here is a slideshow-like presentation of the painting, showing each stage. Click on the image for a better view.

Apples and Glass #2 - Work in progress
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

Apples and Glass #1 - Completed

Finally got to complete the first painting in the Apples and Glass series. It has actually taken a lot longer than I expected, and I am reasonably satisfied with the result. Added more highlights to the glass, and some on the apple next to the glass. When I checked the grayscaled version of the image as it was during the last update, I felt there was not much variation in the darker tones. They all looked almost black. So I have lightened some of the darks, brought in a bit more variety.

Apples and Glass #1
Acrylics on Canvas, 8 * 8 inches
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan


I have also put up a slide show of the various stages of this painting, from underpainting to completion. I thought I had taken several photos in between, but there are only four! Have a look, enjoy. Click on the image for a better view of the stages.

Apples and Glass #1 - Work in progress
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

Some more updates on the apples

Got to work on 3 more pieces in the ongoing series, they are still in progress. Seen below are the paintings as they are at the moment. Your comments are welcome.

Apples and Glass #2 - Stage 3

A teeny weeny update, some work done on the fruits. Nowhere close to completion.