30 Things about me #12

Pink Umbrellas
Oil on board, 6 by 6 inches
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30 Things about me - #12 - I love rain

Rain is beautiful, more so when you grow up in a place where it rains not more than a month in a year. It was so rare that we treasured it dearly. I am not the kind that curls up with a book and coffee/tea when it rains. I rather love watching the rain. Watching it fall, every droplet hit the earth and then bounce back. Few sights are as lovely. In Germany though, it rains a LOT that it drives me nuts many a time. And it gets cold here when it rains and that makes me very uncomfortable. So what I have in this country is a love-hate relationship with rain. 

Spring blossom - Textured floral painting in Oils

The magnolia is one flower that I never painted before. For the amount of florals that I do, it is quite something. I do have some nice references though, and when I look for the next painting, I just skim through them and never bothered to get to them. This time however, I was struggling with another painting, I do not remember which one, and then took out a fresh board and started this little piece on a whim. 

Spring blossom
Oil on board, 6 by 6 inches
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It was a great break from the figures that I was painting. Before I realized I had made good progress with it and it kind of painted itself! :) I splurged at the art store recently and among my purchases were a couple of lovely shades of pink. They were promptly put to use here. Love them pinks! :)

Let me know what you think.

Daisies - thinking of spring..

The temperatures here dropped to record lows a couple of weeks ago and I was freezing.. This winter has actually been so mild and this sudden drop made me paranoid that spring might be delayed.. So I wanted to paint something while I wait for spring :) Rather impatiently at that!

Daisies
Oil on board, 6 by 6 inches
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Click here to bid.

If you noticed the last few paintings were all done with the brushes only, and one reason to do a flower again was the urge to pick up my knives as well. So liberating painting with the knife, as always. I did not like it initially, but almost a week after it was painted, looks quite decent to me now.

A mock-framed pic to give you an idea. :-)

Evening glow - textured floral oil painting by Nithya Swaminathan, 6 by 6 inches

This floral is done from a reference that I clicked at an amusement park last summer. We were done with all the rides and were too tired just waiting to get home, when I spotted this gorgeous bunch of tulips. And then with a renewed shot of energy, I captured them in every angle I could and delayed the trip back home by 15 minutes. :) The things these flowers do to you!

Evening glow
Oil on board, 6 by 6 inches
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Springtime Sunshine - Bring on the yellow!

I found time for some more plein air over the long weekend and it was fabulous! Yet again I set up my easel amidst the stretches of yellow and the hills behind provided a great backdrop. This one was terrific fun to paint. This again is painted just with the primaries - crimson, ultramarine and cadmium yellow pale. 

Springtime Sunshine
Acrylics on Canvas, 12 by 6 inches
$150 and ships FREE worldwide.

The entire painting was completed with the brush and I finally added some intense yellow with the palette knife, to make the fields really "pop". And I quite liked it! It's actually been a while since I painted with the knife. Having some fun with brushes right now and hope to get back to the knife soon. 

Over the 4 day long weekend, I planned to paint outside at least on two days, but ended up going out only one day. Most of the time was spent with family, which was very welcome given our hectic schedules during the week. My daughter loved it too. I do hope to paint out this weekend again, to catch a bit more of the yellow fields before they disappear just like that!

Let me know what you think of this one. I will be sending out my monthly digest, my first ever newsletter this weekend. Do consider subscribing if you haven't already. :) It includes a draw for an original painting from me, exclusive only to my email subscribers.

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Spring on the Highway - Original Landscape from my backyard

Whenever I thought about doing plein air, I always wondered how I would find the "perfect" spot to paint. How I would identify a great landscape and then capture it on my canvas. This was a mental block of unimaginable proportions let me tell you. And then as mentioned before, I started reading Kevin Macpherson's "Fill your oil paintings with Light and Color" that mentions working from the same spot repetitively so that the same location can be captured in different moods. 

Spring on the Highway
Acrylics on Canvas, 8 by 8 inches
$120 + $20 shipping worldwide.
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And then, I ditched this idea of "finding" a spot. I just went to a place amidst some fields, less than 5 minutes drive from my home and set up my easel there. As I stood there and looked on all sides, I could see at least half a dozen views that I could paint. Phew! So much for hoping that some day one mysterious landscape would suddenly pop in front of me. 

The first view I painted was "Ocean of Yellow", a view of the rape seed fields that glow here in Springtime. And when I turned to the other side, I loved this view of the highway with entirely earthen tones except for those little spots of pink. What screams Spring more than flowering trees anyway?! I'd have even painted some more, but it was nearing noon and it became too bright to see the colors properly on the canvas. So the next time around, I hope to start earlier and work plein air. Let's see. Hope you like this one, let me know what you think. 

An Ocean of Yellow - Finally some plein air!

I have a weird relationship with Plein air painting. I have always wanted to do it, but never got the hang of it really. I tried it once exactly a year ago, but I would think of it as a disaster. I did about a third of a painting and wanted to complete it in the studio and never got to it. 

This time, my approach was new and more effective thanks so some knowledge from books. I am reading this book "Fill your Oil Paintings with Light and Color" by Kevin Macpherson, and that helped me get a better understanding of the thought process behind plein air. The last time I tried it, I just set up my easel, made a mental note of what would be my boundary and started sketching right away. I mean directly on the canvas. And oh, the book is lovely! It is not an art instruction book that gives you how-tos, but it makes you think with the help of a lot of images provided. I love it. 

Ocean of Yellow
Acrylics on Gallery wrapped Canvas, 8 by 8 inches
$120 + $20 shipping worldwide.
 Click here to Buy.

So this time around, things were different. I went with a view finder proportionate to my canvas size, decided on my view, sketched it entirely first on my sketch book and then started painting. And I deliberately made an attempt to squint a lot and see the values. It was great fun. This time since my approach was better, the whole process was indeed a lot more enjoyable. 

Also, I painted this entirely with the primaries. No green anywhere on my palette. I went in for a palette of Alizarin Crimson, Ultramarine Blue, Cadmium Yellow Pale and Titanium White, also as suggested in Kevin's book. While this makes the painting great fun and makes me think better in terms of colors and color temperature, I love the fact that it makes traveling so easy with paints. Just 4 tubes and I am ready to go! Is that fun or what?! I hope to write in more detail about my learnings from the plein air session, so stay tuned.