30 Paintings in 30 Days - #5

Cotton Candy
Oil on Canvas, 5 by 7 inches
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30 Things about me - #5 - 6 years on and I still don't look forward to winter in Germany

We have been living in this country for 6 years now and I still hate the winter. I hate the cold and I enjoy snow only from the window. When I first saw snow I was fascinated too, but got enough of it in a couple of hours. The thought of piling on layers and layers on clothing before stepping out tires me out. The upside of this is, while people complain about feeling gloomy and in no mood to do anything, I churn out a lot of art in winter. I lock myself up in the studio and work :) This painting is from one of those rare occurrences when I ventured out to click pictures of fresh snow. 

30 in 30 challenge Day 1 - 30 Things about me

A New Dawn
Oil on Canvas, 18 by 24 cms (9.5 by 7 inches)
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30 Things about me - #1 - I am a morning person

I am extremely productive in the mornings and always prefer to get up early as opposed to staying up late to get things done. I love the peace and quiet in the morning, especially when the rest of my family is asleep. That's when I paint most often and love the productive start to my day. I treasure the peace of my mornings along with my steaming hot cup of coffee :) 

Let me wish you all a very happy new year. May 2015 bring in a lot of peace, good health and happiness to you and your family. 2014 was a great year for me personally on most fronts. I hope it all continues and gets better this year. And what better way to ring in the new year, than the 30 in 30 challenge. Last January, I was very very rusty and used up the challenge to get back to my easel after a long break. I could barely manage a dozen paintings, but they did me a world of good. I could experiment a great deal and it set the tone for the rest of my year. I can't wait to see what this year's challenge brings in. Good luck to all other artists who are taking part too.:)

As I was thinking about themes for my 30 paintings, I was really inspired by what Leslie did recently. "30 things about me" I thought was a great idea for the readers to get to know the artist better. It also gives me something to write about, as against just posting a picture. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Plein air painting on an overcast morning

We have a long weekend in Germany starting today. Since there was no hurry to get the kiddo ready for school, I had made up my mind to go outdoors and paint today. Within 5 minutes drive from my home, there are these beautiful poppy fields on either side of the highway. I have been seeing these fields everyday when I drive to the school, but never really had the time to go out and paint. So glad I finally went out this morning. 

My set up and the scene before me.

It was an overcast sky, no sign of the sun whatsoever. That really challenged me in terms of the greys and the greens bordering on grey. Almost every colour that I mixed seem too dark in value and I had to lighten it. It was a great exercise in seeing and observation. 

Finished painting with my set up :-)

I loved being out in the open today with chirping birds for company. I might create a studio painting out of this on a slightly larger size with this painting as the reference. That would be a great challenge too. And I hope to get some plein air done in the next couple of days too. 

Poppy fields on an overcast morning
Oil on board, 5 by 7 inches
Click here to bid

Let me know what you think! 

SOLD - In the vineyards - Original Landscape in Oils

Hasn't it been a really long time since I did a landscape? I guess so. This painting is for this week's challenge on Daily Paintworks. I really liked the reference and jumped right in.:-)

I love vineyards and wine tasting and everything around them. I love wine! I have loads of vineyard references in my library, and this was motivation to get to them too. It was good fun mixing the various greens, in varying degrees of "greyness". I finally touched up the most saturated areas with the palette knife a little bit.

In the vineyards
Oil on Canvas, 18 by 24 cms
SOLD

Click here to see all the entries in the vineyards challenge.:-)

Make an offer - May 2011 - Original Landscape in Acrylics

Did you check out the latest changes in Blogger? I can't get over the new dashboard and the features. It seriously blew me away. So sleek and completely awesome. I am sure this itself is an incentive to the lazy blogger like me :)

Farmhouse
Acrylics on Canvas, 8 by 8 inches.
Bidding starts at $60
Mail me to place a bid.

This painting is from my plein session last weekend. A rather lonely house in my neighborhood. The bidding for this painting starts at $60, which is more than a 50% discount from the normal price. Plus, it ships free worldwide. So what are you waiting for?  You can place a bid by shooting me a mail with your offer price.  

Hope you like the painting, why not write to me with some feedback?

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.

Sign up to my newsletter.

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.
Click here to Buy.

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. 

Framed, naturally! - Sunset skyscape in Oils

Last week, we were driving somewhere when I noticed one of the most beautiful skies that I have ever seen. Layers and layers of clouds reflecting such a range of colors. I just wanted to freeze in that moment forever. And decided that I HAD to paint a sunset sky asap.

Framed, naturally!
Oil on Canvas, 6 by 12 inches
© Nithya Swaminathan
$120 + shipping, Click here to Buy

Skies have never been my strong point, I tend to make the edges too "hard" and the colors don't seem to flow seamlessly. Not that I am entirely happy with this one, but it definitely is one of my better attempts at painting a sky. Do check out the detailed shots in my store, they are quite nice. :)

I also managed to take a lot of progress images this time and put them together into a video. I usually do not pause to take photos when I am painting, because it disrupts my flow badly. Wanted to make an exception this time though. I have not yet been able to film an actual real time demo of me painting, and this is the best I could manage right now. :) Hope you enjoy the process!

http://bit.ly/i7DPtj

Light study II - New study in oils

Yet another study, some playing around with various greens and yellows. With mixing every other color with green. It was fun!

Light study II
Oil on Canvas, 5 by 7 inches
© Nithya Swaminathan
$100 and ships FREE, Click here to Buy

Golden path - a simple light study in oils

Of late, I have been obsessing about what I suck at and where I could improve and all that. Last week, I was analyzing my work quite a bit and came up with things that need immediate attention and ordered some books that I believe will help me in my quest. I ordered 5 books which were all in the $15 range, but my shipping cost was the highest item on the bill, at about $20! Phew! But then, if I ordered from Amazon's German site, the cost of the books itself was much more and I could order only 4 books for the price of 5. I decided that it is better to order from the US and I am waiting for the shipment which by their estimate will arrive by end of Feb. Sucks I tell you! Anyway, I digress.

Golden Path
Oil on Canvas, 5 by 7 inches
© Nithya Swaminathan
$100 and ships FREE, Click here to Buy

The aim of this study, as the title says is just to explore light and color. I believe landscapes are the most effective when it comes to studying light. That's quite obvious isn't it?! I hope to do more of these and one of my focus areas this year is to infuse more light and thereby life into my work. I am also looking at whether my weaknesses are irrespective of medium, or whether my approach to a painting is significantly different with Acrylics vis a vis Oils, so on and so forth. Let's see where this takes me.

I have also mixed the palette knife and the brush in this one. The background is entirely done with the brush. I picked up the knife for the brightest foliage though. It gives a nice effect and looks infinitely better in person.

Poppy fields gallery

I have put together all the paintings of poppy fields over the last week. It was complete fun I must say! Started the first one with as much details as I could, and as the series progressed, I tried to loosen up more and more, and have reached a stage where I really like the last painting :-) Let me hear from you, which one do you like? Couple of them are terrible, some are passable I think :-) It was fun nevertheless. Clicking on each image will link to the original blog posts in my other blog 300to30.

I have some big canvasses lined up next, they were almost forgotten in all the time I have been working small. I am thinking of restarting the dancers. And on the small painting front I think it is going to be more landscapes coming your way.

Lane of Pink Blossoms

I have a liking to do rows of trees, rather than a single tree. Part of it is because I can skip all the detailing when there are more trees. I still don't think my foliage is any good, but it works well in some cases. I feel totally rusty and lost when I do some close ups of leaves, flowers etc. I have a long long way to go as far as botanical art is concerned!

Lane of Pink Blossoms
Acrylics on Canvas, 4 * 6 inches
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

Jacaranda lane

I loved this reference, and was reasonably pleased with how it turned out as well. This was sent to Elizabeth, who took our virtual class on painting trees. I liked this one best amongst those that I painted, and since Elizabeth was largely responsible for that, I sent it to her. She loved it and had such nice words to say, which really made my day.

Jacaranda Lane
Acrylics on Canvas, 4 * 6 inches
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

It is funny and often frustrating how colors get distorted under a camera or a scanner. The colors in this one for instance, though there is a significant amount of blues, it is not as blue as it appears in the image. It looks much better in real life, and it is unfortunate the photo is the way it is! Sigh!

Continuing with the flowering trees

My tree paintings have all reached their new homes, except for two of them. This one has not yet reached, and I hope my friend doesn't peep in here :-) I got some really good feedback for the trees, and I am so so glad!Pink tree
Acrylics on Canvas, 4 * 6 inches
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

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.

Twin Pinks

Twin Pinks
Acrylics on Canvas, 4 * 6 inches
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

I was involved in a lot of ATC exchanges over the last two years, which took up a big chunk of my time. Though I had a great time with most of them, there were a couple of exchanges which I did not enjoy as much. The subjects were stuff that I wasn't very interested in painting. Also, in all my earlier exchanges, I got to know the artists only during the project, after interacting on the discussion thread of the project. However, this time it is a group of artists whom I largely admire in the Acrylics forum. They are experts at making the medium do whatever they want it to, in achieving stunning results with the medium. The chosen subject is also something I want to seriously work at. I don't really like my trees and this was a good chance to correct that. Above everything, this was a great opportunity to own original art from an inspiring set of artists.:) I have got some great pieces, some more are in the mail and I cannot wait!

The Road less traveled

The original image for this painting is a reference from Sxc.hu, and it is a fall image. A lovely mix of reds and browns and is a gorgeous reference in itself. I just wanted to try changing the colors and doing this as a flowering forest. I think it turned out okay.

The road less traveled
Acrylics on Canvas, 4 * 6 inches
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

I started with another slightly bigger painting of this scene with the original colors as well. I am half way through with it and will post it later. It was a reference that's been lying around with me for couple of years and I am glad I finally got to do it twice over.:)

Flowering Trees - a postcard exchange

I am addicted to Art exchanges, you know that already don't you? I have mentioned that a million times here and elsewhere. I just love the excitement of receiving such varied Art from all over the world. And it also helps me work better as exchanges generally work within a deadline and I get more stuff done.

For several months now, we have been having virtual classes in WetCanvas covering a wide range of subjects. Few months ago, we had a terrific class on painting trees, by Elizabeth. As a spin off from the awesome class, some of us got together to go a postcard exchange of Flowering trees. So here goes, my attempt at recreating Spring :)

Pink Shadows
Acrylics on Canvas, 4 * 6 inches
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

Instead of posting them together, I will be making separate posts because it is easier for me that way to keep a count of all paintings done this year. We are working towards 100 this year, just in case you forgot :)

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.