Blue and Orange #2 - Original Still Life in Oils

After the last painting, I was left with quite a bit of blues on my palette. So I had to paint the vases again, at least one of them. This one too is painted just using the palette knife, with the sides painted too. It doesn't need a frame and can be displayed as it is.

Blue and Orange #2
Oil on Canvas, 6 by 12 inches
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Blue and Orange - Original Still Life in Oils

When I got out of bed this morning, I woke up with this urge to paint something large. Specifically, a large still life using the palette knife. I could even say I woke up with an image in my mind and all I had to do was put it together with the things in my studio. It's been ages since I have painted large, this one is 16 by 16 inches and is my largest canvas in the last few years. 

I bought this set of three turquoise vases in Ikea long ago. I had earlier painted only the smallest of them, the other two were patiently awaiting their turn. They looked great together with a couple of oranges thrown in. 

Blue and Orange
Oil on Canvas, 16 by 16 inches
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Blue and Orange #2 - Original Still Life

Have I told you how I paint? Mostly sitting on the floor. Not even mostly, make that close to 95%. Unless I am extremely motivated to stand in front of the easel or sit at the table, I perch myself in a cozy corner on the floor and I can stay put for as long as I want. 

So I was sitting with this still life from Blue and Orange in front of me. And in between the session, I just got up to fetch myself some coffee and was taking a critical look at my work in progress. It so happened that I also glanced at the set up itself, from above and liked it even better. Thank God I did not stop my previous painting half way and start with this one.

Blue and Orange #2

Oil on Canvas, 5 by 7 inches

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As soon as I wrapped up Blue and Orange, I rearranged some of my stuff and painted this one standing at the easel for a change, for it was a top view that I was painting. An oblique top view infact. And I like this one much better. By then I was a little familiar with the whole "mix anew and lay each stroke" approach, besides the painting itself being smaller. I like this one quite a bit. Which one do you like? Do let me know! 

Blue and Orange #1 - A brush strokes experiment

I love challenges that really stretch your limits and motivate you enough to come up with something different. This past week's challenge at Daily Paintworks was one such, and hands down one of the toughest paintings I have ever done. The challenge was to paint anything, subject doesn't matter, but by mixing a different color for every single stroke laid on the surface. 

Blue and Orange

Oil on Canvas, 6 by 12 inches

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My head reeled at the very thought, as I for one get very easily tempted to pick up the smaller brushes and pore over the details. And my painting would've been a never ending soap opera if I had to do this with a small brush. For the uninitiated, what this technique meant was that I mix a color on my palette, and lay a stroke, again mix and so on. It makes you really think before you mix, and think really hard in terms of values. For someone totally not used to painting this way, it is very unsettling initially. But then I kind of found a rhythm and took the painting to completion amidst a lot of huffs and puffs. 

My set up was very simple, I wanted to make it as simple as possible and just picked up whatever was readily available. The effort was a lot more rewarding than the end result I would say, and it is something I will definitely try again. Let me know how you like it!

Oranges and Glass #5

Final installment of the series, and I am happy with how this one turned out too. Pretty happy overall with the series, I got some good feedback from WetCanvas also. I have a few more references with this setup and some sketches that are half way done. But it might be a while before I paint them. Right now, I am moving onto some apples.

Oranges and Glass #5
Acrylics on Canvas, 5 * 7 inches
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

Oranges and Glass #4

Final installment (as of now) in the ongoing still life series. I am not entirely happy with this one, the bottle lid looks smaller in proportion. I need to have a second look and fix it if required.

In the meanwhile, I would love to hear your thoughts on whether the compositions work in these paintings. I found it appealing, I wonder if it would appeal to other eyes as well. Let me know your thoughts.

Oranges and Glass #4
Acrylics on Canvas, 8 * 10 inches
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

Oranges and Glass #3

Though all these paintings look very similar, they have subtle differences, I mean in terms of the setup. The angles are slightly different, which I have tried to convey indicating the wooden floor lines.

Oranges and Glass #3
Acrylics on Canvas, 8 * 10 inches
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

Oranges and Glass #2

Second installment in the oranges and glass parade. I had a lot of fun doing this one, especially working on the open oranges. Without getting into too much of intricate detail, I was trying to convey as much as I could, and it was fun.

Oranges and Glass #2
Acrylics on Canvas, 8 * 10 inches
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

Oranges and Glass #1

Taking a break from the Winter series, just pausing to look back at the work done and how I should be taking it forward. I have 2 more of them in the pipeline that should be done by this weekend at the latest. In between, I wanted to complete the Orange and Glass series, since the sketches have been lying around for a while now.

Oranges and Glass #1
Acrylics on Canvas, 8 * 10 inches
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

In the usual approach, this was done predominantly from my sketch, and later completed with the help of the photo.