35. Waterlily #9

I was painting some landscapes today, since early morning. And since they were going along decently, I did not stop them midway to do a flower. However, since the snow paintings were over sooner than I expected, I also managed to squeeze in a lily today. :) And since it started snowing and was very cloudy, I was literally racing against the daylight to complete the painting and take a snapshot. Nothing bugs me more than completing a painting just to realize that it is too dark for a photo!

Waterlily #9
Acrylics on board, 5 * 7 inches
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

Due to the forced circumstances, I think I stopped this piece about 15 minutes short. I'd have definitely done something more, just that I cannot figure out what now.:D Let me know what you think!

34. Waterlily #8

My references for these paintings are all from the Wilhelma Park and Zoo, in Stuttgart, Germany. I have about 40 images clicked as randomly as I could, with no intention to paint them. Painting a flower scares me, if I have not mentioned that a million times before. I believe I have a strong, rough hand which will render a flower as anything but delicate. But then why on earth did I click so many snaps you wonder? I was in a complete hangover of Monet's waterlilies at the Musee D'Orsay in Paris. I was floored, and was unable to get up even couple of weeks later. :) So I clicked these snaps, with the hope that someday I could paint them. I did not expect that day to dawn so soon!

Waterlily #8
Acrylics on Board, 5 * 7 inches
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

As I was sorting out my photos more than a year later, it occurred that I could give these a shot. And I so regret not having taken some more better snaps. The pond had lilies of all colors, yellow ones, white ones etc. My references though are mostly pink. If we go there sometime later, I should make it a point to click more snaps, with the intention of painting them!

The Wilhelma by the way is a really nice park, totally worth a visit and definitely so if you have a toddler. My little one enjoyed it to the core, and we enjoyed it too. They have a simulated Amazon forest, a butterfly park where butterflies come so close and even sit on you, and so on. And our favorite in the park was the little Polar bear, who enjoys a rock star status there.:) People flock and wait in long queues to catch a glimpse of him.:)

What do you think of this painting? Do let me know!

33. Waterlily #7

I got to complete 3 paintings today, which is a very good rate considering my speed. I think one of them was done from scratch even, and the other two were half done. Whatever be the case, I am quite pleased. My biggest learning in doing this series is not how to paint a flower, coz I may not do a flower beyond this. The learning is infact knowing when to stop!

Waterlily #7
Acrylics on board, 5 * 7 inches
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

I am normally very difficult to satisfy, as is every other artist about his/her own work. So what I end up doing when a painting is about 99% complete, is pop it in front of the mirror, fix some issues, correct more mistakes. There have been occasions when I have realized the drawing itself is not okay and done over parts completely. That kind of takes away the initial charm from a painting. This time, I am consciously refraining from all those antics. Not that I am very satisfied or anything, but I am telling myself that I can make the next piece better, instead of correcting the current piece beyond limits. I am having fun this way.:)

Let me know what you think!

32. Waterlily #6

For a long time, I always thought waterlilies as lotuses. The lotus being very common in India, I had seen only the lotus and never a lily, and could not really differentiate one from the other. It was only after I started seeing paintings and photos that I got to know that the waterlily also looks very similar to a lotus. Never bothered to learn the difference though, until a friend popped up the question couple of years ago.:)

Waterlily #6
Acrylics on board, 5 * 7 inches
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

Do you know the difference between a waterlily and a lotus? Have a look at this video, that says the difference is actually in the leaves and not the flower. It seems the lotus leaves do not float on the water but are well above it. I did not know this either, as I thought the lotus leaves too float. I remember from several years ago, my grandmother used to eat on a lotus leaf for specific occasions. It is not for festivities though, as a banana leaf is.

I am really pleased with this piece, it is my favorite so far. I think I really found my groove in this one. What do you think? Let me know your comments!

31. Waterlily #5

Waterlily #5
Acrylics on board, 5 * 7 inches
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

30. Waterlily #4

The weather has been absolutely horrible here over the last two days. All I can see in every direction is a cover of white, it has snowed non stop since yesterday! So all I could do was sit inside and paint :-) Got some more work done on the next Rhine valley pieces, and completed 2 lilies for the day.

Waterlily #4
Acrylics on board, 5 * 7 inches
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

Your feedback is welcome!

Rhine valley view - Completed

Got to complete the first rhine valley view painting today. This is the other series that I will be working on this month, along with the waterlilies. I have some more images with nice views of the wine growing valley, with the Rhine as a backdrop and will be doing those soon. I hope to do a moonlight view as well, lets see. That depends on my confidence to do moonlight, which is currently zero.:-) As it is I have miles to go with daylight, and where do I begin with moonlight?!!

Evening sun at Assmannhausen
Acrylics on Canvas, 12 * 16 inches
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

I have photographed this view from inside a cable car, with very bright light from the left. And in the photo, the entire upper left corner is too bright, almost white because of the glare. I felt that somehow grabbed too much attention, and I have reduced the intensity of the area. That helped me bring back the focus to the brightest spots in the vineyards.

Its been a long time since I did a big landscape, the last I did were all the tiny poppy fields, which itself was a long while back. I have tried to keep it looser than I always did, I like the effect it gives. I am also consciously working on improving my comfort with color, mixing and the likes. There's a long way to go, and I'd like to hear any comments or feedback.

29. Lily love #3

Some pink lilies for today. I had a tough time with this one. I am not sure if the under water effect is achieved well. Let me know what you think!

Waterlily #3
Acrylics on board, 5 * 7 inches
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

28. Waterlily #2

Yet another waterlily. Same as the last one, this too is on a black gessoed surface. I am really enjoying painting on black, and I like this one better than the previous one. I think after a long long time I have not used red in my paintings! When I see all of my recent work, the red just jumps out at me :-) Let me know what you think.

Waterlily #2
Acrylics on board, 5 * 7 inches
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

27. Hide and seek

My first painting for the year 2010. I am a complete novice with flowers, this is I think the first ever time I am doing a flower. But, there are lot more to come. I have a handful of references, and I think this whole month will be flowers. Not a bad way to start the year right? :-)

Hide and Seek
Acrylics on Board, 5 * 7 inches
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

This one's painted on a black surface, after a black gesso background. I have gone in for a looser approach, tried to keep the colors a little low key, and I would love to hear any comments on the same.

Moving my blog

This has been a long awaited move, and it is finally here. I have revamped my website completely, and integrated the blog with the website itself. So that everything is now available at one place and people do not have to check a dozen URLs.

I request you to please update your bookmarks to the new blog - http://www.nithyachander.com/blog. The main website, which is accessible from the blog too, is here - http://www.nithyachander.com. I have moved to wordpress for the blog, after over 5 years of using blogger. Let's see how it goes.:)

For those who "follow" this blog using Google's friendconnect, can continue to do so from the new blog too. I would be very happy if you continue to follow my blog from the new space too. Thanks a bunch! Here's to new beginnings and I'd like to wish everyone a very Merry Xmas and a fantastic 2010!

Different Strokes - Under the spotlight

My entry for the ongoing challenge at DSFDF. I love top views, even in still lifes. There is something that really attracts me to the top view of something, as opposed to any other normal view. This is a killer reference, for the view and the gorgeous play of light. I had a great time painting it, though the guy at the bottom was a complete nightmare. I could not get him right for the life of me, and after a dozen attempts I just left it at that. I worked and reworked that one face so many times that I lost patience after a while. Other than that face, I think this one turned out decent. Your comments are welcome!

Under the spotlight
Acrylics on Canvas, 11 * 14 inches
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

Have a look at other wonderful entries here.

Zibbet - a review

I joined Zibbet a few months back after it was reviewed on EmptyEasel. And the site has come a long way since then, improving in a lot of respects. For those who do not know Zibbet, they are a young selling venue for Art and handmade, based in Australia.

This review is based on my experience with the site and with interacting with the team there. For sellers who are thinking about starting an online shop, or are looking to expand along with their other shops, Zibbet is a great place to check out and here's why. One of the most appealing things about the site is its clutter free layout. Everything is real simple, the look and feel of the shops, the listing process, etc. The listing process is very simple and straightforward, and is done in only 2 steps.

They offer two types of accounts - a free and a premium account. Their free or BASIC account is just what it says – entirely free. You can list upto 25 items, and keep all the money from the sales. There is no listing fees, no commission on final sales, just nothing at all. If your items keep selling, the shop can be replenished within the limit of 25 and so on. So you could potentially have a new selling venue with no costs whatsoever. And the best part is, the free listings page is ad-free, so it does not look cheap. This is an important plus in my opinion, because, I have seen sites which offer some stuff for free, but spoil the whole look by flooding it with ads. The site looks anything but professional in such a case, whereas Zibbet differs in that aspect. The basic account looks as neat as the premium, just without some features.

They also have a premium account, which obviously is more feature rich. This is currently being offered at just $7 a month, and I assume it will go up to $15 later. For this amount, they have a lot of very nice features –

Nithya Swaminathan on Zibbet

1. A big banner for your shop, where you have the option of reusing your etsy banner too.
2. Color coordinated shops – customizing the layout and colors.
3. Adding widgets to your shop – this is a great feature that allows you to add your twitter feed, facebook page and just about anything that can be added as HTML code. I even have my blog feeds into my zibbet page. For established sellers at Etsy, you can add your Etsy mini itself as a widget so the shops get promoted together.
4. Copying listings. Knowing firsthand how similar my listings are, I can vouch this is a great time saver. In my case, all my listings are Acrylics on Canvas. Even the main colors of a lot of my paintings are similar, as I work in series. In such cases, it makes a lot of sense to copy the listing and then change only the title and bit of the description.
5. Adding videos to your page.
6. Many more features to come, as these guys are constantly on an improvement mode. I have probably missed out some of the features, and I strongly recommend you check out the complete list of features here at the Zibbet blog.

Apart from the features per se, my most important reasons for considering zibbet are:

1. A great admin team. Jonathan and his team are super responsive to feedback and make their best efforts to resolve any issues faced by sellers. They are available everywhere, on twitter, on their own blog or just an email away. When they had initially put together a sneak peek of the changes to come, they had planned to offer only 15 listings for the basic account. However, since a lot of sellers suggested it was too less, they made it 25. So this is an admin team that really listens to its customers and tries its best to implement any good feedback.
2. Small size of the site, yet. The site is still quite small, I guess not even thousand sellers and only a few hundred premium sellers. So there is a chance of being found easier than say in an ocean like Etsy. I think they have the potential to grow well, and it is only wise to take advantage by jumping in early.

For painters who are not too prolific, the basic account is a great way to get started. I’d strongly recommend you check it out. And if you find it worth it, an upgrade to a premium account can be done later too.

Just to give an idea about the comparative costs involved - Taking myself as an example, I intend to complete 300 paintings in the next one year and say I have 100 of them at a point to list. At Etsy, I would be spending $20 listing them all, for 4 months and then spend the same money again relisting and so on. And when an item sells I will also have to shell out 3.5% of the sales fees. Whereas in Zibbet, I spend $28 over a course of 4 months, and even if all the items sell, I do not spend ANYTHING MORE on a sales commission. I think it is fantastic for artists like daily painters who plan to have a big number of items in their stores. Having a lot of items for sale makes it easier for a buyer to really spend some time on your shop, look at your style of art etc. And I think cost should not be a restricting factor to having more number of listings than you would like.

And well, if you intend to sign up at Zibbet, I request you to use my referral link and sign yourself up. They have a very nice referral program going on, where you get $1 off from your monthly fees if you refer a premium seller. For life. And which means if 7 people sign up because of you, you get to enjoy the premium account, completely free. Forever! So go ahead, sign up and refer your friends too.

If you sign up using my referral link, as a premium seller, I will send you a small painting. So the chance to own an original piece of art is yet another reason why I think you should definitely consider Zibbet :-) You do not have to sign up as a premium seller right away, you can upgrade later. I will get the benefit even if you upgrade later, and I will definitely send across your little painting to you. Hurry up, there are only some premium accounts left at the reduced price!

Zibbet is also offering a FREE TRIAL of the premium account now, for a period of 7 days. And then based on the trial, if you like what the site has to offer, you can go ahead and sign up after your trial. I think it is just worth trying out and I am sure you will not regret it. Go ahead and sign up right away!

Links

• Nithya Swaminathan's Zibbet page
  
• Sign up at Zibbet.
• Review of Zibbet at Emptyeasel.

Different Strokes - Return of the muse!

I have not painted for a while, a long while actually. Been more than a month since I did anything worthwhile. Too many things have come in the way and have kept me occupied. And somehow I have not managed to focus on my art. The husband says I should seek solace in art and do it all the more when I am stressed. Though I do agree he has a valid point, more often than not I need to be at peace to be able to focus well. I need to be in a clear mind to pick up a brush and make the first stroke, and then it flows.

But then came along this utterly compelling reference from Karin, and I just could not let it go. Different Strokes has turned a year old, and this reference is to celebrate the success of the blog. I would like to thank Karin for all the time and effort she puts in to this blog, for the challenges she comes up with. It is a phenomenal effort, and has helped so many artists in very many ways. I have met up with so many different artists through this blog and its been so much fun taking part in it. I have been somewhat regular with my entries and hope to be so. While Karin celebrates the birthday of DSFDF, I thought I would celebrate the return of my muse, finally, after a long absence. Hope it doesn't run away again!

Return of the muse
Acrylics on Board, 5 * 7 inches
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan

Don't forget to check out the hundreds of utterly delicious cupcake paintings. They are simply lip smacking.

In the meanwhile, I finally got a chance to meet up with a group of local artists here, and I even attended a meeting of the group, entirely in Deutsch! How cool is that! My language skills are certainly improving and it was a lot of fun. Regular programming will shortly resume at the other blog as well!

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.