A 'Horsey' New Year Post

A Chiaroscuro using charcoal.

Back after a long while

Hi friends,
Sorry that I couldn't post anything for a long time. I was struggling in between the hour and minute hands of my clock.
I am back in track with some new works in progress. Shortly I will be posting few of them.

Happy new year 2010!!!

Nitz

Thoughts...

A collage oil painting.
Canvas: 11"x14" panel

A PJ's autograph

I am very delighted to say you all about the autograph that I got from A P J Abdul Kalam Sir. Thanks to Anil Gupta Sir. After seeing the sketch he helped me to get it autographed from A P J sir.
Have a closer look at the autograph.

study # painting in planes

A still life painting to study painting in planes.
The still life set up, middle stage and final stages are shown here.
Canvas: 16"x20" stretched canvas

A monochromatic oil painting to study the values

An indirect painting to study the values. As you see in the different stages of this still life painting I have tried to do it in two layers. First stage being creating a rough sketch with burnt sienna and second stage covering it with different shades of blacks and whites. I m thinking of doing one more layer to make it colorful. :) Canvas size: 16" x 20"
colors used: lamp black, titanium white and burnt sienna

Candle stand chiaroscuro

Glasswares Chiaroscuro

Exploring more with Chiaroscuro..

Paper used: 18"x24" cold-press watercolor paper
Materials: round and square compressed charcoals, white charcoal, pink pearl eraser and kneaded eraser

Chiaroscuro -- Reflective Objects

This was a challenging one due to the difficulty in finding different shapes of reflections formed on the surface of objects. Once you get the light and shadow shapes properly with correct value/shade then you can make it look great.

It's done on a 18"x24" cold-press watercolor paper with square and round compressed charcoals, pink pearl eraser, kneaded eraser and white charcoal.

Quick Chiaroscuro -- Doggy

The thought of having more fun with chiaroscuro led me to do this work. It was really interesting even though it does not have more ranges of value/shades. Being a quick sketch it was satisfying for me.

It is done on a 9"x12" cold-press watercolor paper with square compressed charcoal, white charcoal and pink pearl eraser.

Chiaroscuro with White Charcoal

Here I used white charcoal to highlight the bright areas. Also I tried to give more contrast for objects closer to me and I feel this created a very appealing visual effect of three dimensionality.
I am impressed with the depth of values I am getting with this technique.

I did this on a 18"x24" cold-press watercolor paper with square compressed charcoal, round compressed charcoal, white charcoal, pink pearl eraser and kneaded eraser.

More Chiaroscuro...

I am having so much fun with Chiaroscuro. These are three different drawings with same stills in three different positions of view.

All these drawings are on 9"x12" cold-press watercolor paper.

I just wanted to show you the paper with which I was working. This is just after I did a medium grade charcoal(using square compressed charcoal) coat over the paper. We have to start working from here by removing charcoal(using pink pearl eraser and kneaded eraser) for light and adding charcoal(using round and square compressed charcoal) for dark.

Chiaroscuro Drawing

This week I learned a new technique called Chiaroscuro drawing. Chiaroscuro means Light-Dark in Italian. It is a type of drawing which evolved during Renaissance. Initially we have to make a medium grade paper using charcoal. Then the illusion of light and shadow is made by rubbing and adding more charcoal appropriately.

This method was very interesting for me because I found this pretty easy and more effective in terms of light and shadow.

It is done on a 18"x24" cold press watercolor paper using square compressed charcoal, round compressed charcoal, pink pearl eraser and kneaded eraser.

Collage - Beauty

A collage out of trash papers and water color. I started by making the face with papers torn from used magazines. I thought of making a crown for her after that. Then I was just playing with water color for few minutes to get the collage ready.

It is done on my 9"x12" sketchbook.

Collage - Peace

A collage dedicated to world peace.

It is done on my 9"x12" sketchbook.

Pineapple Impasto

The completed painting is here!!! A loose work of pineapple :)

Last week in painting studio we had to make an impasto of pineapple. It was my first attempt using palette knife as applicator on canvas. It was really uncomfortable since I was not able to make the details of pineapple as I wanted. But then I told myself, "Welcome to the world of loose painting". Hope I will adapt to it as I practice more. Next class we will be completing this work and I can post the completed work by then.
I am using 18"x24" canvas and oil paint here.
The studio area where I worked with pineapple impasto.

Few quick sketches

This week I got the opportunity to take sketches of few Italian sculptures at Art Institute of Chicago. Below I have posted the gesture drawing and a rough sketch (with hatching cross hatching) of such a sculpture.

Another sketch with hatching and cross hatching technique.
This one with hatching, cross hatching and then blended with drawing stumps.
Landscape sketches of few paintings at Art Institute Chicago. These are rough sketches done to learn the hatching, cross hatching method.

Sketch of my mobile. I felt like doing this when I saw it lying on my table.
All these sketches are from my 9" x 12" sketch book(done with HB pencils).

Colour study

This work is to learn colors and mixing . It consists of 90 different colors mixed out of 4 colors titanium white, alizarin chrimson, cadmium yellow and prussian blue(i.e. white and the primary colors).
Done on a 16" x 20" canvas panel with oil paint.

Hathi mere sathi

The title means "Elephant - my comrade" in Hindi. I was just getting bored and wanted to re boost myself. So just thought of playing with some colors. It was a quick one done within an hour.

It is an oil painting done on a 16" x 20" stretched canvas.

Over the week

It was my first week at School of Art Institute Chicago. Also my first ever Art and Design course. It was really an amazing experience. Each wall and brick of SAIC has it's own story about art. I was amused like a kid when I got to saw those wonderful art pieces and some of the creators.
This week I just did the assignments and did not really get time for any serious works. One of my instructor wanted us to do some design with minimum 80 shapes in it.


These are designs with lots of shapes stuffed into it. On top, I named it Nature. But one of my friend named it Animal Kingdom. Second one is a design with some of our daily chores stuffed into it. It is done on my 9" x 12" sketchbook with black marker.

I meant to do a greeting card illustration kind of design here. It is done on 9" x 12" sketchbook with 2B, 6B pencil.

Two rough sketches. First one is the vase on our coffee table and second one is the sketch of our living room. Done on my 9" x 12" sketchbook with HB pencil.

On top, done with 2B, 6B pencils. On bottom, done with HB mechanical pencils. Both are on my 9" x 12" sketchbook.

Gandhi

“Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this walked the earth in flesh and blood.” -- Albert Einstein

A tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his 61st death anniversary.

A charcoal sketch done on 11" x 17 " paper.

Kalam

Look at the sky. We are not alone. The whole universe is friendly to us and conspires only to give the best to those who dream and work.
-- APJ Abdul Kalam

A charcoal sketch done on a 11" x 13" paper.

Solitude

I started with painting the doggy and lamp. Then I felt I should add something else to fill the canvas and did an open book with pencils on it. Still I feel the canvas is not fully utilized. Let me see if I can fit something else. If so I will update it soon. I named this one Solitude since I felt that doggy is feeling so lonely and secluded.

This is a detailed view of doggy.

It is an oil painting done on 16" x 20" stretched canvas.

Sunrise

The most beautiful sight I have ever seen... I always get amused by the way nature throws it magic colors into sky during sunrise.

It is an acrylic painting on 10" x 8" canvas panel.

Friends

A rare pair of friends, a Kitten and a Chick.

Lets this be my first posting of 2009. Wishing you all a very Happy New Year. I have not taken any special resolutions because I always take resolutions to break it. But just thinking of concentrating more on arts in the coming days.

It is a pencil sketch done on a 9" x 12" paper with 2H, B, 3B, 8B pencils

Jingle Bell

Jingle Bells for Christmas!!! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays...

Just experimenting with oil pastel painting. It is done on a 9" x 12" paper.

Innocence

Pencil sketch done with 8B,4B,2H and charcoal pencils on a 11"x17" paper.