From rags to riches, Acrylic on Canvas

Posting a few of my paintings done earlier this year.

This painting is called "From rags to riches", Acrylic on Canvas, 24x12 in.

The gorgeous lady's dress feels like it is made out of different rags of clothes, yet it makes her elegant and poignant. She was painted on a red background to intensify one's feelings for her. The big form of the dress draws attention to her petite frame as well. She is hanging currently at the Varadera cafe in Ottawa, if you would like to check her out for yourself :).

Let me know how you like it!

Mr. and Mrs.

 I came across these mugs painted by someone on Pinterest, and I loved the idea. So, I made a pair of these for my parents. You know what they say, he is right, but she is ALWAYS right ;).

Once these cups are cured with the paint, they are supposed to stay on permanently on the mugs eve after washing then. Hand washing, mind you. Apparently, they can get erased by dishwashers. Guess we'll find out about them after a few uses.

I think these make an absolutely stunning pair of mugs a new gift for a couple. What says you?

Canadian Summer

It's summer time, and it does make Canadians super happy, specially after complaining about winter for so long :). So, as a dedication to all Canadians, this piece of art is done with the feelings of hope and happiness. The colours, they feel oh-so-summery to me. There's flowers and butterflies and greenery. Without further ado, here's "Canadian Summer" for you.

Canadian Summer, Mixed Media on Canvas, 12x12

This is also my first attempt at mixed media, and I absolutely fell in love with the effects that I managed to get on my canvas. So much so that I have decided to call it a piece of happy art. The butterflies and some flowers are such that they give a 3D feel to the image.

I had so much fun trying out mixed media, I am going to start exploring more mixed media techniques on another piece pretty soon :). 

I hope it makes you as happy as it makes me. 

Spring flowers

It's spring time in Canada, yay! With all the little leaves and buds blooming all around, the hubby got me a beautiful spring bouquet of flowers consisting of yellow daisies and Peruvian lilies. I was photographing them the other day, and realized that they are totally worth a shot at painting.

Spring Flowers, Acrylic, 12 x 12

Here's the original shot if you're interested in my photography skills :).

I loved using the bright colors on my palette on a gorgeous day like today - happy yellows and reds and greens. As Joey says, what's not to like :). I feel like doing another one of these with just the peruvian lilies.. I think that would come out nice too..

I hope they make you as happy as they make me. 

Kitty Cat

We have an adorable little visitor during the non-winter months. He's our neighbour's cat, who has formed a very loving bond with us, even though we don't feed him. He loves my lap, and purrs satisfactorily when I pet him. He makes me smile, and I call him my stress reliever. So one fine day, I decided to paint him.

Cat, Acrylic, 12 x 12

This, my friends, is Mango. I love his petite nosey with the little black spots on him.
I really enjoyed painting him. It has been a couple of weeks since I finished this painting. It's Acrylic 12 x 12.

I hope you like it too! 

Day 21 of the 21 day challenge

And the challenge comes to an end! It is sad on my part that the challenge took way longer than what I had really really hoped for.. 3 weeks became 5 weeks.. It was the last 3 days of the drawings that dragged on and on and on for 2 additional weeks :(. You know what they say is true, you have to be in the mood for it! 

I have cheated.. but, can I please still count this as my 21 day challenge? I haven't worked on art so much as I have in the last 5 weeks, so I got that going for me :). And I got to try sooo many different media.. I absolutely loved that. Ah the subtlety of watercolors, the accessibility of oil pastels, the no-mess versatility of the digital medium - fantastic. Having said that, I still believe I love holding the brush more than anything else. 

So the 21st piece is here - explores the perspectives of curves.. A coffee mug in an aerial view, vs a frontal view. The cup in the frontal view took more time to draw than I would like to admit. I hope it looks appealing. 

I do hope to continue posting on this blog in the future. So do keep an eye on it. There's so much I still need to try - charcoals, gouache, oil. Oh I can't wait :)..

The ultimate lesson I learnt during the challenge - life is going to keep getting in the way, but you keep gotta doing what you gotta do for the love of art :).. 

Day 20 of the 21 day challenge

I tried out perception of depth for this day. 

This one is done in oil pastels and I'll call it "The Barn in the mountains". I do like it. 

I like that it has very few colors - essentially - ultramarine blue, dark brown, cerulean blue, light blue, light brown, black.

I am getting good at oil pastels, don't you think so :)?

Day 19 of the 21 day challenge

Tried out layers on Sketchbook Pro... There's definitely a lot that can be done digitally... I am learning this slowly and steadily. One day, I'll be better at this, I promise :)! 

Day 18 of the 21 day challenge

For day 18, I drew a bunch of things using a Sharpie ultra thin black pen.

Well, this was definitely fun. 

Day 17 of the 21 day challenge

A few more digital work for today...

Side profile of the hubby again, and again, the obligatory, hubby looks nothing like this :D! But hey, I think this is a better profile than what I did last time..

The best thing about digital work is that it can be multiplied, and acts as an entirely different work of art, like this :) I'll call this one "Perspective".

This is Princess Jenny. Except for her facial features, I like her. I especially like her flowy and shimmery dress. 

I am especially proud of myself, as I did all of these and the previous day's works without a reference of another painting. 

Day 15-16 of the 21 day challenge

I didn't have time to make the frame :(. So it's weekend, and I am not at home, so my tools for the weekend was the tablet with a stylus. I tried out a bunch of different random things..

This is Laiko.. I really like him :) do you?

When Laiko didn't have a beard, he looked like this! Oh, his naughtiness is very clearly depicted in this picture, don't you think?

This was a different approach, where I switched colors amongst themselves. Blue becomes red, red becomes yellow, yellow becomes blue. If God decided to swap the colors, our world would look like this picture somewhat. Sky would be pink, and leaves would be violet. Oh well, I like our world the way it is now! 

Day 12-13-14 of the 21 day challenge

Sooo, my mom's bday is around the corner, and I thought i'd like to make her something this time, instead of buying something. You know, personal touch, yada yada... :)
So I had been looking around for ideas. From Pinterest, I came across DIY hand painted glasses, and I decided to make them.

Deciding if I should put up the pix already, or wait till I have given it to her... guess i'll finish up the post after I have passed on the glasses to her, just in case :)!

Edit:
OK, so I passed on the glasses to her, and she liked them. Now I'll add the pics here and show the entire process.

The beginning, on shiny clean glasses. 

Even these look ready! They look like they are good for a nice summer outdoor party, what d'ya think? I would have loved to stop here, but I didn't, since I had other plans. Of course, I wouldn't mind doing these again until this stage for someone. 

The continued process... The glasses look like they are filled with gorgeous confetti. Only, they are not :). They are covered in it instead. 

Another shot. 

The bottom shouldn't feel left out, should it? The glasses are then baked in the oven for 30 minutes. The technical term for this is called curing. So once the glasses are cured, they are good to be used! 

Now waiting to find out after how many washes does the color go off, if it ever does :). Anyway, it was quite some work, but I think it makes for a fantastic personalized gift. Don't be surprised if you get these from me at some time :)!

Day 9-10-11 of the 21 day challenge

It felt good to hold a real paint brush. I did some watercolors, starting with the basics, like strokes, and color mixing. And a couple of pieces. I have to apologize for not keeping up to my challenge, I didn't do my hours for the Friday and Saturday. But, but, but, I covered up the hours today! I hope, that's ok, say what?

I practiced the flat wash, broken wash, variegated wash for this one. 

Backruns and other techniques, and blending :)

What do you think about this one? I love this tiger :D!

And just practising the basics..

Day 8 of the 21 day challenge

I didn't post the day of.. because I really had the time to either work on something or post here :). So I tried a digital format for day 8, and I don't quite like it. Well, to be fair, I didn't have my Stylus on me, and I did it on my tablet on a software called Sketchbook Pro. Plus, a tablet didn't quite feel the same... oh well, here it is.

Guess I could learn more about the digital art form if I was to pursue it in the long run :)! Or may be, a stylus would make a difference? Well I have a few more days to find out, and find out I will.

Day 7 of the 21 day challenge

What a fool I made of myself today!
I decided to draw something that was physically in front of me today. I ignored all the things around me, and chose to draw my hubby who was sitting on the sofa perpendicular to me, working on his Macbook. What a terrible idea! Here's the outcome.

I can assure you he looks nothing like this picture! I clearly need to work on my people drawing skills. I felt discouraged to even consider putting this up today, but it was the only work I did, so here it is. I am really really bad at drawing what I see.. oh well, a week is already done :)! Two more to go!

Day 6 of the 21 day challenge

I went for watching The best exotic marigold hotel 2 today. Oh the colorful country, and the colorful wedding! God bless my soul, it was a feast for the eyes! :)
Getting back to the subject, today's work was some doodles with a medium charcoal pencil.

I liked the flower. The bush and the cloud could possibly use some improvement. I liked the chick too.

Day 5 of the 21 day challenge

I am proud of myself already :p, 5 days and counting :)
I haven't finished the last work yet, I want to get back to it when I can work on it while looking out of my window.
Today's work is a hibiscus flower done in oil pastels. Since I used Sharpie markers for a prominent outline, I wonder if that makes it mixed media?
Without further ado, here's the picture.

I really really like this one, may be critics will have a different say. I particularly love the pastel-y shades in the background.

It definitely takes longer than an hour a day if I were to finish what I started. Only if I had more time in my day! Ah well, isn't that a complaint we all have :). Its a good complaint to have, because it means you have enough to do in life and don't have to knock the doors of boredom. I am done my rant for today along with my art for today :). Chao until tomorrow! 

Day 4 of the 21 day challenge

Today's work is a work in progress. Didn't get enough time to finish off the piece, since I was trying out a new Falafel recipe :)!. The Falafel batter/dough tasted fantastic, but it kept breaking in the oil, so not really the result I was expecting it hoping for.

As I looked out of my bedroom window this morning, the trees looked majestic with a layer of fresh white powder on them, all the while it was snowing. I said to myself it was worth trying to capture the view that I got to enjoy on this warm Sunday. So I started to print what I saw on paper. Here's the half done picture in oil pastels.

It is just a start, and I am hoping the final result will look better, of course :). Adieu for today! 

Day 3 of the 21 day challenge

Here we go, another still life for today. The original one was a watercolor painting that I found in a water color book I possess.

 This is my version in pencil. I have made some changes as I drew it.

I am liking this one :). What about ya?

Day 2 of the 21 day challenge

I have to be truthful here, I didn't dedicate an entire hour for today, but, but, but, I did some work :)! I hope that still counts :).

Its a still life study. I realize I am not good at still life and values, gotta give more time for that.

Also, apologies for the bad image!

Starting with a 21 day art challenge

I am a novice at art, and have started with a 21 day art challenge, where the idea is to draw, doodle, paint, imitate, something for an hour everyday for the next 21 days. The idea is to try and improve your artsy skills. This idea is not original ; I saw it posted by a Redditor and decided to try it out myself.
For Day 1, I have this flower, that I found on Pinterest.
Here's my work in oil pastels

Since it is Holi back in India today, I might as well name this colorful piece Rangoli on Holi :)!

Wish me luck as I really really hope I can keep up to the challenge.