Christmas Carousel

Each year during holiday season, San Jose downtown is transformed into a holiday fantasy with Christmas decorations, carnival rides and glittering lights. Like every resident of Bay area, we are regulars at the event. I have a hard time focusing on one thing there. But the carousel always gets me - happy kids riding the horses without a care, parents waving & clicking their camera or just enjoying their short break from their kids. It's one of those "I wish I was a kid moment" for me. And here is my attempt to bring out my inner-child, the Christmas Carousel..

Acrylic on 12 X 12 canvas. And here is the collage of WIP

Weekly Painting #15 - Pudding Creek Afternoon

We went to Fort Bragg/Mendocino over the Memorial day weekend. I attempted to catch up on some Plein air sketching while the kids were playing at the Pudding creek beach. Saw this mom and toddler wading the water. The afternoon sun was lit up the cliffs & people and I couldn't resist painting the scene. I quickly sketched the composition and started on the painting but couldn't finish it on location. Continued the painting at the hotel and finally took a photo today. Here is the sketch and some scenes from the location.

Weekly Painting #14 - Mackerricher Beach Plein Air

Plein air Gouache sketch from last weekend at Mackerricher beach, Fort Bragg, CA. It was a perfect day to sit on the cliff and work on my sketch. I was contemplating a different location and a different composition. But with a short time in hand, I had to settle for this view closer to the parking lot. It was a relatively quick sketch, completed in about an hour.

Weekly Painting #7 - Ferry Plaza Farmers Market

Another painting for the weekend. It's raining like crazy here. I was getting spoiled with the warmer temps and it's back to rain now. Not complaining though. We need every inch we can get, to get out of this California drought. I was taking a quick walk during lunch last week in SFO and caught this scene when Farmers market was in full swing at the Ferry building. It was quite a sunny day with clear blue sky. I envisioned a painting right there with bright blue sky with the Ferry building and the cooler shadows from the palms. For a small sized painting, this took little longer than I expected but I am quite happy with how it turned out. Hope you like it :)

Weekly Painting #6 - Captain's Glow

I miss Yosemite and wanted to do a painting based on a photo that I took when we were there last winter. I have lost track of how many times I have painted El Capitan but I thoroughly enjoy it every single time. This rock is majestic and when the afternoon suns hits, the whole surrounding catches the glow of the granite. It is mesmerizing.

Here is the Captain's glow for you.



I also managed to get some iPhone shots of my work in progress.



It is a very quick painting, 1.5 hrs start to finish. Once I decide on a composition, I go alla prima and start with the paint outlines directly on canvas. I almost never sketch on canvas with pencil unless it needs geometric precision for subjects like buildings, bridges etc. I wish I had taken some more shots between the 3rd and 4th step but I got so engrossed in my painting and forgot :).

Backyard Blooms - Plein air Gouache sketch

We have recently moved to a house with a real backyard and I find myself spending more time gardening than painting these days. Two weeks ago while the east coast was buried in snow, the almond tree in our backyard was in full bloom. The flowers don't last long, one strong wind/rain they carpet the ground. Started as a plein air sketch and finished up inside. Here are some pictures of the tree and my sketch :).

And here is a close up. Done on a 8X10 watercolor sketch pad with Gouache paint.

Golden Gate Regatta - Acrylic Painting

I cannot get enough of painting Golden Gate. This one is inspired by the pictures from the  regatta race that we have every year by the gate. I was sitting with this for quite a while which I think is now finished. Acrylic painting on a 18 X 24 canvas.

Coyote Hills Plein Air

Sorry for being MIA for a while. Past two months have been crazy at work and I am trying hard to keep up my painting schedule. I did manage to squeeze in sometime to go for the 4th Annual Plein Air paintout organized by East Bay parks last month at Coyote Hills Regional Park in Fremont. There were about 15-20 artists. It was a gorgeous day and I chose to paint the marsh. Took me about 2 hours to finish the painting below.

Done on a 11X14 Canvas with Watersoluble oil.

The Egrets kept darting in & out of my frame and I couldn't resist including them in the painting :). Here is a closeup of them.

Pink Pacific - Oil Painting

Happy Earthday !! Hope you were able to enjoy something natural, something earthy, something outside today. I wanted to go out and do some plein air painting today to celebrate earth in my own way. Didn't quite workout, so I chose to finish this painting that I started some time last year.

This one is based on a photograph that I took during my visit to Carmel on a clear spring day. Pink ice plants carpets the Pacific Grove area in Carmel every spring and provides a stunning contrast to the blue ocean. Initially I wasn't sure if this is the composition that I wanted - I felt the rock was more distracting and took away the emphasis from the ice plants. After looking at it few months now, I think now I have grown to like the rock. :). So , here is the finished painting..

Done on a 11 X 14 Canvas with water soluble oil.

T-Stormed Valley - Oil Painting

Sorry haven't updated the blog in a while. I have been painting but in a much sloooower phase. Here is a large format painting that I started in January. This was sitting on a easel in my living room for couple of weeks now. After hearing "Looks done, why are you still working on this ?" from family and the visitors alike, I have decided to sign the painting on this fine Sunday :).

T-Stormed Valley painting is based on a photo that I took in Yosemite amidst thunder sorms last fall. Done on a 24 X 36 canvas with water soluble oil. Mostly done with brush and some knife strokes. Hope you like it..

Here are details on the painting.

Avenue of Giants - Oil painting

The 33-mile Avenue of the Giants drive which parallels U.S.101 offers one of the most spectacular views of the Redwoods. Though we have stayed in the cabins and hiked the many redwood groves in the area, this is by far the most outstanding display of these giant trees in the entire 500 mile redwood belt. This breathtaking pillars of redwoods never fails to make our jaws drop everytime we drive this route.

This painting stayed as a work in progress for many months and I finally completed it last week to display in a holiday show. Family is in love with the way this looks on a frame and doesn't want me to take it to the gallery. I am torn between the number of paintings committed for the show and lack of time to produce more. I told them if it doesn't sell, it's theirs :-).

Done on a 11 X 14 Canvas with water soluble oil. Mostly done impasto style with the knife with some brush work here & there. Again, this is one of those painting that I always have trouble photographing the true texture,look & feel. Looks much better in person than what my photo has captured here.



Here is the framed look.

Cypress & Ice plants - Acrylic painting

Cypress and ice plants of Monterey in spring. A big deviation from the reference image. Changed the colors quite a bit to get this unique look. Done on a 16 X 20 canvas with acrylic paint and a combination of knife & brush. Hope you like it :)



Here is a closeup of the iceplants

Middle McCloud Falls - Oil Painting

Every now & then, I like to pick challenging subjects to paint and I would consider this as one of them. During my travel to Northern California, I took numerous pics of waterfalls out there. This is a painting of Middle Mccloud falls based on my photograph. This huge falls project three layers of cascade, part of it is always hidden in the shadow. This is an intimidating waterfall to photograph let alone paint.



Done on a 20 X 24 canvas with water soluble oil mostly impasto style using knife & some brush.

After 12 hours in to this, I am happy with the progress so far. I would like to call it done, but like many other artists I also suffer from the tendency to over work on my paintings. I am letting it sit on the easel and staring at it whenever I pass by to catch something that I don't like. Well, can't stare at it too long as I am hoping to enter this for a juried show soon. Hope you like what you see..

FAA 4th Annual Plein Air Paint out 2011

I had so much fun painting at Lake Elizabeth, Fremont during this event. My painting "Reflections of Lake Elizabeth" won second place in the competition. It was such an honor to paint, display and win amidst the other talented artists. And I am thankful for the same.



Here is a close up of the painting.Done on a 11 X 14 Canvas panel with Water Soluble Oil in about 90 mins..

Carnival Lights - Oil Painting

I absolutely enjoy looking at the motion, light and color of the carnival rides. "Looking at " is the key word here :-). While I cannot stomach the rides like I used to when I was a teen - I still give in for the ride on Ferris wheel once in a while. The view from atop that giant wheel is incomparable. Here is a little painting that unleashed my inner child..



Done on a 11X14 canvas panel with oil. I am not sure if the photo looks little pixelated to you. I might have to replace with a better quality one at a later date.

Sattui's Neighbor - Oil Painting

11X14 Canvas Panel with Oil

Last spring when drove to Napa Valley and spent sometime at Sattui Winery. There was this little barn next to Sattui Castle amidst the mustards. I took a quick reference shot for painting and forgot about it. Now that the mustard season is in full swing, I went back to that old photo to paint this. Hope you like it..

Here is my reference photo