Tetons and the Moulton Barn

Trying to finish up some of the unfinished paintings here. I have always enjoyed looking at the rustic barns in CA. But this is painting of the most photographed barn in the US - Moulton Barn from Grand Teton National Park based on a photo from our road trip there last summer.

I did some sketchings during our stay in the park but not on this location. During our early morning visit we encountered so many bisons around the barn. Some were cute little calfs..

And others were ready to fight..

The whole place was pretty much flooded with bisons, it was an amazing experience.

This particular painting is done impasto style completely with knife and with water soluble oil. Hope you like it.

Winter Light - Acrylic Painting

I have been working on some potraits and bigger paintings that demands too much detail and focus. I wanted to try something fun in between and not worry about making mistakes. And this is the result. Inspired by photos and paintings of many winter scenes that I have come across. Done impasto style with the knife from start to finish on a 20 x 20 canvas.

Gamble Tulips - Acrylic Painting

Here is a happy little painting of the spring tulips from Elizabeth Gamble Garden in Palo Alto. I love this garden and try to get here atleast couple of times in a year. They have a cute gazebo and best planted seasonal flowers all done by the volunteers. While it is not as big as Filoli garden, it is very charming and has always been one of my favorites.

Done on a 11 X 14 Canvas with acrylic. The tulips and some parts of the tree are painted impasto style with knifes. The rest were with brush. The intention was not to do a detailed one like I usually do but to paint loose and have fun with it which I sure had. Hope you like it :)

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

Two Hydrangeas - Acrylic painting

Getting ready for a holiday show and did these two small hydrangeas. Both paintings are done on a 6 X 6 gallery wrapped canvas with acrylic paint. The flower was done impasto style with knife and the leaves with the brush strokes.

Pink Hydrangea



Nikko Blue Hydrangea

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..

Rocks of Pacific Grove - Oil Painting

Situated on the famous 17 mile drive, Pacific Grove is an artist haven. I have always been fascinated by Pacific Grove's rocks and the small coves with little sandy beaches that are sheltered between those protruding rocks.I have done some serious photography here and took numerous refernces shots of rocks to paint later.

Here are two of the paintings based on my rock photography :-). I tried to keep the style loose and focus more on the values. Done on a 5 X 7 canvas panel with water soluble oil with a combination of brush & knife.




Here is how it looks framed..

Pot of Lilacs - Acrylic painting

A fun acrylic painting experiment to loosen up my painting style. Done on a 18 X 24 Canvas. Heavily textured and done impasto style with knife, softgel & acrylic paints. The background has little bit of gold & silver iridescent acrylic paint. Hope you like it...

Ed Levin park morning - A Plein air study

My first Plein air study after almost 5 years..
One of my goal for this year is to paint on location as often as I can. And I realized last week it's more than eight months in to the year and I haven't done anything. Many of you know that I am a painter and photographer. Though I carry my painting kit and my camera, what get picked as a first choice is always the camera. Who wouldn't right ?. It's easy, quick, captures the moment I want and I can always comeback home with a great reference to paint later. Photography is a distraction to me when I want to paint plein air. So, I left my camera, tripod, lens, filters all back at home to avoid any distractions :-). I did carry my trusty iPhone just in case if I need any reference pictures..

When I arrived at Ed Levin park, it was still a bit hazy. The sun just started to peek out, clearing the clouds from the hill and it looked beautiful. Swallowing the regret about the lack of my camera, I took a quick picture with my iPhone before I began and set the timer for an hour. Here is the scene.

Started quickly painting the hills first as I wanted to capture those clouds on the hill while it was still there. Boy, it was a challenge. A western scrub jay kept me company while I painted. I think he ( she?) was more interested in eating the paint from my palette than socializing. Anyway after about 45 mins, I got to this stage. The scene in front of me has changed quite a bit from where I started. The clouds were gone, the hills were shining from the sun.

I felt the painting was flat and grabbed my knife to add some texture. Here is the finished painting in an hour.

I like it but not necessarily happy with it. I thought a smaller panel might help to finish the painting quicker but it was way too small to capture the beauty of the scene and I lost the reflections of the sky in the water. I feel it's not painted in my usual style - no punchy colors or textures. Perhaps more practice will help me get there. I'm motivated to do more plein air from this location but not on small panels on the lap. I'll be carring an easel and atleast an 8X10 panel next time.

Golden Gate Bridge - Impasto style

Golden Gate Bridge - Impasto Style
11X14 inch - Done with water soluble Oils

My first attempt at impasto style and I thoroughly enjoyed painting this. I am never gonna let go of the knife now.