Wildflower fields

Just realized that this is my first blog post for this year :-). Heres to a great 2011 and hope everyone's year started out great.

Below are my latest paintings that combines two of my favorite subjects - landscapes & florals. These are more of a spontaneous and quick study based on magazine clippings that I kept with me. I often do these small, quick-type paintings between complicated subjects ( and when I am stressed ;-)).. I am quite happy with how both of these paintings turned out. I had so much fun doing these and might do both of these on bigger canvas at a later time.

Both are done on 8 X10 canvas panel with water mixable oil.





Hope you like them !!

Snow Flakes

Howdy all ! Hope you are enjoying your holiday season.. Been a bit busy the past months travelling/photographing and haven't been able to post in the blog.

This is a painting that I have been working on for quite sometime and I am ready to call it finished. You guys know I paint mainly landscapes, right ? Portraits and figures have always been a challenge for me. I did this painting mainly to get out of my comfort zone.

I have always enjoyed watching Nutcracker ballet during the holiday season and the snowflakes are my fav part in the whole show. This is an adaptation of a post card that I had and just in time for the holidays :-)..

Done on a 18X24 canvas with water mixable oil.

Hope you like it..




One more close up..

Point Lobos - Rocks and Surf painting

Haven't had much time to paint this week. But managed to finish this one for my Pacific coast series. This is based on a reference shot that I took along the north shore trail close to Whalers Cove. I was fascinated by the pounding surf against the rugged cove and dying to paint it ever since I took the shot.

Done on a 8 X 10 Canvas with Water mixable oil.


Here are the details..


The rocks were done with a combination of brush & knife. I was wondering how to tackle the surf. And my daughter came home from school with weird looking tiny pieces of color sponges that she found on the play ground. I borrowed it from her and it worked perfectly ;-).

Monalisa Revisited - Oil painting

Being a landscape painter, I have always had an aversion for portrait painting for some reason. To help me overcome that and appreciate portraits more, I did this painting as part of my art enrichment class. Not that I am not a fan of Italian renaissance paintings, I never really cared for Da Vinci or Monalisa until my mentor picked it for me to paint.

Here is my version of Monalisa - done on a 16 X 20 Canvas, with water mixable oil.



More than Mona Lisa what drew me to the painting was the rocky, dream-like background that gave an illusion of surreal atmosphere. The challenging part for me in this whole painting is her hands - the play with the lights & shadows and just the suggestion of nails. And then there was the struggle to get her to do that faint smile and not make her look so serious.

Here is the close up of her face.



Though this hasn't convinced me to take up portraits, the main take away for me from this whole experience is to appreciate the expression & feeling that the artist is trying to convey. Needless to say I did a whole lot of appreciating when I went to the "Birth of Impressionism" exhibition @ Deyoung Museum here in SFO last week. I spent quite a lot of time looking & studying the portraits which is a big deal for me :-).

Pacific Coast Series - Mendocino Paintings

I love painting water in any form and particulary drawn to the pacific coast. I have accumulated tons and tons of reference shots from my numerous trips all the way from the northern to southern California coast. There is no way I will be able to finish painting them all in my lifetime but I am attempting to make a small series of the coast that I adore.

Trying to do this in a smaller size canvas panels as studies and may do couple of bigger size paintings later. You will also see that I am slightly moving away from my usual style of painting with details to more of a painterly approach in these studies. I am training my eyes to see the shapes, color values and capture the mood rather than working on the details :-).

First and second in the series are from the reference shots that I took along the Mendocino coast - each painting took about an hour. Hope you like it.

Enroute to Elk - 8 X 10 Canvas panel, Water Soluble Oil


Along the Mendocino Coast - 8 X 10 Canvas panel, Water Soluble Oil

Mount Shasta Lavender Farm

Done on a 8 X 10 canvas panel with water mixable oil.

Based on a reference shot taken during my recent road trip to Mt.Shasta. The smell was divine and scenerey was breath taking.

I tried to keep my style loose for this painting. Didn't want to get bogged down by the details like I usually do but focused on the shapes, shadows and color. This whole painting was done in less than an hour.

Little boy and the big lake

"The mountains are calling and I must go."
— John Muir

Little boy and the big lake , 18 X 24 Canvas with Water mixable oil

My latest painting based on a shot that I took @ Tenaya lake in Yosemite. You know how much I love taking photographs for reference and for pleasure. I was setting up the tripod and the angle when this little boy came running in to the frame from no where. The massive granites, the enormity of the lake and tiny little boy was quite a scene to look at and triggered that shot. I have been itching to paint this ever since and finally calling it done. Hope you like it. Here are the details..

The mountains and the trees are done with the knife.


Details on the foreground rocks, done mainly with brush.


Details on the little boy.