Flower Garden

Loosely based on my previous painting  'Flower meadow' this was a commissioned painting. I tried to finish it in two days as that way I could have sent it to India through one of my Aunts who was traveling there. I wasn't too happy with it and as J pointed out that the flowers actually formed a patterns (it almost looks like an eye with the red square for iris) and were quite distracting.

I like the final version with a more filled up tree, some sun rays poking over the mountains and additional details on the flower. I finished it with a varnish of gloss medium.

Evening clouds

I wanted to paint clouds. After studying the evening clouds for days, I am pretty happy with the clouds. I even signed the painting. But I kept on hating the uneventful foreground. 

 

I digitally modifies the picture on my phone to try put what I was thinking about in PicsArt. I like the focus these dark foreground trees bring to the clouds. I have to say I really like this approach.

Now this is how the painting actually progressed. I used burnt amber, black and pthelo blue mixed in different quantities.

I always have a hard time painting thick foliage. I was using a round number 6 taklon brush initially. But looking at how sparse this was looking, I changed to a round flat-top almost stencil like large brush.

I wasn't going to add any highlights to the foreground and keep the foliage dark. But it was looking flat. So I added some green highlights to it making sure the colors were different from the shoreline greens.

Imli

Aug 03, 2013:
Just finished blocking for a portrait of my friend's sister Imli. And while doing that I am realizing what makes her cute...
Her head is exactly the height of the rest of her body.. atleast from this angle. And her fur looks thick and cottony soft even in a picture. Her undetbite, though may look menacing at first, makes her look almost sad upon closer inspection.

Though a spoiled youngest child of this super affectionate family, she is quite sweet and loyal.

 

Aug 13, 13:

I finally gathered enough courage to start working on the face. I decided to use black for the eyes.. But as soon as put them in, the picture started looking like something out of a horror movie.. i had to force myself to continue working. 

Luckily I was working from my phone and could zoom in. I added a little bit of brown about half way around the eyes on the right, added an approximate pupil with black, added the nose and mouth in thinned out black.. I don't mind the face as of now. 

I also changed the direction of the thigh remembering that she does not sit perfectly but a little on one side. I think I need to make that thigh a little larger and bring it more to the front though.

Aug 15, 2013:

I added some browns to the white fur. It is interesting how you see only one color, and as you continue painting, you start to notice the other colors.

Aug 20, 2013:

As I was finishing the details on the actual dog, I realized that the weird shapes in the background were actually a bottle, a picture frame, a table cloth and its shadow on the wall. I also added some details to the shawl and. Dulled out the portion of couch on the right with some yellow.

  

Aug 22, 2013:

It took me a few tries and a revelation that I am 'shape blind' when I did the second painting with my friend in it. It doesn't quite look like her, but I like it for the bright colors and the fact that it is my first portrait ever.

 

If you are interested in having a portrait of your pet made, post a message below and I can send you the details.