Holly Stock

Not sure if this is the correct name of the flower. I have been particularly bad at remembering these flower names. 
 

After I painted this, I realised I had painted them horizontal instead of vertical, but other than that I’m quite happy with the way this turned out. 

Waterfall next to the Beach

 

I have been savouring memories of all our past trips by painting them. This was at the Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park along CA-1.  It is not often that we see a waterfall drop right on a beach.

We did not have the time to go down to the beach, but the scenery from the view point was spectacular. We also saw scores of elephant seals lazing by the beach. 

While the scenery along the road was spectacular, it was really challenging driving on the mountainous roads after sunset considering the thick fog and poor visibility.

Somewhere near Bryce Canyon

This was one of our first trips in the US. We went to see Bryce Canyon with my husband’s colleagues. This was a brief stop over. There were a lot of little birds here. This was the first time I really felt the joy of birding. 

Yellow Pansy #2

 

Although the title of the post says Yellow Pansy #2, it really should be 4. I tried water colours, then gouache, then Gouache and ink. For one, I used Pitt Artist pens for the flower and ink for the leaves. I wouldn’t say I nailed it here, but I can move on now. 

Today being the beginning of 2021, this will serve as a good lesson in perseverance. 

Pink Gazania

 Just when I thought I was starting to get a hang of Gouache, this one proved challenging. My Pitt Artist pens saved the day. 

Dahlia

 

Continuing with the garden theme, here’s a painting of the red Dahlia from our balcony garden. My fingers froze by the time I finished the painting. Brrrrr. Last painting of the year 2020. 

Somewhere in Yosemite

 

We visited Yosemite Valley twice during our seven year stay in the US. This morning, I was browsing through this photo album and spotted this picture. I cannot quite recall which spot in Yosemite this was. It could be some quick stop we made by the side of the road. 

Painting this was super relaxing. I felt transported to Yosemite and feel calm and at peace even after I am done painting it. 

Fallen Monarch

This is a sketch of the roots of a fallen Giant Redwood tree in Mariposa Grove, California. 

Nothing is more humbling than standing in front of one of these giant redwoods and craning the neck to look at the top of the tree. One realises how small and insignificant and temporary we all are. 
 

Briksdal Glacier, Norway

The glacier in the middle is Briksdal Glacier in Norway. We did a hike here to catch a closer view of the glacier. It was very very cold and for most part of the hike, I thought I was lost. The rain did not help either.

Of course, the picture just looks serene and looks like it was a pleasant day. All is well that ends well!

 

Pada Jhar Waterfall, Kota

 

This was a perfect morning( Sep 1, 2019). Our host drove us in his jeep through "Kacha" roads to this gorgeous untouched waterfall called Pada Jhar, a couple hours from Kota. While my husband waded through the pool of water at the bottom of the falls to take gorgeous shots of the glorious waterfall, my daughter and I tried doing some sketches dipping our feet in the water. Then we drove to the top of the fall  where we did more sketches and my husband got this shot. 

Then we had hot Parathas with Alu sabji for breakfast. There was even a special box for my daughter marked "Baby" without the spices. Piping hot tea topped off an already perfect morning.

This was not painted on location. Just looking at my old sketches brought back fond memories.

Verbena

This is definitely the last painting of the day. I have always wanted to splatter on my painting, somehow I never got to it. I guess I never painted a subject that warranted splatter. So that was fun.

These flowers are quite tiny and come in a variety of colours.

 

Pink Rose

 

After sitting on my daughter's baby chairs on the balcony for the previous 4 sketches, our bottoms started craving the comfort of the couch. Also the sun set and it got much colder. 

So I painted this from a picture of a rose I took on our Mussoorie trip a couple years back.

I painted this with Gouache, but ended up diluting it almost to water colour consistency. That must be a hangover from the previous 4 water colour paintings.

Yellow Pansy

I painted this in water colours first. The yellow was not vibrant enough to capture the true colour of the flower. So I switched to Gouache. I don't think I still did justice to how vibrant the flower really is, but this is definitely an improvement on the first.

I might attempt this one more time.

Kalanchoe Two ways

Here is a little painting of Kalanchoe plant from our balcony garden. My husband has been working very hard on gardening. This has been one of the few plants that has been rewarding him with flowers so far. The tiny little flowers have numerous tiny petals and the leaves themselves are arranged like flower petals.

I did the painting in Gouache first, then felt I had to do another study of the leaves, so I did a sketch with Faber Castell pens.

I am not good at remembering names of plants. I was calling it Galanchoe, then my 7-year old corrected me and said it is Kalanchoe with a K, not G. As proud as I am of her, it is not fun being corrected by a 7 year old. Huh. I told her at least I am not calling it Garbanzo.

Zion in Gouache

 

Stream in Mammoth Lakes

Little stream painting in Gouache

 

Nandakot in Gouache

 

View of Mt. Hood from Trillium Lake

We visited Trillium Lake in Oregon and my husband snapped several beautiful pictures. This has been on my to-paint list since then.