Pink flowers in water colours

 

Lakkerwali Burj

 

Still life Vase and Yarn in Acrylic

 

Cinararia in glass bottles

These Cinararias are from our garden. We have a bunch of them blooming all at the same time. They just look so brilliant. The ones we have are in purple. 

When I tried to make purple with the red and blue paints, I just got mud. So I went with the red. Also if I have to do a crochet painting, I first have to check if I have yarn in that colour. 

This was the first crochet painting in a long time. It was just so relaxing. 

2021 Calendar

 

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.

Pink Petunias

 

This is the first of six floral paintings done on a Saturday afternoon (26/12/'20). These pink petunias are so delicate and the colour adds to that delicate feeling. This is my first water colour painting that I am ( kind of ) happy with.

I was listening to the love streaming of a Music Academy Concert by Vishnudev Namboothiri while I was painting.

Overall, a relaxing Saturday well spent!

Lily

 These lily plants have been growing taller and taller. We have been waiting forever for them to bloom. Can’t wait to find out what colour the flowers are going to be. 

Petunia

 

Another sketch from our balcony. For this one, I got lazy and combined two different Petunia plants in one sketch. One of them has flowers in such a brilliant purple, I could paint them over and over again. The other one is white and pink. 

It got too cold before I could finish it. So I went inside and finished the painting sipping a piping hot cup of tea. I almost dipped my brush in the tea quite a few times.