Vembanad Lake, Kerala

Vembanad is one of the largest lakes in India. Its wetlands are home to waterfowl. The lake gets covered with water Hyacinth post monsoon as fertilizer rich soil from paddy fields flows into the lake. Thankfully the Hyacinth are kept in check in the dry months when the saltwater from the Arabian sea flows back into the picturesque lake.

This is my first landscape painting. I tried to be mindful about values and big shapes and it seemed to have worked well, tho' if I am closer than 5 feet there are no details on the canvas. It does not do justice to the beauty of the lake and its waterways and I am not very happy with result but here it is nevertheless.

Kumarakom Sunset

Cross my heart, I did not make up these colors. The sunsets in Kumarakom were this colorful. I think looking at sunsets over a water body enhances them as it probably gives one an unobstructed view of the horizon. And the horizon is roughly 42kms or so, as the spherical earth curves away from the line of vision and hence the lighthouses do not need to be very tall, only unobstructed like on a coast. Maybe i should go paint a lighthouse next as I love lighthouses. I love the technology and history associated with them, but mostly they usually have amazing views : )

Coffee Mate

I had to express my gratitude to my faithful coffeemaker for making me some wonderful cups of joy. The coffeemaker ate into a bit of its shadow and both the coffeemaker and the cup need their volume to be built up but I am done with it for now. I will go back and work on it sometime soon.. after a nice cup of coffee perhaps. Enjoy the aroma ! Cheers !

The Red Rose

Since the red was my favorate, i decided to give it a shot again, this time a painterly one. I held the brush the way a brush is supposed to be held, took a number 8 filbert and went for the values and shapes, instead of petals and colors. Struggled with the bakground but like the rose nevertheless.

Nisha's Roses

Nisha walked in with these roses in different colors. I didnt think I was ready to paint roses as yet. And I was right. The roses look like paper roses but it was still nice to paint them as they were very fragrant. Reflecting at the canvas I realised it was more a botanist's study of form and structure than an artist's study of values and hues. My 2.5 year old niece, Lila pointed towards the glass and said water, Nisha & I favored the red, Rini liked the orange and Malini's pick was yellow. Whats yours?

Translucent Green

The translucent amla (Indian Gooseberry) caught my eye in the grocery store. So they made their way home with the rest of my groceries. I looked around for something opaque and complimentary to show off the amla's but ended up painting a shot glass reflecting the amla's delicate green. The shot glass was my first glass object and it was much easier to paint than i had imagined.

Black & Yellow

After my first painting I took a deep breath and instead of just picking up paint with brush and straight onto canvas, I stared at the flower and slowly picked out the shapes and shadows of each petal. I ofcourse forgot to remember the concept of values. Nevertheless black & yellow being the most eye catching combination, it does catch the eye.

Blue

This was my first painting in Bangalore. The only thing I like about it is the blue background.