MY NEW BLOG

All my dear friends, I am starting a new blog

VINAYAK DESHMUKH ART (http://www.deshmukh-art.blogspot.com/)

where I will be posting all my new finished paintings. I shall not upload any new paintings, drawings, sketches etc to this blog anymore, but will keep it as a record of my painting adventures till now.
 Please join me on my new blog.

Thank you so much everyone for all your encouragement and support. :)

Old Timers at Tollesbury

Old Timers at Tollesbury, Watercolour on Paper, (10" x 14")

(After Sidney Cardew)

Its really been a long time since I picked up the brush last and so I thought I might as well copy a painting of an artist I greatly admire. I have a book titled "A Celebration of Marine Art - Sixty Years of the Royal Society of Marine Artists". It is a lovely collection of marine paintings including this lovely watercolour by Mr. Cardew. I hope I have been able to do some justice here. I hope to be more regular with my painting in the coming months and hopefully improve a bit too.

All comments and critiques are most welcome. Thank you all for stopping by.

Has this ever happened to you?

Has this ever happened to anyone of you?

This used to be one of my favourite still lives, perhaps because it was one of my first.

It was more than three months old now and so I thought I will varnish it. However, while varnishing the paint just pealed off like the skin of an onion. I tried to find a solution for this on the internet. I read somewhere that mixing casein with acrylic gesso can solve the problem.

I am determined to be more careful henceforth. I always try to use the best possible materials.

Please tell me any alternative solutions to avoid this problem in the future. I feel kind of let down. I wont be using canvas boards by this manufacturer ever again in the future and if I do I will coat them atleast twice ( inaddition to the priming provided by the manufacturer) with a good quality gesso.

Charcoal Sketches

Elinor Dashwood, Charcoal on Paper, (6" x 7.5")

Just like Mommy, Charcoal on Paper, (6" x 8.5")

Girl, Charcoal on Paper, (6" x 8.5")

A few more sketches in Charcoal. I am really enjoying doing these charcoal sketches. I hope you enjoy seeing them too.

All critiques and comments are most welcome.

Arjun

Arjun, Charcoal on Paper, (12" x 11")

I did this charcoal sketch of a friend's son from one of his photographs. This is my first serious sketch in charcoal and I realised that its a mistake to expect charcoal to behave like pencil. Its just not possible to erase it once it gets too dark. Anyways, Arjun's dad loved it.

I hope to do more charcoals in future. All critques and suggestions are most welcome.

Olive Oil and Onions

Olive oil and Onions, Oil on Canvas Board, (10" x 12")

Many Hindus in India (and I believe across the world too) abstain from onions for a period of about four months from Shravan to Karthik (which roughly coincides with August to November). Therefore, to ensure that the onion merchants dont go out of business I thought I can atleaast use some onions in my paintings.

I did this one after a long time, nearly 2 weeks since my last painting.

Please let me know what you think about this. All comments and critiques are most welcome.

Still Life

Vintage Car and Dubliners, Oil on Canvas Board, (10" x 12")

I am really enjoying doing these still lives in oil. The car is a small wooden toy and it was quite difficult getting all the dimensions as well as the tones right. I hope to do better the next time I do this subject.
All comments and critiques are welcome.

Veggies

Still Life with Veggies, Oil on Canvas, (10" x 12")

This is another of my firsts. I haven't painted vegetables before. I wish I had made the spring onions a little more convincing.
All comments and critiques are welcome.

Plate and Fruits

Plate with Fruits, Oil on Canvas, (10" x 12")

This is my first painting with fruits. I hope they do appear convincing. This one was done alla prima, just like all other paintings of mine. I have come to realize still life painting can be a very convenient thing for making various experiments with squinting etc. because there is no time limit, no model that moves and if painted with indoor lighting colours and values also remain constant. It would be really great to know your opinions on this and also the painting.


Thank you all for stopping by and taking a look.

Female in Profile

Female in Profile, Oil on Canvas Panel, 12" x 10"

I did this from a photograph I found on Deviant Art. The owner of it (also the model here) allows people to use her photographs for art work with prior permission. She calls herself Curious Peaches.
I hope I haven't made this beautiful girl look like she has a case of typhoid or jaundice (with so much of cadmium yellow being used there). I find it is really difficult to make warm  mixtures look bright. When I add white to make a mixture bright to simulate the bright light, the mixture invariably starts appearing cool. Many of you must have gone through this problem and might have found excellent solutions for it too. Any suggestions in this matter shall be more than welcome.


Thank you all for stopping by.

Still Life with Almonds

Soya Sauce and Almonds, Oil on Canvas Board (10" x 8")

Two days ago my wife made some delicious chowmein. While she was cooking I noticed this Soya Sauce Bottle and liked its unusual shape instantly (perhaps it looked unusual to me because I hardly ever much attention to the kitchen). I painted this one on a deep red background to go with the chinese food theme (Chinese restaurant sign boards in India are mostly painted with this kind of red :)).

I am not very sure if the almonds make any sense here. Besides they seem to be pointing out of the painting.

Thank you so much for dropping by. All comments and critiques are most welcome.

The Seven Links Project

Artist friend Crystal Cook has tagged me, along with 6 other bloggers, in the Seven Links Project. The purpose of this project is "To unite bloggers (from all sectors) in a joint endeavor to share lessons learned and create a bank of long but not forgotten blog posts that deserve to see the light of day again." Seven catagories have been outlined and the posts which are the top ones (according to the blog owner) in each catagory must be named under them.


Your most beautiful post
Your most popular post
Your most controversial post
Your most helpful post
A post whose success surprised you
A post you feel didn't get the attention it deserved
The post you are most proud of


So, without much ado, here are my enteries:
1. Your most beautiful post: This was an easy one. It has to be The Portrait of My Mother.

Aai, Oil on Canvas, (19" x 20")

2. Your most popular post: I think my most popular post was Chitrakut Falls. Many people liked it on my blog as well as the blog for Indian Artists by Arti Chauhan.

Chitrakut Falls, Oil on Canvas (24" x 30")

3. Your most controversial post: This is not an easy one. My post Self Portrait has received quite a mixed reaction. Some people think the likeness is perfect, while others (especially my wife) think I am not as slim as I look in the painting. Anyways, it was a great learning experience about myself as much as about the process of painting.

Self Portrait, Oil on Paper (14" x 11")

4. Your most helpful post: 

I could not think of any of my posts that could be of help to anyone. So this one too was difficult. But on second thought I think my post LOW TIDE would perhaps qualify as my most helpful post. The money earned from this sale of this painting was donated to an organisation working to provide relief to the Tsunami victims of Japan. 

Low Tide, Watercolour on Paper, (11" x 15")

5.  A post whose success surprised you
I think my post Those Eyes Have Seen it All was overwhelmingly well received. It sure is one of my best portraits, but I was happily surprised that many readers had to agree with me.

Those Eyes Have Seen it All, Oil on Primed Paper (11" x 15")

6.A post you feel didn't get the attention it deserved

My post Still Life ... Oil on Canvas Panel was one of my first alla prima Still Lives and I think I did a reasonably good jobs with the edges. I love objects made of wood these two are perhaps the most beautiful I have. 

Wooden Coin Box and Jewelery Case, Oil on Canvas Panel (10" x 12")

7. The post you are most proud of

I think my post A Bit of Good News . This post is about the "Highly Commendable" Certificate I received at the Hyderabad Art Society's Annual National Exhibition 2011 for my painting "Boats on the Beach". This was the first ever recognition I received at the professional level for my art and I shall be proud of it for a log long time to come :)

Boats on the Beach, Oil on Canvas (24" x 18")

Now comes the last part where I tag fellow bloggers to carry on this chain of posts that retrospect some of the best blog posts.

Ramesh Jhawar

Kathryn Ragan

Elizabeth Pearson

Ajay Patil

Pragya Tiwari

Arti

Sandeep Khedkar

Thank you all for reading this far. It was so much fun compiling this. :)

Huts in Andaman

Huts in Andaman, Watercolour on Paper, (7" x 14")

I love these huts that like along the edges of fields. I did this one from a photograph I took during our visit to the beautiful Andaman Islands. I did not like the upper portion and so decided to crop it to this size.

All comments and critiques are most welcome.

Outdoor sketching on Second Mondays

I feel so lucky on the second Monday of every month as the whole world goes to their work except me, because we have second mondays off!(weird isn't it?) But I guess this is more than compensated by having to work on every Saturday.

Old Timers, Pencil on Paper, (6" x 9")

The  problem of my old blog address can now be sorted out finally. Artist friends Crystal Cook and  A. Decker have informed me that the simplest way to set things right would be for every follower of my blog to just delete the old blog in their blog list and then go to http://www.pencilsandbrushes.blogspot.com/ and follow it afresh. Thank you Crystal and A. Decker.

I shall be more thoughtful in the future and avoid such mistakes as changing my blog address in a fit. My apologies for the inconvenience I have caused.

Thank you all for reading.

Outdoor Sketches

Every time  I find watercolour becoming a little difficult I go back to some intensive outdoor sketching to gain confidence.

But somehow, I get complacent easily and quickly and then I want to create only finished work and tend to ignore exercises like making small studies and sketches. I feel the real hurdle for me is the discipline required to keep sketching continually and incessantly. This is not easy to do for someone like me, but luckily there are people like Adebanji Alade who can inspire anyone with the way they sketch and practise.

Thanks to everyone out there who have inspired me and continue to do so withe their art.

Kokan, Pencil on Paper, (6" x 9")

Abandoned, Pencil on Paper, (6" x 9")

Railway Colony III, Pencil on Paper, (6" x 9")

A New Painting and Something Very Important!

Railway Colony III, Watercolour on Paper (17" x 14")

This is another painting I did from one of my sketches of the Railway Colony. I hope you like it.


I have something rather important to share with you dear readers. I have changed my blog address to http://www.pencilsandbrushes.blogspot.com/ with the title "PENCILS AND BRUSHES" . Earlier it used to be http://www.vd-art.blogspot.com/ with the blog title "VINAYAK DESHMUKH ART".  However it seems some else by the name of Deepak Yadav is now using the blog address vd-art.blogspot.com and it is now apppearing in the blog lists of all the followers of my blog with the title "VINAYAK DESHMUKH ART" which is not correct since none of them are actually followers of this blog. In fact this blog does not have even a single follower as of now.  I had requested the blog owner Deepak Yadav by making a comment on one of his posts to change his blog address, but he has deleted it promptly which suggests that he has done it intentionally.


Thank you all for reading so far and I hope to rectify the situation at the earliest. All suggestions and advice regarding this problem as well as regarding the painting are most welcome.

Havelock Island, Andaman

Havelock Beach, Watercolour on Paper, (7.5" x 11.5")

I did this small sketch from a photograph of Havelock beach of Andaman. Its supposed to be one of the most beautiful beaches of Asia. It is a great place to be and surely an artist's paradise. 


All comments and critiques are most welcome.

Still Life with Lemons .... Oil on Canvas Panel

Still Life with Lemons, Oil on Canvas Panel (8" x 10")

Another low key still life with my dark brown TEE as the drapery. I discovered something doing this .... lemons and bottles are not easy stuff to paint ;-)


Thank you for stopping by.

Still life .... Oil on Canvas Panel

Wooden Coin Box and Jewelery Case, Oil on Canvas Panel (10" x 12")

Long name for a small painting. I was inspired by the still lives of the wonderful artist John Fernandes. So I set up this small arrangement and painted it yesterday evening in about 4 hours. I think I am happy with the result. I plan to paint more of these until I get a hang of such low key subjects.


I also had a little bit of news to share. Katherine Tyrell had hosted a competition on her blog Making A Mark asking the participants to name their favourite watercolourist of all times and the reason for that. My comment was selected as the winner and the prize is a calendar on Watercolour published by Tate London. You can see what the participants had to say about their favourite watercolourists here.


I am very excited about the whole thing since I did not expect to win at all.
Thank you all for stopping by.

My Entry for Virtual Paintout

Just Around the Corner, Watercolour on Paper (11" x 15")

This is my entry for Virtual Paintout, June 2011. The topic for this month is New Zealand.
Thanks for stopping by.

A few sketches

 Girl in Bronze, Pencil on Paper (12" x 8")

Ceramic Doll #1, Pencil on Paper (8" x 6")

Ceramic Statue, Pencil on Paper (12" x 8")

A couple of years ago I was really frustrated with the negligible progress I was making with my art. That was when I had the good fortune to be advised by one of Hyderabad's leading artists, Mr. Sanjay Ashtaputre about the virtues of sketching. I took his advice seriously and decided to concentrate only on sketching for some time. I did more than 800 sketches of all sizes and in different media in the next three months. Here are a few of those, all still lives.
Thank you so much for stopping by.

Low Tide #2, Watercolour

Low Tide #2, Watercolour on Paper (15" x 10")
Here's another boat painting! I am somehow not being able to get rid of the "boat" mood.
Thanks for stopping by

Waiting for the Tide, Watercolour

Waiting for the Tide, Watercolour on Paper (11" x 15")

I have never lived by the sea of even by a river or lake, but I dont know why boats attract me so much. I guess I will never get tired of these lovely things.


Thanks for stopping by. All critiques are most welcome.

Chitrakut Falls.... Oil on Canvas

Chitrakut Falls, Oil on Canvas (24" x 30")

This is a painting of the beautiful Chitrakut Waterfalls in Chattisgarh. I did this from one of my wife's photographs. It has taken me nearly 2 weeks to complete this piece. The main problem I think was that if I do not paint for a couple of days, I would have to repaint everything to get that wet-in-wet continuity in the painting. Its been my  experience that oil paintings dry a lot faster in summer than they do in winter. Special note must be taken of this especially when working on medium to large sized works which require more than one session.


Have you also experienced this? Can anyone tell me how one can get around this problem? All critiques and comments are welcome.
Thanks for visiting.

Sunday Sketching in Railway Colony!

Railway Colony Quarters I, Pencil on Cartridge Paper, (8" x 12")

Railway Colony Quarters II, Pencil on Cartridge Paper, (8" x 12")

I have been working on an oil painting for nearly a week now and its still not complete. So I had nothing to post of late. Today morning I felt like doing some outdoor sketching. I did these sketches in Railway Colony, one of my favourite places for sketching and plein air work in Hyderabad. 

It was so refreshing to do these sketches. I just love to do pencil on paper..... no hassles and endless pleasure! What do you think?

All comments and critiques are most welcome. I will be posting the oil painting as soon as it is finished.

Thanks for stopping by.

"Sense and Sensibility" and a Small Sketch

I have long been a fan of the 1995 movie "Sense and Sensibility" with Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet. I felt it is the best movie ever. I still feel so, but recently I had the opportunity to see another version of it that has Hattie Morahan and Charity Wakefield. I think this one ( a TV miniseries by BBC, directed by Andrew Davies) is just as lovely, except of course for the Emma Thompson magic. But nothing to take away from Hattie Morahan who has been just as fabulous. 


I think the world has been deprived of some fine literature because Jane Austen died at the age of 36. I an wathc these movies at least a thousand times and not get bored. Do you guys feel the same way?


Thanks for reading so far. I will leave you with a small sketch I did the other day.

The Violinist, Pencil on Paper, (8" x 8")

Innocence - Pencil on Paper

Innocence, Pencil on Paper (8" x 8")

I love doing pencil sketches once in a while. This is a sketch of a young Indian girl from a rural background.

All comments, suggestions and critiques are most welcome.

Lane in Trimbakeshwar, Twilight: Watercolor on Paper

Lane in Trimbakeshwar: Twilight, Watercolor on Paper, (15"x11")

This is a painting of another beautiful town, Trimbakeshwar. This place is quite close to Nashik in Maharashtra. The place is famous for its Shiva Temple which is one of the jyotilingas. The town as such has its own charms as a place to be painted. I did this one from a photograph I had taken during our visit to the place.

Thank you all for stopping by.

Nrusinhapur III - Watercolor on Paper

Nrusinhapur III, Watercolor on Paper, (11" x 15")

This is another painting of the beautiful Nrusinhapur village. I did it today from one of the many photographs I took of the place. This is going to be a wonderful week with 3 holidays for most of us here in India. I am looking forward to getting some painting done.

Thank you for stopping by.

Nrusinhapur II - Watercolor on paper

Nrusinhapur II, Watercolour on Paper (11" x 15")

A visit to Western Maharashtra and Kokan in particular is always full of visual delights. Nrusinhapur is one such place where the houses have tiled roofs and likely to have so for a long time to come. The village is a watercolorist's paradise.


P.S. I recently made my first international sale.

CHAMPIONS OF THE WORLD!!!

For the first time I am posting about something other than art. But when the occassion is so HUGE, perhaps I may be pardoned :-).

India defeated Sri Lanka yesterday evening at Wankhede Stadium Mumbai to lift the World Cup of Cricket!!! So India are now the world champions again after a gap of 28 years. Cricket is more than a religion in India and the above picture is of our GODS!


The man at the centre of the picture who is sitting on the shoulders of his teammates is Sachin Tendulkar. Considering his contribution to Indian cricket and world cricket in general, he deserved the cup more than anyone else on this planet.
Congratulations SACHIN!
Congratulations INDIA!!!
Team India are now the No.1 Test team as well as the No.1 ODI team.

Nagpur Station: Monochrome Study

Signalman's Cabin, Watercolour on paper (11" x 15")

Its been some time since I have painted anything. Its been my experience that spending a week away from your brushes can make your watercolour skills completely disown you. I have been really busy lately and so thought I might get back to painting with a monochrome study that will let me concentrate on values without bothering about the colours. 

I have had a fascination with railways and everything associated with it. This was done from aa quick sketch done at Nagpur station while waiting for our train.

Thank you so much for stopping by.

Those eyes have seen it all!

Those Eyes Have Seen it All, Oil on Primed Paper (11" x 15")

I did this painting from a photo of an old man from my hometown. I modified the original reference to suit my needs.

The eyes of this man betray a depth of thought and experience gained over a lifetime. That wisdom in his eyes is what I wanted to capture. 

All comments and critiques are most welcome.

Fishing Boat in Telangkhedi

Fishing Boat on Telangkhedi, Watercolour on paper (7" x 15")

I enjoy sketching and spending time on the banks of telangkhedi lake in my hometown, Nagpur. I did this on from one of those sketches. It was a lazy summer afternoon and everything seemed to be still, idle and aimless. Dont know why such things make me nostalgic!

On Western Boulevard, Watercolour (11" x 15")

This is a small watercolour of Cape Town, South Africa, I did using google street view for the Virtual Paintout hosted by Bill Guffey. It was fun to paint thus.I wish I had handled the sky better.

Thanks for stopping by.

A Street in Lonavala

A Street in Lonavala,  Pencil on Paper (3" x 6")

This is a sketch of the lovely town of Lonavala.  Its is a beautiful hilly town in western Maharashtra which is at its best during the monsoons. And I almost forgot the chikkis. This place is also famous for its delicious dry fruit chikkis (a preparation of dry fruit, jaggery, sugar etc.)

Thank you all for stopping by. All comments and critiques are most welcome.