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.