Mountains – Smitten By Watercolors

Dusk in the pass

Darkness deepening in the lower mountain while the upper mountain is bright and sunny. It’s that sort of somber feeling at the end of the day.

Have you noticed that a lot of watercolor artists paint airport landscapes? The aerodynamic shape of an aircraft is very attractive and that is why they sketch or paint the scenes from the airport. I too had planned to paint such a scene sometime. The SeaTac is uniquely positioned because of the Mount Rainier beingContinue reading “SeaTac”

Painting series of Planes

I like to usually paint the surroundings with a subject. It allows me to tell a story. With this painting, I wanted to see if I could tackle planes that were immediately next and a little beyond and then further beyond, and ultimately, way farther beyond the subject. A man I saw pulling a boatContinue reading “Painting series of Planes”

Painting a mountain representation – Story

What I thought would be one painting full of textures became a detail series of 7 or 8 paintings because of my insistence on perfection. I wanted to paint a representation of rugged mountain. The photograph had a great composition. But the mountain was really a huge Mound that was itself a beast-like rocky terrainContinue reading “Painting a mountain representation – Story”

Estimating Values

I tend to paint extra dark because watercolor dries lighter. When I start out, I am quite aware of this fact, but I am guided by my intuition and paint lighter values actually accurately. But over the course of painting next layers, I make a mistake of layering darker values over the initial layer. That’sContinue reading “Estimating Values”

Not so limited palette

I want to be able to say more with less. But I am too conscious and too careful when I go from a rough study to a more detailed work. So I end up with an exactly opposite result. With this series, I was experimenting with going away from limited palette. The road in theContinue reading “Not so limited palette”

Every Fall

In the last 15 hours, two people suggested I paint a fall colors painting. I took it as a sign and stopped what I was already working on to paint this one this morning. It was a go with the flow (sort of literally with watercolors)! It has become a routine every fall, and nowContinue reading “Every Fall”

Boundless and limitless

It is sort of a longing that lives forever in my mind. The sight of a boundless meadow surrounded by limitless mountain ranges. Such a landscape is an assurance that something larger than life exists. I had to carefully use the color application technique in this one. Didn’t want to show everything flat for theContinue reading “Boundless and limitless”

Fine line between the realistic and the abstract

I used a subject of a distant hill to experiment with colors, technique and style. I really wanted to stick to using just the pure pigments. No layering; not too much mixing either. I did use a lot of pure pigment for sure. The first attempt was more of an abstract while the next oneContinue reading “Fine line between the realistic and the abstract”

Old Subject new twist

I have painted this same subject before. Now tried it with a twist, by painting it over gesso. The colors shine even more over gesso. The technique will need getting used to.

Beyond the horizon

After seeing the beauty of the Willapa Bay in Oregon, I just had to paint the magnificence of nature that my eyes couldn’t get enough of. In every direction I looked, I was reminded of the holy principle working on this earth.

Reality or Dream?

When some weighty matters are on our mind, we tend to forget to look at the reality using the lens of logic. Our emotions take over and we seem to ignore the true beauty of everything. We might as well be dreaming while being fully awake!

Assurance

Darkness is all around, and increasing by the minute. You want to hold on to the daylight, but you know it’s not possible. Right at that moment you suddenly see this golden light. It feels like an assurance from the sun that he is going to be back tomorrow.