Sketching The Transcendent Sundargarh – II

Two Days of our Sundargarh sketching trip had gone in a jiffy. The first day it was all about Sundargarh town and the second day the beauty of Tangarmunda, its people and the food had left lasting impression on me. Everything from how the plan changed from Sambalpur to Sundargarh, our journey from Bhubaneswar to Sundargarh and the sketching experience had just been perfect. But the best was yet to come.

Read the first part of Sundargarh Sketching Trip here

Surreal Sarabgarh

09 Jan 2019

Kedar had planned a grand finale to our Sundargarh Sketching Trip. The destination was Sarabgarh Dam, which is approximately 30 kilometers from Sundargarh town. It was also the second day of the bundh which meant we had to leave the town early in the morning once again. By now we were quite used to the chill of the hard winter and got ready well in time. But our auto guy Ashish did not arrive. He had misplaced the auto keys and just could not find it. Due to bundh getting another vehicle was not going to be easy and almost impossible so early in the morning. But somehow none of us felt flustered. Probably the sequence of events in the past few days had given us a sense of calmness. Somehow we knew things will work out. And then suddenly Ashish arrived in his auto. He had managed to start his auto with the help of some jugaad. Wasting no time we got into the auto and though a little late our journey to Sarabgarh dam finally started. But the challenges were not over yet.

In a few minutes after going out of town, Ashish realized that he was out of gas. Being a day of complete shut down he was not hoping to find any gas station open. But once again we all were at peace and were just not getting worried and asked him to keep moving. And again as if a miracle there was this small gas station in the middle of nowhere waiting for us. Ashish was the happiest one at that point, but his joy lasted only a few seconds when he realized that he did not have the key to open the lock of the gas tank. But the trend for the day continued and a solution presented itself no later than the problem was encountered. One of the gas station staff tried to open the lock with his bike key and yes you guessed it right. The lock opened as if it was the original key. Sometimes reality is actually stranger than fiction.

Only when we reached Sarabgarh dam that we realized why Kedar had planned this as our ultimate sketching destination. This place was a paradise. It was something out of a fairy tale. Sarabgarh was Surreal, quiet and enchanting. As we were soaking up the beauty, Kedar had already started looking for lunch arrangements. We happened to find two villagers passing by and Kedar asked them about eateries in the vicinity. As expected there were none and out of the blue Kedar asked them if they could prepare lunch for us. We had just met these two people in the middle of nowhere for the first time in our lives and Kedar was expecting them to prepare lunch for us! But the biggest divine intervention was just about to happen. The elder of the two instructed the younger man to get lunch prepared at his home. We just could not believe our luck. On top of that, the lone fisherman who had caught some fresh fish from the dam also presented himself to us. It was as if Biswajit’s prayer was answered. He was craving for fish earlier during our journey to Sarabgarh. I wanted to pinch myself to check if I was dreaming. But Sarabgarh was no less than a dream.

Lunch Menu at Guru's place — Lunch Menu at Guru’s place

Soon we found a great place to sketch. But problem with beautiful views is that…….. they are beautiful. This beauty can sometimes be overwhelming to the extent that one can easily get carried away by it and not pay attention to some basics of a painting like composition, abstraction and design etc. And somewhere in the middle of the painting when things don’t seem to work out you suddenly realize this and more often than not you feel like a fool. My first work at Sarabgarh dam was all about this struggle. What started in the most enthusiastic ways soon turned out to be a little more than a square foot of confusion and exasperation. But I did carry on and finished the painting. In the end it turned out to be one of the most popular works of the sketching trip; yet another miracle of the day. And for the second work I turned 180 degrees from my place and had this beautifully designed and abstracted scene in front of me. It was crying out to be painted and I obliged. And soon it was time for lunch and as we made way to our vehicle there was good news waiting for us.

Two cute members of Guru's family — Two cute members of Guru’s family

Ashish had found the keys. The keys were there in one of the pockets of his jacket while he had been looking everywhere for it. As our vehicle moved to our lunch destination he looked visibly upbeat and we too, were happy for him. As per our host’s instruction we had to drive up to Masabira village and then all we had to do was to ask anyone where Chuin’s house is. And that is exactly what we did and landed up at our host Chuin aka Guru’s place. Guru was not at home and we were a little hesitant to get inside the house, but Guru’s family welcomed us and served us lunch consisting of Rice, Fish curry and Aloo Bhaja. Sitting on mud floor smeared with cow dung under the thatched roof and having food so lovingly served to us on plates made up of Sal leaves in a person’s house we had met a couple of hours earlier and in a place that seemed to exist in a parallel reality, I could not help but feel a sense of gratitude. The food cooked so simply tasted like nothing I had eaten before, the modest house felt like the most luxurious mansion, the strangers seemed like family. A remote tribal village in Sundargarh, which I had never even heard of, felt like home. Surely this had to be the biggest miracle of the day.

Relishing the lunch at Guru's home — Relishing the lunch at Guru’s home

All good things eventually come to an end. We had to start our journey back to Sundargarh town in some time and had about an hour in our hands. So back at Sarabgarh dam I sketched vigorously. I wanted to make most of the time I had at Sarabgarh. I did two sketched at the same time, working intermittently of each of them painting as fast as I could. And then finally it was time to return.

The next morning we had to start our journey back to Bhubaneswar.

A Fitting Closure

10 Jan 2019

The previous night Ashish had made sure to keep his keys at the right place and was there on time to drop us at the bus stop. We caught the first bus to Sambalpur at 6:00 AM which reached its destination at half past eight. On reaching Sambalpur we moved straight to the temple of Samaleswari or Samalai, the residing goddess of western Odisha. Any trip to western Odisha is not complete without a visit to Samali temple. So we had decided to take the morning bus to Sambalpur which would give us about 5 to 6 hours before our train left from Sambalpur station. At the temple premises we took a room at the guest house and got ready for the day.

The temple was relatively less crowded and we had a good darshan of the goddess. After the darshan and some hot and delicious breakfast from a street vendor it was time to sketch again. As we settled into different corners of the temple premises for sketching the physical exertion of the last few days was starting to take its toll. My body just wanted to rest. But my mind was getting excited at the prospect of sketching the beautifully play of light and shade of Samali Temple. I somehow forced myself to focus and started sketching. And as the sketch slowly started to develop the physical exertion also went away. As the scene was well lit I was using a lot of primary unbroken colors in the sketch and probably those colors were working their magic on me.

Or may be it was the blessing of the goddess which had been guiding us through the last five days.

Sketching session was followed by delicious temple lunch prasad. And after a short nap it was time to return back.

Sundargarh has been a revelation. It was pitch perfect in everything an artist could ask for. The beauty of nature, the simplicity and warmth of the people, the simple nutritious and mouth watering food and a feel of transcendence in the air; it had everything. But there was even a bigger revelation. It was about the working of nature.

Nature has a rhythm. Sometimes we are lucky enough to get aligned to this rhythm in mind body and spirit. And when this happens everything that a person needs just present themselves to her… at the right time. All one need to do is to have faith in this force and walk on. And what follows is what every person truly wants on this earth.

True Bliss!

En Plein Air at Sarabgarh - 1, 09 Jan 2019 — En Plein Air at Sarabgarh – 1, 09 Jan 2019

En Plein Air at Sarabgarh - 2, 09 Jan 2019 — En Plein Air at Sarabgarh – 2, 09 Jan 2019

En Plein Air at Sarabgarh - 3, 09 Jan 2019 — En Plein Air at Sarabgarh – 3, 09 Jan 2019

En Plein Air at Sarabgarh - 4, 09 Jan 2019 — En Plein Air at Sarabgarh – 4, 09 Jan 2019

En Plein Air at Samalai Temple 10 Jan 2019

IIT KGP En Plein Air Diary – Chapter VI

The Insignificant One

29 July 2017, Day 6 of the shoot

When sun comes out after continuous rains of almost a week, it really does look bright and glorious. The light looks fresh and the greenery even fresher. Which is how it was today morning -the lush green Jnan Ghosh stadium washed in the ochre light of the sun was a stunner. And when nature is at its best you know who the only real artist is.

Also read the Prologue , Chapter I , Chapter II, Chapter III, Chapter IV and  Chapter V of IITKGPEPA Diary!

With grass below my feet.... — With grass below my feet….

As I approached Jnan Ghosh stadium today early in the morning, I could see NSO classes going on in full swing. The physical training coach was shouting out commands for an aerobic session and a huge gathering of students in front of him were following his movements and instructions. As I got close their actions seemed to be almost nonchalant and understandably so. There was something common between the NSO squad and me today morning. Both of us did not want to perform what we were supposed to perform in Jnan Ghosh.

It was indeed a difficult task to paint today morning as I just wanted to enjoy the fleeting beauty of nature to the fullest. I wanted to enjoy that emptiness of space around me where Mother Nature was busy playing with an analogous and minimalist colour scheme of yellow and green. But I was there to do a job. So I tried to fill up my canvas with same hues and tones to capture the rare golden ochre light which was slowly turning harsh as the sun moved overhead.

The work I ended up with was a decent one. But still it was a humbling experience to paint at Jnan Ghosh stadium today. The beauty of nature is beyond human imagination and human grasp. Every time I am faced with such beauty it makes me realise of my insignificance and the insignificance of what I do.

But I guess this realization is a good thing and one of the major benefits of painting en plein air.

Next - Redemption at Harrys'

IIT KGP En Plein Air Diary – Chapter III

Saying a Prayer

25 July 2017, Day 3 of the shoot

It had been two days since our last shoot and the rain God has not been benevolent. To be fair, He had been kind for some time and we had shot at Harry’s yesterday under a light drizzle and fading light. But there was a goof up. The footage had gotten deleted by mistake. These were not good signs. Hence, I had prayed really hard this morning, and guess what -it was answered!

Also read the Prologue , Chapter I and Chapter II of IITKGPEPA Diary!

In the afternoon I saw sun’s rays for the first time in the last four days; and what a relief it was! The skies cleared up and within an hour I was there painting at the institute building, better known as insti building or just insti.

My fold-able palette best suited for outdoor works

It was admission time and classes were also getting over. Hence there was a big rush everywhere. The new guys were trying to find directions to various places; a few of them along with their parents. There were some parents who were leaving and hence having last words with their sons and daughters. I could catch some of the conversations and was amazed by how the parting words have not changed much over the years. The usual “have your breakfast in time, call every day, sleep on time…” stuff. Useless stuff really, but I guess all these serve well to hide the turbulence of emotions that parents go through at this point of time.

****************

The architecture of institute building looks deceptively simple. But its only when I started drawing out the shapes I realized how difficult it was to put it down on paper from a three quarter view. As I kept observing the structure to draw, I could not help but notice how massive and impressive it was. It stood there like a giant with the firmness of a mountain and gentleness of a mother. While the building extended a long way horizontally to keep it rooted, the library tower rose up and kissed the skies. It was like a metaphor of modern India that this very building has helped build; or at least has hoped to build.

The place where it all began twenty years earlier

With the kind of farewell moments happening around me, my mind could not help but drift back twenty years in time when I, as a first year student stood in front of this very building. Excited about being here yet, humbled by the aura of this structure I had prayed for a fruitful time for the next four years of my life. And those four years had been more than fruitful. It had been nothing less than a revelation.

My painting was coming to a closure just in time as the light began to fade. I was happy with the outcome. At the same time the memories of my KGP time were making me feel very nostalgic. Overwhelmed with the sea of emotions flowing through me, as I began to pack my kit I said a prayer for the second time today looking up at this great structure of modern India.

The film crew in action as I come close to completion

Nothing in particular; Just a prayer… I can’t even remember it now. Maybe it was for the success of IITKGPEPA project.

Read next part when I painted something that I had wanted to paint for 'a very long time'.

IIT KGP En Plein Air Diary – Chapter II

The Memory Remains

23 July 2017, Day 2 of the shoot

As predicted by the weatherman, the rain continued to pour. But we had a plan in place. And that plan was to paint at Azad hall where we would be able to get some cover. But I was not really ready for the cover under which I finally painted today.

(Please read the Prologue and Chapter I of IITKGPEPA Diary before continuing!)

Painting of Abul Kalam Azad at entrance of the hall

After a hearty breakfast at TGH I started off towards Azad hall with my umbrella. As I walked towards my hall of residence memories were starting to come back. The film crew had not reached our rendezvous and I had some time to kill. So I started to move around in the hall. As I walked around the hostel rooms, basketball court, play grounds, mess top, common room and corridors, everything around me were starting to play tricks on my mind. I was suddenly transported back in time. I was standing there not surrounded by buildings, but by memories. Memories that had lain dormant for a long time, but today they were so fresh that they felt more real than the physical reality around me.

I was shaken out of the trance by Ashok Da. And then I met up with Govind Da and Sam D. Azad HP (both ex and current) joined me soon and to my surprise they already had arrangements in place for the shoot. While painting at Nehru Museum yesterday I met with Piyush (Azadian) to whom I had casually mentioned about our plans of painting at Azad hall today. Meanwhile he had gotten in touch with Sashwat (Ex HP) who borrowed a multicolored picnic umbrella from the canteen at Krishna tower, so that I could paint under it.

Now painting under a multicolored picnic umbrella is really not simple. You have these different colors of light tinting your paper while painting which make judgement of colors quiet tricky. But that was the best arrangement that we had today and it is only such unpredictable challenges which makes painting en plein air all the more interesting. So I went ahead. But another challenge popped up even sooner.

The camera crew busy with their work as I am busy with mine

I was there to paint the scene in front of me. But my memories had completely overwhelmed me and I wanted to paint my memories. And in this tussle finally the latter won. I guess I had lost interest in the outer reality today as I was in deep touch with my inner reality. So eventually my brushes painted a scene from my memory. A happy memory of coming back to the hall after classes, having snacks at mess and having conversations with everyone. That was the time of the day when I would feel exactly like how it feels to be back home.

Painting displayed in the mess during lunch

And today while painting at Azad hall I was back home.

Next - My Experience while I painted Insti Building

IIT KGP En Plein Air Diary – Chapter I

The story always begins here

22 July 2017, Day 1 of the shoot

Today was the day when shooting for IITKGP En Plein Air project was planned to begin. And it did begin today, but not as planned.

At least that’s what I thought.

(Please read the Prologue to this story first!)

The shoot was supposed to begin at Jnan Ghosh Stadium at 6:00 in the morning. With butterflies in my stomach, all I could do last night was to keep turning sides in bed. Trying to check the time every now and then also did not help my cause. And then, around 5 in the morning, I heard the first drops of rain. Soon, it had turned into a relentless downpour; and all I could do was to stand against the large glass window of Technology guest house and look at the skies in desperation. There were no signs of the rains letting up.

nature too painted nehru museum — Nature too painted a picture of Nehru museum

It was 9 in the morning and the rain was still coming down, albeit much weaker. I checked the weather report for the day. The weather man’s prediction was not good at all. It was supposed to rain the whole day. Then I checked the weather report for the next seven days. And if I were to believe the report, the only time when we can shoot would be only after six days. KGP is supposed to have continuous rains for the next six days. At that point devastated would have been an understatement to describe how I felt.

camera crew in discussion — Camera crew in serious discussion

It took about an hour to gather myself and I started looking for possible solutions. A sudden passing image of chemical department came to my mind, which I had visited yesterday to find a possible aerial viewing point for Nehru museum. The cycle-stand of chemical department was covered and it had an open view of the Nehru museum. And hence I could paint from there even in rain. Suddenly energized with this new possibility, I packed my painting kit and started off. Soon the film crew joined me; and according to them the light was perfect for the shoot. But that was not the only thing that was perfect that day.

The cycle shed of chemical dept turned out to be one of the best spots from where I could paint Nehru Museum. It was drizzling and the wet roads and moist air created one of the most perfect romantic rainy moods for painting. As clichéd as it may sound, the atmosphere was magical. Hijli detention camp stood there nonchalantly like a graceful danseuse bathed in the rain and glowing in the faint warm sunlight trying to break through the cover of clouds. While it was difficult for anyone to miss her beauty, she made no airs about it. She just stood there today(as she had been doing all these years), watching rickshaw puller dada go about his job as usual while students came and went. She had stood there watching generations come and go. She had seen history being made and repeated. She stood there when IIT was born in her. And she stood watching even today as the IITKGP En Plein Air project took off.

Back in 1951 the story had begun here. And for IITKGPEPA it had to begin here.

Just as planned by the universe.

Next - Find out about my struggle while painting Azad Hall

A Sketching Trip to Beautiful and Resplendent Mayurbhanj

Shimilipal tiger reserve in Mayurbhanj district of north Odisha had been in my bucket list for quiet a long time. But somehow luck had never been on my side and I could never make a pilgrimage to the tiger temple of Odisha. But then I had my ‘Oh Yes Finally’ moment in November this year. And it was not just a trip to Shimilpal. It was a sketching trip to the tribal hinterlands of northern Odisha. I was going to be painting in Mayurbhanj en plein air. And the icing on cake was that I made this trip with a group of sketchers of Bhubaneswar Sketching Club (BSC). I could not have wished for more.

Baripada

Baripada is the district headquarter of Mayurbhanj district and this is where we flagged off our sketching marathon on 4th of November. Coincidentally it was Kartik Poornima on the same day, a festival which is celebrated with a lot of enthusiasm across Odisha. People had gathered on the streets early in the morning after boita bandana and it created a very energetic atmosphere. We happen to be at MPC junior college which is actually a palace now functioning as a educational institute. The sunlight was also quiet angular and it created very interesting shadow patterns on the walls of the college. All in all it was a perfect morning to paint on location and all of us enjoyed sketching there. Later we moved to collector’s office which is housed in an old British building and sketched there.

Baldiha

On day 2 we headed to a tribal village named Baldiha. But before going inside the village we decided to sketch at the Baldiha dam where many films have been shot. When we reached the dam it was not difficult to understand why so many films have been shot there. The vast expanse of the river flowing smoothly till the dam and them the overflowing water from the dam gushing down with brutal force was something I could not take my eyes off from. We sketched here till lunch. After a hearty lunch of simple and delicious local food we moved inside the village.

Sketching inside the village was one of the highlights of the trip. The villagers welcomed us with a smile everywhere we went. I sketched in the courtyard of a house. It was amazing to see how the living space is shared with cattle, goats, poultry which itself is surrounded by agricultural land and forest. The life of the villagers was all about inclusion, interdependence, community and restraint. It was such a humbling experience to sketch there.

Similipal

It was the third and last day of our trip and a day I had been waiting for a really long time. We were going into Similipal and if possible we were going to do some sketching there. Once we got inside the forest, Similipal started to reveal its beauty gradually. And it was better than what I could have imagined. It was serene yet edgy. Sort of sensual in a way. We traveled about 120 kms into the forest. On the way we made stops at a few waterfalls. But nothing prepared me for our last pit stop at Uski waterfall. We could get really close to the waterfall. In fact two of us trekked upto the fall through the river and it was a lot of fun. Watching the water gush down the hill made time stop. It was difficult to take my eyes off it. Unfortunately it was starting to get dark and we started our journey back to Baripada. And in the meanwhile we did manage to sketch at a couple of places including Uski waterfall.

All of us had a great time doing intensive sketching and enjoying the natural beauty of Mayubhanj for three days in stretch. But those three days seemed to have flown by in a jiffy. Three days indeed were too short to soak in the beauty of north Odisha. I am already planning my next trip there.

The sketchers of Bhubaneswar Sketching Club

p.s. I also made a small video on our Similipal visit. You can see it here.

The Creative Process – Painting Outdoors

“Painting from nature is not copying the object; it is realizing one’s sensations.” -Cezanne

The sparkling morning dew on the grass that’s still refreshingly damp to touch. The whispering wind that caresses, carrying on with it the faint whiff of wildflowers and the sounds of roosting birds. The rains that darken the sky, mist the horizon and tap a melody over rustling leaves. This is what the artist is faced with when painting en plein air – where all his senses of sight, smell, sound and touch are continuously engaged, where he is in direct contact with nature’s life force. And in turn, this lends to his art something that is so invigorating – that it never fails to touch a chord with the viewer. A work done in the comfort of indoors may be technically more accomplished, but nothing can match the vitality of a watercolor painted outdoor in natural light!

The above paragraph was penned down by one of my writer friends called Amit. And I think it really captures the essence of painting en plein air. Sometimes these forces of nature have such a strong effect that a painting just happens spontaneously. But still most times there is a creative process that is at work when artists paint outdoors. This process is necessary not only to make successful paintings, but also to maximize learning and the joy of painting outdoors. This week I am headed to IIT Kharagpur, my Alma Mater to capture few of its beautiful location en plein air. And I thought it will be a good time to discuss about my creative process of painting outdoors.

This is the second post in my series of posts on Creative process. In the first post of this series, I have talked about the creative process in a generic way.

The Creative Process of Painting Outdoors

Identifying subject and the sweet spot

The first thing that happens in any creative process is Inspiration. Morning and afternoon light has the capability to turn mundane scenes to great subjects. Hence I generally prefer to look for inspiration in the morning or in the afternoon and avoid the flat noon light. A good subject does not necessarily mean a very beautiful scene. In fact sometimes a very beautiful scene may not turn out to be a great subject. What I aim to find in a scene is basically big abstract shapes, play of light and may be an interesting perspective. What I avoid is is clutter of too many shapes and colors. When I have found my subject, the next task is to find a good place to station myself for the next 2-3 hours from where I can observe the subject and paint. In fact the spot from where I paint generally becomes more important than the subject itself because if I am not comfortable in a place it is difficult for me to paint. When I find the perfect place for the perfect subject I call it sweet spot. All this exercise of finding a sweet spot involves quiet a bit of walking and exploration. Hence I keep my outdoor equipment very light and minimal and paint on papers that are no bigger than 11 x 15 inch (quarter sheet).

Getting a Feel

To begin with I only take out my portable chair and sketchbook and just start sketching anything that catches my eye. People, trees, buildings, cars, bikes, lamp post… It could just be anything. I just sketch to get a feel of the surrounding. Most of the times I would get my figures which later come into my paintings from these sketches itself. This exercise of getting a feel this way sets off the creative process of painting outdoors and it kind of prepares me mentally.

The Thumbnail and Idea Sketches

detail sketch of the temple and thumbnail

When I have sketched enough I start narrowing down on the scene that I would be painting. I look around through a view finder made with my palms to get an idea of the portion of the scene to paint. Squinting helps to identify the big shapes in the subject at this time. When I have found my subject I do a few thumbnail/composition studies to reduce the subject to 2-3 major tonal shapes. In these sketches I may move things around, add something that may not be there (without taking away from the subject), merge shapes together. This is an exercise to get my composition right without losing the tonal layout. Sometime I even color these sketches lightly to get an idea if my color scheme will work or not.

Execution – Spontaneity v/s Original Idea

When I am done with my preparation I finally setup my easel to paint. At this point I feel I have got it all worked out in my head. I feel very confident of making a great painting. I draw my subject and then start my painting with great enthusiasm. But somewhere in the middle of the painting many a times my world comes crashing down. I find myself completely lost. After all the medium I paint in is watercolor. And it has a mind of its own. It has its own powers to guide the painting. And when that happens its always better to go with the flow. Its better to change my plans and go in the direction watercolor wants me to go. Believe me or not, most of the times it does result in a better painting. The best parts in the paintings actually turns out to be what I did not paint, so to say.

Reflection

A sketh with color notes — A sketch with color notes

Ninety Nine percent of the times I am not happy with my painting on location. When I get back home I put my work in a drawer or a corner so that I cant see it for a few days. When I see it after a few days it does look much better. It is probably because I do not have the actual scene in front of me to compare with. But at the same time I look at it critically and if needed I make some tonal or color corrections. One trick I learnt from a friend is to take picture of the painting, print it and then try the corrections on the print first to check if it works or not. This way I can be sure that the changes to the painting will not kill it at least.

Indoor v/s Outdoor

somedays its just about sketching — some days its just about sketching

There are three major differences between working in the studio and working outdoors. First is the time factor. When you are painting outdoors you have to finish (or almost finish) your painting within a shorter time period. Second is the tools and materials that you can use will always remain limited. And third is that the outdoor environment is very dynamic and can be very uncomfortable. The secret to painting outdoors is to turn these into positives. Painting fast with a purpose often takes away over thinking and brings in spontaneity and freshness. Working with limited material makes the work simple which is the hall mark of a great watercolor work. And the dynamic environment is a great source of learning and also brings in new elements to one’s work.

In the end I would stress upon the fact that this is just a generalized process I follow. But in reality sometimes I don’t sketch at all and directly paint while at other times I keep sketching and never paint. While a process can help you never be afraid to go with your gut feel. Its more fun that way.

En plein air Mausima temple, Bhubaneswar

En plein air Distillery District, Toronto

En plein air Mukteswar temple, Bhubaneswar

Watercolor Technique Series 4 – Brushwork

So what is Brushwork after all and why it should be such a big deal while painting in watercolor?

Brushwork can be defined as the process of applying paint on canvas/paper using a brush.What contributes the final outcome of brushwork in a painting (in context of watercolor technique) are amount and consistency of paint in the brush, the shape and size of the brush, wetness and surface texture of the paper, angle of the brush to the paper while applying paint, motion or movement of the brush, pressure of the brush on the paper, speed of the brush on paper, how the brush is held etc. In watercolor painting brushwork may seem not to be that important. That is because most of the painting in watercolor can be done by wash and wet in wet techniques. And many times we just let watercolor do its own things on paper where brush is not involved. So we can do away with brushwork in a watercolor painting and still produce great looking works.But is it really so?

Even in wash and wet in wet watercolour techniques size and shape of the brush, angle and pressure of the brush, motion and speed of the brush play an important role. If you really think of it anything that you do with a brush on paper is actually brushwork. Brushwork is the major technique that contributes to the ‘style’ of a watercolor artist. Moreover unlike other surfaces watercolor paper is responsive to how the brush touches it. You go a little hard and the surface can get damaged. But at times a painting demands aggressive brushwork. Hence brushwork is as important (if not more) to watercolor painting as it is to any other medium.

Examples of Brushwork Watercolor Technique

Below are some examples of brush work in my paintings. These are only a few examples. The possibilities of brushwork are actually limitless and you have to experiment with different ways to really understand the range of brushwork that you can produce.

Natural marks of a round brush — The white flowers in this painting are nothing but natural marks of a round brush in different tones, sizes and direction.

Fast and confident use of rigger brush — The line shadows of different objects is actually what gives this painting movement and energy. These have been done with confident and fast strokes using a loaded rigger brush.

Flat brush side strokes — The textures edge of the distant hills in this painting has been achieved by putting a semi loaded flat brush almost flat to the paper pointing away and then moving the brush forward and backward rhythmically.

Synthetic round brush strokes — The reflection of the boats is done with a synthetic round brush using rhythmic overlapping horizontal strokes. Synthetic brush is used to get the fine pointed ends of the reflection shape.

Round brush side strokes — The almost dry leaves of the tree are done using the side of a round brush.

Flat brush strokes — The hair of the portrait is done with overlapping fast strokes of a flat brush.

Dry brush strokes — Fast and confident dry brush strokes using rigger and round brushes give life to this painting.

Dry brush on wet strokes — The brown buildings in this painting are loaded with various types brush works. And this creates movement and interest.

Practicing Brushwork

Brushwork is all about practice. The idea is to get used to a brush and build muscle memory of using it in different ways. Hence a lot of deliberate practice is needed along with the practice you get from doing a painting. There are many type of brush control practice available on internet. You can pick up few of them and practice. The brush exercises by John Lovett is simple to understand and great for practicing.

The last thing I would like to touch upon is what is known as ‘Economy of brush strokes’. There is an optimum amount of brushwork that works for a painting. Anything beyond that makes the painting too heavy. It is always good to stay below the optimum amount of brushwork than to overdo it. Hence keeping amount of brush strokes to minimum in every stage of the painting is very crucial in retaining the freshness of the painting. And this fact can never be stressed enough.

The Creative Process of Making Art 1 : Generic Creative Process

As an artist, there is this particular question that I often face from different people on a daily basis. I am sure all my artist friends around the world must be facing this question too. And the question is “How muchtime do I typically take to make a painting”! I generally answer this question as, “Anything between a few minutes to a few years”. And then the eyebrows start to get raised.

The Creative Process

People often look at the time taken to make a piece of art as when a person is actually painting. And that time for me ranges from a few minutes to a few hours. But that is just the final execution time for the painting. All the time spent before that to reach that point in time when I am actually painting is more important and that time is highly variable. All the thoughts processed, all the ideas explored, all the actions taken to crystallize the idea and get clarity (many times just trusting intuition) and every other little things done to reach a point when I start to put colors on paper (including the action of putting colors on paper) is what can be called as my Creative Process of making Art. And this process varies depending on whether I am working outdoors or at the studio, working from life or working from photographs, working on some painting of my own or working on a commission.

Though its termed as a process its not necessarily a set of steps that I follow or have to be followed by anyone. The creative process sometimes can be purely spontaneous while at other times its methodical. But generally it is a mix of method and madness most of the times. In this series of posts I’ll take you through my creative process for different contexts. In this post I’ll touch upon my creative process in very broad terms.

Inspiration

In my opinion art can not happen without inspiration. Inspiration is basically that strong and sudden emotion that makes you want to go and create. It can come anywhere and anytime. It can come from a beautiful scene, a song, a story, from another art work or it can just be idea that strikes you. Inspiration can come from anywhere and many times it is from places you least expect. But unless you are looking for it there is a very small probability that it is going to strike you. So to begin the creative process look for inspiration and let it strike you.

Exploration

While painting outdoors I just sketch anything that catches my eye to form an idea

Just because you have been inspired, it does not mean it can turn into a master piece right away. However in some cases inspirations seems to give birth to great art works directly. It seems so because rest of the creative process happens inside artist’s head and that can not be observed externally.

When inspiration strikes, the next step is to search for that idea which would express your intention (born out of the inspiring moment) clearly on canvas. This is where imagination starts to come into play and continues to play a role in rest of the process. For me just sketching without any fixed ideas in head (exploring) or making small thumbnail studies helps in reaching the idea that would work on paper. Sometimes nothing works. In such cases just give it some time and space and the idea would come when you have almost forgotten about it.

Research

Many a times a painting needs some background research for factual correctness. For example if you are painting a scene from a bygone era you can not paint the figures with cell phones in their hands. You need to find out about things like clothing, vehicles, architecture etc of that period. Research typically includes reading, internet searches, talking to experts, travel and discussing with other people. While painting outdoors this process is much simpler as the subject is right in front of you.

Preparation

This stage consists of a lot of sketching if I am painting from a photograph. I generally use different mediums to sketch. I also make sketches of different sizes. While painting outdoors also I do a few sketches of my surroundings to get a feel of the place.When you sketch your hands and mind warm up and ideas start to get crystallized. It brings clarity in your head.

This stage may involve learning to work with a new medium or picking up a new skill or technique. In such cases preparation time is typically a few months to few years. The exploration stage also involves sketching. But here the sketches are done with some idea and intent unlike the free sketching in exploration stage.

Feeling for the ‘Aha’ moment

There are only subtle differences in these two sketches. But the Aha moment came for the one on the right probably because of the difference in lighting

This is the stage that is quite elastic in terms of time. Sometimes I am okay with the first sketch itself. And more often than not it takes many sketches to reach that ‘Aha’ moment. Its that moment when the sketch is able to match the unseen vision. And it does not have to be the latest sketch you would have done. It could be an earlier sketch which did not appeal to you when it was done. But later when you see it with a fresh mind it seems to work. Here you can ask how can a sketch match up to something that is still not clearly visible even in your head. Well the question is absolutely valid. The eureka moment is actually intuitive and its like a spontaneous uplifting emotion that I have come to trust. And when that moment comes I dont explore any further. That sketch becomoes the reference for my final painting.

Sometimes that ‘Aha’ moment never comes. In such cases I dont go ahead with the painting. But sometimes I just looks at technicalities of the composition, color scheme etc and go ahead with the final work just to see how it turns out.

Execution

This is the implementation stage where the final painting is executed. All the previous process steps put together can be called as the build up stage which as I said earlier can last from a few minutes to few months and can go even up to years. All that time helps to bring clarity and confidence for executing the final work. But that clarity and confidence does not have to be 100%. In fact for me it has never been 100%. There is always room for spontaneity and improvisations. Especially when working with watercolors there has to enough room for things to happen naturally on paper.

Avoiding the ‘Oh No’ moment

Most paintings are killed when they begin to approach completion. A false stroke here and there towards the end of painting especially when working with watercolors can spoil all the good work that you would have done before that. So I prefer to be careful and take time to do the final touches in a painting to avoid the ‘Oh no’ moment.

Contrary to what I have said here sometimes an unintended stroke has actually worked for the painting. But the chance of that happening is very low.

Evaluation and Adjustments

The top painting was rejected after evaluation stage and painting below was done at the back of the paper.

When a painting has just been done one can be very attached to it. At times you may never see any glaring issues with it and at other times you may find faults even where there is none. So when I finish a painting I put it away for a few days. Typically 2-3 weeks works fine. Then I come back to it and do a critical evaluation. Depending on the evaluation I may do some minor changes and adjustments. But I dont do any major changes. If there are huge issues with the paintings I dump it in rejects drawer. Sometimes I paint it again on new paper or on the backside of the paper. Cropping the picture is also one of the things I sometimes resort to.

Learning

The creative process does not stop when a painting is done. You would always learn something new (however small it may be) from every painting. Its a good idea to document it by taking pictures and making a note somewhere. You can also take feedback from appropriate persons about your work and see how can you improve it. Many a times you stumble upon a technique, brush stroke or color mix in the process of making a painting. Make a note of it in your sketchbook and see how can you use it in your subsequent work.

The creative process is not linear. Its a loop and hence a never ending process. An artist just keeps traversing the loop again and again throughout his life. But every traversal of the loop makes her a better artist and her works more mature. Creative process is like a roller coaster ride of emotions. Generally the lows are more than the highs. But the high, when it comes is that of pure joy.

Watercolor Technique Series 3 – Glazing

This is the third post of Watercolor Technique series and in case you have to gone through the earlier two posts (watercolor wash technique and wet in wet watercolor technique) I highly recommend you do so as these techniques are prerequisite for learning glazing watercolour technique.

Glazing is a watercolor technique in which a layer of thin transparent paint is laid down over another layer of paint without disturbing it. Glazing is used for many purposes. You can use glazing to build up tones, adjust colors, mix colors on paper. You can also use glazing to get color depth and movement in your paintings.

Glazing Watercolor Technique

To understand glazing technique first you need to find out 2 to 3 different color glasses. It should not be transparent white. It should have some color. Red, yellow, Blue, Purple.. anything would do. Now take one glass and lay it over the other glass. What do you see? Light now passes through both the colored glasses creating a new color. What happens when you put two glasses of the same color on top of each other? The color seems darker. Glazing technique works exactly like these glass filters. In this watercolor technique you are creating micro thin filters of paint on top of one another. Lets now see how you do it.

Take two pieces of watercolor paper; either rough or cold pressed (know more about watercolor paper here). Give a flat wash of any transparent blue color (suggestion – french ultramarine) on one of them and any transparent red color (suggestion – crimson) on the other.
Let it dry completely. Its better to leave it for over an hour or so to dry. In humid conditions leave it overnight to dry. The idea is that the paint should dry well, so that when another layer of paint is applied on top of it, the original layer does not get disturbed. If the original layer is disturbed it will form mud. You can use a hair drier to dry the paint. But use the drier only after the paper has dried to touch, else you’ll be disturbing the pigments.
Now on the blue color wash apply a layer of red color wash. Do it as softly as possible. If you apply any force on the paper through your brush, the pigments from the blue wash will get disturbed. Hence do it as softly as possible. Also do it as quickly as possible.
On the paper with a red wash glaze over with blue paint. Let both the paper dry.

If you did you glazing correctly what you’ll end up with is two different shades of purple on both the papers. I hope by now you understand the analogy of color filters for glazing technique. Also you’ll see that on both the papers the shade of purple you get are different from each other. This difference is due to the difference in order of the color applied. When light bounces off the paper it goes through a blue filter and then a red filter in one case and in the other case it goes through a red filter first followed by blue filters. Hence in the first case you’ll see more of red in the purple while in the second case you’ll see more of blue.

Wet in Wet Watercolor Glazing

Glazing can be used to generate movement

Glazing can also be done with wet in wet watercolor technique just like using wash technique described above. But you have to be extra careful about drying of the paint. The first layer of wet in wet wash should be completely crisp dry. Leave the paper for a day or two for the pigments to really stick to the paper. And this works well on rough paper only. Cold pressed paper may work to some extent. For the second layer wet in wet wash avoid using a brush to wet the paper. Its better to use a sprayer to wet the paper. This way you’ll minimize the chance of disturbing any pigment from the original layer of paint.

In wet in wet glazing it is very difficult to have anything more than 2-3 layers, while in glazing using wash technique you can have as many as 8-10 layers if done correctly.

Glazing technique is a time consuming process as you have to wait for each layer to dry completely. But the result achieved through glazing is something that can not be produced in any other medium. A tone built up using 3-4 layers of glazes has more color depth and movement than a color of the same intensity laid down flat. I’ll leave you with a few of my works as examples where I have used glazing watercolor technique to achieve color depth and movement.