Tag: Art

My summer

So a week ago I hosted a watercolor challenge (on the suggestion of my daughter) on IG! It was a mini challenge with prompts related to my favorite season – Summer! And I’m going to share my work from that challenge. It was a wonderful experience and it was refreshing to see some very beautiful pieces of artworks by talented artists on instagram.

My favorite summer dessert!

I used to love the mountains and streams (and I still do) but the sea has changed me. The wide blue skies, the turquoise waters and the golden beach….need I say more?

I totally believe in this quote by Kellie Elmore. Do you?

What is your favorite thing to do on summer days/evenings? Stargazing is one of my fav activities (not just during summer) and whenever I spot the Orion I’m ecstatic!

Florals are my favorite things to paint not just with watercolors but also digitally on procreate. And dragonflies have become my signature style as I just can’t stop painting them!

Tell me what do you love most about summer? I would really love to hear from you!

Until the next post😀

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Still summer

Hello how’re you all doing? It’s been more than a while since I last posted anything here on WordPress! So here I am sharing something that I most love – my art!

Summery flowers in loose watercolor (my favorite style)

And here are closeups of some of them!

Wild pink poppies
Loosely painted pink peonies
And a pair of peachy roses

Have a lovely weekend😍

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The Spring Garden

This painting has been inspired by the memory of my grandparents’ garden back in India. There was this river stone studded path that ran from the patio all the way to the main gate.

On either side of that path were fragrant flowers that graced the flowerbeds, a dense litchi orchard and a pretty little pond inhabited by a turtle, some fish and a few lotus flowers.

There was this bright red swing set in the middle of the orchard that my brother and I loved to visit everyday. There were so many secret little places to play hide and seek, fish to observe, bird songs to listen to and the fresh air of the valley to breathe in.

Their home and garden have been renovated since then and a lot of things have changed but the memories of holidays spent at my grandparents have not.

So when a group of artist friends and I picked up a collaboration theme – Spring Garden, my thoughts floated back to those sweet moments spent in a forever spring garden – in the cool shade of the litchi trees where dragonflies followed the fragrance of sweet smelling roses and tulips and one little turtle lazed under the afternoon sun between the lotus blossoms.

Have a great Sunday😊🌸🍄🪴

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A walk in the woods

A path in the woods lined by tall oaks and the scent of wildflowers permeates the air….

Do I hear a babbling brook somewhere?

Finally a clearing…bluebells and wild mushrooms lining a clear stream and the scent of fresh pine in the air…..

Did you enjoy this stroll in the woods?

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Watercoloring a succulent

I started painting a succulent last night and simply couldn’t put down my paintbrush. It was such a meditative experience!

Pretty little thing

If you have not yet, you should definitely give this a try! Painting one leaf at a time, layer after layer, in shades of greens and a little turquoise here and there – I lost track of time!

Have a peaceful weekend😊🙏🏼

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Hello

Hello again!

Some of you must be familiar with this herb called Holy Basil also known as Tulsi in India. It’s a fragrant herb used as an ingredient both in cooking as well as in traditional medicine like Ayurveda!

It seems strange but as I looked at the art prompt “houseplants”yesterday on instagram, the first thing that came to mind was this herb with memories of the pretty plant sitting snug in a clay pot in my mom’s yard.

What I remember most about it growing up in India was the “tulsi tea” that my mom often brewed to cure a cough. She plucked fresh leaves and let them boil in the water along with tea leaves before adding some milk and sugar. I loved that tea – the fragrance and the warmth of it all.

So this is it for now. I hope to write more often.

Take care and stay safe!

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Redbubble

Some time ago my daughter and I opened a shop called Artsygals on Redbubble. For those of you who don’t know Redbubble is an online market that sells print-on-demand products based on the artist’s designs. It is a good starting point for any artist who wants to share their work with the world as well as make some money out of that (although that might take some time)!

So I invite you to visit our shop and have a look at some of our designs and artwork on a variety of products….

Cushion cover
Tote bag

The above two are examples of my floral watercolor art on products. The following two cacti designs are examples of my daughter’s artwork on products. She likes to work with watercolor, gouache, and acrylics mostly while I like to work with watercolors mostly.

I phone case
Water bottle.

Do stop by our shop and have a look at our work. Thank you!!!

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Growth as an artist

The inspiration to paint this came from an earlier and similar watercolor I’d done last year around the same time. So I decided to redo the older one with a fresh perspective! (If you scroll down all the way you’ll find it).

So here it is – a beautiful morning, the sun slowly rising behind the mountains, its rays lighting up the top of the mountains and the lavender fields!

And here’s the older version from last year. Sometimes I think it is a good exercise to redo an older piece of art or take inspiration from one. After completing the painting I could assess how much I had grown as an artist.

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Blueberries

It was a cloudy day and I was looking around for something to inspire me to paint. I peeked into the refrigerator and found some left over blueberries. I took a cup and carelessly dropped the blueberries into it letting some scatter around it and voila! this turned into a perfect piece of inspiration.

Where do you get your inspiration from?

Watercolor and Ink Illustration

Lately I have been practicing and exploring watercolor and ink. Here is a sunflower I tried painting different ways – watercolor alone as well as before and after using ink.

I discovered that using ink on top of a loose watercolor art makes it quite whimsical and I love that effect! And that’s why I like the lower left sunflower a little more🌻

For ink I have used Sakura Pigma Micron pen 01 0.25mm in black.

A Hand lettering journey

Growing up I remember my mom doing a lot of calligraphy. She had some intricate looking pens that she used to write with. I can still recall the scratchy sounds of the nib on paper as she created each letter.

Funny how those memories came flooding back as soon as I began to notice some beautiful hand lettering posts on Instagram! “I must create something like this.” After all these years of lack of practice my lettering skills had gotten a little rusty! How I longed to create those flourishes again……

Did that mean I had to relearn? Maybe….

To my great relief, I found this wonderful little book called Lettering for Planners by Jordan Truster and Jillian Reese of Loveleigh Loops. You can’t find anything simpler than this! I started with a brush pen that I purchased for $2.99 at Hobby Lobby and some graph paper (as I didn’t have dot grid paper). You don’t need a lot of tools. See!

Consistent practice is what makes one better at this art (like any other art)! So I practice whenever I can. Inspired by one of John Muir’s quotes, I created the above piece, I know it’s not perfect…. but I love the journey – learning, improving and most of all enjoying every scenic path!!