Paintings for Sale - Large and Medium

Following are a few of my oil paintings on canvas for sale. They are either large or medium sized. Contact me if interested.



Title: Woman in the Forest




Title: Talking to Opu, oil on canvas




Title: Purple Forest, oil on canvas



Title: Mendicant, oil on canvas

The Finished Small painting

Waiting for Dinner, oil on canvasboard, 8"x10"

After weeks of sporadic work, I finished my "Waiting for Dinner" painting. Took me a while to upload it, as I had been much into painting other works too.

With the new studio, years of deprivation of a proper workplace has translated into the overwhelming desire to be in the studio and work all the time. Often I forget to keep track of time. I cannot afford to forget everything in the world. Need to remind myself there is one more person in the house too.

This one is a small painting, as I like to practice on small formats sometimes. My main interest and fulfilment lies in large paintings, but being able to finish a work quickly, which is possible when it is small, acts as a great stimulus.

The Figurative Art of Painting the Face



A work in progress

Firstly, it is the face that attracts anybody. As an artist, the thing I love to paint foremost is the face. It would be very easy so find the reason if one analyses it. But I would just like to say that emotions affect me. And the face is the part of the body where emotions show most easily. In that case, I would be an adherent of the Expressionist school of art, I understand.

Slowly I am getting to know my art. Why do many kinds of things? Why experiment with so many colors? Isn't it the right time to choose, to focus on some, and block out the rest. For a signature style, isn't it necessary to choose?

And layering - of colors - so that it shows in depth, is essential. For some time now, I had been concentrating on small size paintings. I had moved away from my size, which is large. In India, when I started off, I started with the large size. Due to the economy, I have forced myself to do the small sizes. But that has not been very satisfying. That should not be the case, but that's how I am feeling. My personality likes big paintings, and I should not confine myself to the small ones.

With this thought process, I am preparing the ground to restart work on the large ones. Hope this is the right path. What do you say?

A Studio At Last!

It's been a long time since I wrote this blog. And there is a reason for that. We've been moving house. You can imagine how much time and effort it takes for that. All the stuff and the packing! Then the subsequent unpacking.

There has been some excitement for me in this house moving too. And that is, I was to get a new place to work, paint. I could not wait to get my place, clean and arrange it, and then start painting.

Amidst unpacking the innumerable cardboard boxes, getting the things arranged in the respective places, disposing of recycle thus generated, then my part time job, I had not been able to get my painting spot cleared. It has taken me more than a month to finally remove the cobwebs of the garage, sweep the floor, spray insecticide, set up the shelves and the easels, and start work.

Earnestly, I should have done this long back, immediately after the move. But I wanted it to be a smooth, pleasant experience. So I didn't rush. And I am happy to see the outcome. After burning incense, dusting regularly, the garage has turned out to be a great place to paint. Much more than I had imagined.

The lights are insufficient, but very soon a couple of tubelights would do the trick. I've given up the idea of using track lights, as I realised that track lights are best for exhibiting paintings, but not for making them. Working under track lights would focus brightness too much on them, which would not be comfortable for long hours of work. Moreover, painting requires flooded lighting, not focused. 

Why do so many artists end up with their studio in the garage?

How to Paint when I don't have an Art Studio

I am an artist. I like to paint as often as I can. I do paint frequently, in intense patches of time. But what are the options for someone who does not have a studio? I have been seriously facing the crunch of space and  looking to solve this issue. I am sure many artists face the same problem as this.

I have a table where I do my smaller paintings like ACEO, pastels, sketches. The smaller table top easel is used for the smaller upright works. On the balcony, I have set up my large easel. That is for the bigger works. Sometimes I use the portable easel when the work needs to be moved around.

But all these makeshift arrangements have not been easy. I am in need of a permament work place. A proper studio. My own art studio.

And, I am happy to say, that dream is soon going to be fufilled. We are going to shift to a new place, where I can have my own workplace. The garage would be my new studio. I am so elated about this whole thing. I would have a place to set up all my easels, my table, my racks with paints and brushes, and fill up the walls with new work. The new year is going to be great! I thank God for all this mercy.

Should Paintings be made to be Sold?

Exploration, oil on canvas

Should a painting me made solely to be sold? Or is it a labor of love only, with no pecuniary aspects attached to it? It all depends on the intention of the artist, I would think.

A painting originates in the mind of the artist. Much before the artist picks up the pencil or the brush, the image is formed, whether vaguely or clearly. An artists paints, first and foremost, to give shape to the image or idea in the mind. After the image comes the real making of the painting. This involves lines, color, texture and all the details that goes into the making of a painting.

Art always originated in the realm of the mind. But then, the existence of the artists engaged in making this art also becomes important. Artists have to make a living too. Hence, art came to be sold. For the artist to continue making art, her art has to be sold.

But the question, whether art should be made solely with the art market in mind, is highly debatable. It is considered that art produced for the market only does not have a uniqueness. It tends to adhere to the norms, rather than break norms to create something new. The entire purpose of art and creativity - which is to create something new - is defeated.

The Human Figure in Painting

Waiting, oil on canvas
Status: available

Any artist, even landscape artists, should know about the human figure. And the way an artist should know the human figure is to know the anatomy in detail. But if one is a figurative painter, then knowing the human figure is very important. And for those who are portrait painters, and those who stick to realism, I don't have to explain much at all.

Knowledge of the human figure to an artist should be as clear as it is to a physician. The overall structure of the body and the curvature is what gets apparent in a finished painting. But to be good in that, an artist needs to know the details of the bones. Where are the long bones and the short ones, the joints, kinds of joints, musculature around the different limbs of the body as well as in the body. There is a lot of finer points that the artist has to keep in mind while tackling a human figure.

Drawing and sketching cannot be emphasised more when it comes to practising the human figure. Only with enough drawing can one get a grasp of the subject. No part of the figure can be ignored. Whether it is the fingers, the facial muschles, the shoulders, the legs, the back. The shape of the head too. If one likes figures in motion, then one needs to hone ones skills in that department too.