Peonies and Roses in a Vase

December 21, 2018February 27, 2019Leave a comment

Flowers from special occasion always prompt me to record them in the form of an oil painting. These flowers are from a grand reception party. The bouquets were heavenly with rose buds and pink peonies arranged in a pleasing manner. I kept on admiring the flowers the entire evening. While the guests were saying their goodbyes, I was going around the tables and clicking as many angles as possible of elegant bouquets placed as centrepieces.

After months, I sat down to paint the reception bouquet. The painting is not exact replica of that flower arrangement. In the reception bouquet, the vases were barely visible on the tables as the foliage was almost touching the table. As I have been painting vases in the recent past, in my eagerness to paint the vase, I have lifted the bouquet up a bit.

This painting has turned out to be a bright one with the darkest darks placed against the lightest lights.

Mauve Roses

December 12, 2018February 27, 2019Leave a comment

The beauty of rose flower is legendary. It has been etched in the pages of time by numerous poets, sculptors and artists in various mediums. I have tried to exhibit the beauty of roses through oil paintings.

Mauve Roses

Mauve Roses is a study of light and shadows which give depth to the painting. Roses have been placed in various positions. The light coming from the top left hand side falls on the composition. The mixes of crimson lake, vermillion hue and blues toned with whites have been used for painting flowers The warm colour of background balances cool colour of the flowers.

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Yellow Roses in a Crystal Vase

December 7, 2018February 27, 20192 Comments

Yellow Roses in a Crystal Vase

It is always fun to experiment with colours. After painting red, pink, white and peach roses, here is an attempt to paint yellow roses.

Various yellows such as ochre, chrome, cadmium and lemon have been used with mixes of reds, blues and whites to paint the roses. The supporting flowers compliment the yellow roses. The light shining on the crystal vase shows its edges.

The burnt umber background makes the flowers glow. The direction of the brushstrokes make evident the fall of the table cloth at the edge of the table. Few flowers have been placed on the table to balance out the top heavy composition.

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The Wedding Bouquet

December 5, 2018February 27, 2019Leave a comment

The Wedding Bouquet

Paintings immortalize moments, feelings, experiences and places. The emotional connect makes a particular painting special. It gives us the chance to relive the past innumerable times and provides joy forever.

The story behind this painting makes it a special one. The moment I saw picture of the wedding bouquet, I thought about painting it. The painting was supposed to be a surprise gift for the young couple.

The source for this painting was low resolution picture. Another challenge was limited time before travel for attending the Indian wedding. I somehow managed to paint the wedding bouquet. Oil paintings take their own sweet time to dry. It was moved around in and out of the house and kept at various places to dry. The air conditioner, fresh air, sun; nothing seemed to hasten the process of drying.There was no question of getting it framed. How do we carry it along? It could not be rolled, as that would spoil the painting. It could not be taken in checked-in baggage as that would have smudged the painting. It could be gifted later but thought the right time was then. Then we thought about carrying it in a box. A maroon box was prepared to carry the painting. An appropriate font was used in golden colour to name the painting on the box. The box was cushioned on the inside. The painting was kept in a U shape with transparent layer on top, so that it did not touch the lid. I wish I had taken a photo of the box for memory sake but we were too concerned about transporting it safely. The box was put in carry baggage, which was kept flat throughout the journey.

The bride was amazed when she opened the box. The look in her eyes was worth all the effort the entire family had put in to take the special painting for her.