Sunflowers bring sunshine in our lives. Sunflowers and Chrysanthemums painting was painted from a birthday bouquet gifted by dear niece. The contrast between the colour of two type of flowers made it an interesting composition. I thoroughly enjoyed painting it. The colour of the vase compliments the flowers.
Another sunflower painting is with blue vase.
And third one is with an ornamental vase.
Do you also like to paint sunflowers?
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The first time I took Oil Painting classes was in a small town in the foothills of the mighty Himalayas in India. There was uncertainty in the province and our annual exams were postponed indefinitely. To make the most of the ample time available at hand, my parents enrolled me in to painting classes. Two of my close friends also joined. We would cycle to the painting teacher’s house together. There was a huge rectangular room where small tables were placed all along the periphery. The teacher was a young lady in her twenties with a year old baby whom she would put to sleep while she took classes.
The first day we had to draw horizontal and vertical lines free-hand on paper with pen or pencil. She explained all about oil paintings – how oil paintings last a long time, and retain their colour, why the supplies ae expensive, and that once the painting is dry we can paint even white over dark Then we had to decide which painting we wanted to paint first – Landscape, Floral, Still Life, or Portrait. Once each student decided on the genre the teacher passed around many painting reference photos and asked the students to pick a particular painting. She gave us a list of supplies that we were supposed to bring the next day. The size of the hardboard was suggested. This included the Hardboard of the suggested size to be bought from the hardware store, turpentine oil, linseed oil, colours, brushes, a palette, and rag for cleaning.
Next day armed with all the stuff we reached our class at 4 PM. The class used to be from 4 PM to 6 PM six days a week at vey nominal fee. Ten to twelve of us would be painting there each day with the instructor giving us directions periodically. She taught us how to make new colours from the 12 colours in the pack. I run out to Titanium White within the first few days. I realised that while painting white colour is used most. So I bought a big tube of titanium white.I painted the following three paintings 38 years ago in mid-teens in three months of coaching whereas both my friends were able to complete only two paintings each.
My first oil painting
My second oil painting
My third oil painting
None of these was a floral painting, the genre which I have been pursuing since 2011. In the past 11 years, I have painted 100s of paintings. I gifted them in initial years, As my skill improved, my paintings started selling. In 2018 I set up this wordpress site to protect the copy right of my paintings. 10 years ago I had done research social media marketing and came to know that if I put my paintings on Facebook, WhatsApp or Instagram then that company gets the copyright. So I upload the painting on WordPress and after that share on social media. I have integrated the social media and developed an order in which each post or page is shared.
My paintings adorn the Happy Homes of relatives, friends and generous patrons.
Ever since I saw this painting in the National Gallery, London, I have been wanting to paint it. It is my tribute to the great artist Henri Fantin-Latour whose flower paintings are a treat to watch.
There have been Dutch and Flemish old masters whose floral paintings too, adorn museums around the world. Van Huysum, Heade and Jan Bruguel are some of the famous old masters who created realistic paintings of flowers and were patronised by the high and mighty of their times. The vases with flowers of various seasons combined together on mostly marble table tops are the highlight of their paintings.
My personal liking is for Fantin’s paintings. The compositions, lighting and realism are all eye catching.
A Basket of Roses has pink, red, yellow, white and peach roses, all put together in a basket in an attractive manner. The roses toppled over on the table create a flow in the painting. While painting, I realised how many leaves were there along with the roses.
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While shopping at supermarket, I look at shapes and colours of fruits. At the back of my mind, I usually think what will look good in a painting. I appreciate the glow that light generates and try to recognise shapes and patterns of different colours on the objects.
This time around, I liked the colour of plums varying from yellowish orange to red, maroon and deep purple. I picked up plums of different colours and thought that they would look good in a painting.
Then I was roaming around the house looking for other components in the composition. After painting couple of Teapot and Grapes paintings, teapot was foremost in my mind. I tried various arrangements of plums around the teapot and finally settled in for this version and painted it.
I was still not done with painting plums. The fascination with metallic objects led to this carafe for its shiny reflective surface to paint with the plums. To create movement in the painting, I rolled over two plums from the plate. I liked the garland formed by actual and virtual plums. This is what ‘Still life with Carafe and Plums’ look like.
This is how the two paintings put together look.
You can view my other still life paintings here.
Hope you enjoy viewing these paintings as much as I have while painting them!
Red Roses in a Copper Vase
Roses in a Glass Vase
Yellow Roses in a Copper Vase
Pink Roses in a White Vase
This is how the four small paintings put together look.
You can view all my roses paintings here.
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For a while I have thinking about painting cherries. Following are some of the compositions with cherries that I have painted. Some of the cherries have toppled over the bowls and create movement in the paintings.
Cherries in a Glass Bowl
For the darkest cherries, I used crimson, vermillion and a bit of ultramarine blue. For the brightest parts vermillion was mixed with cadmium yellow and white. For highlights white and lemon yellow were added to the reds.
Cherries in a Blue Bowl
The blue bowl was painted using cobalt blue and later on the flowers were added.
Cherries in a Bone China Bowl
The white bowl was painted by adding lemon yellow to white for the lighted part and bit of crimson and ultramarine to titanium white for the shaded parts.
Cherries on a Plate
The shaded parts in and around the plate give it its shape. This is how the four paintings put together look.
You can view my other still life paintings here.
Happy viewing!
While shopping at supermarket, I look at shapes and colours of fruits. At the back of my mind, I usually think what will look good in a painting. I appreciate the glow that light generates and try to recognise shapes and patterns of different colours on the objects.
This time around, I liked the colour of plums varying from yellowish orange to red, maroon and deep purple. I picked up plums of different colours and thought that they would look good in a painting.
Then I was roaming around the house looking for other components in the composition. After painting couple of Teapot and Grapes paintings, teapot was foremost in my mind. I tried various arrangements of plums around the teapot and finally settled in for this version and painted it.
Still Life with Teapot and Plums
I was still not done with painting plums. The fascination with metallic objects led to this carafe for its shiny reflective surface to paint with the plums. To create movement in the painting, I rolled over two plums from the plate. I liked the garland formed by actual and virtual plums. This is what ‘Still life with Carafe and Plums’ look like.
Still Life with Carafe and Plums
This is how the two paintings put together look.
You can view my other still life paintings here.
Hope you enjoy viewing these paintings as much as I have while painting them!
My fascination with colours and shapes have prompted me to explore different subjects. Here is my attempt to paint a teapot and grapes.
Still Life with Teapot and Grapes 1
And a sequel to this painting.
Still Life with Teapot and Grapes 2
This is how the two paintings put together look.
You can view my other still life paintings here.
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Recently painted these sunflower fields.
My other sunflower paintings can be viewed here.
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Painting from life shows up so many colours and brings new insights in the work which are usually missing in paintings from photographs. I have tried my hand at the following lemon paintings.
The lemons have been painted using lemon, cadmium and ochre yellow. Looking down on the lemons placed in a plate with sunlight casting bright shadows of lemons and plate, I tried figuring out the colours.
Next, I placed the lemons in a glass bowl. This is my first painting of a glass bowl. In retrospect, I think I should have placed more emphasis on drawing a proper ellipse of the rim before painting. At some places the colour of the glass bowl seemed closer to sap green, at other places it seemed to have a bluish and greyish tinge. One lemon appeared to be more greener, other one had more darker colour due to shadows falling on it.
Lemon Tea is the next painting in this sequence of lemon paintings. This has another first, my first teacup and saucer painting. The golden base of the teacup was painted using cadmium yellow, blue, white and red.This painting is also a study of the primaries with cherries added to it.
Lemon and a Creamer gave me the opportunity to observe the colours in a white creamer. How the yellows, blues and reds in small quantities added to the white make the shape of rounded objects evident. The handle of the creamer was casting a shadow on it. The painted flowers on the creamer were lightened by the sunlight.
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The Dhauladhars
The Dhauladhar is a Himalayan mountain range which can be viewed from the province of Himachal Pradesh is India. “Dhaula” literally means white in Hindi. That is the reason why this range of snow clad mountains has been named Dhauladhar.
With this painting of Dhauladhars, I have tried my hand at landscape painting after decades. To be precise, my previous landscapes have actually been seascapes. So, this is the first green landscape to be painted after a foray into flower paintings.
The Dhauladhars with snow clad mountain range and its reflection in the lake is an original oil painting. My style is changing from realism to impressionism and I am discovering new colours on my palette. I enjoyed painting the lighted side of mountains with little lemon yellow mixed in titanium white. I also enjoyed mixing bits of greys, blues and violet in white to depict the shadow side of snow clad peaks. The winding mountain path disappearing into the forest takes the gaze towards the forest.
Hope you enjoy this sneak peek into the majestic Himalayas!
Himalayan Landscape
Himalayas are home to some of the highest and most picturesque mountain peaks in the world. These mighty mountains have been the source of inspiration for many writers, artists, mountaineers, and leaders from around the world. Himalayas have been the abode of many saints and rishis. The beauty and serenity of its mountain ranges is unmatched in the world. The altitude of Himalayas tests the endurance of human beings.
Himalayan landscape is an original oil painting depicting the serene snow clad peaks of the majestic Himalayas. The water gushing down these mighty peaks creates a music of its own. The water picks up the colour of mountains, rocks, foliage, sky and sand as it makes its way forward. The sunlight plays hide and seek on the grasslands and sandy patches next to the water. I particularly liked depiction of melting ice and variety of earthy tones in this painting.
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The following floral landscape paintings are the result of beautiful reference pictures. The colourful paintings are sure to uplift your mood and bring nature indoors.
Floral Landscape 1
The joy of painting one floral landscape was not enough for me to forgo it. So here comes another one. There is fine balance between the warm and cool colours in these oil paintings.
Floral Landscape 2
I thoroughly enjoyed painting wildflowers in impressionistic manner. I sometimes wonder whether I should have blurred the edges of the distance mountains to push them back a bit.
This is how the two paintings put together look.
I hope you enjoy viewing these paintings as much as I have while painting them.
Tulip Fields
Oil on Canvas
11H x 14W
Tulip fields have been painted in an impressionistic manner in this painting. The colourful tulip beds seem to merge into the horizon. The giant windmill and country cottages provide a backdrop to floral fields. I am grateful to dear aunt for sending me a reference photograph that served as an inspiration for this painting.
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The urge to create more depth in the paintings has led me to explore landscape oil paintings. The love for flowers has mainly restricted me to floral landscapes.
Morning Mist
I am enjoying bold brushstrokes in impressionistic manner. Morning mist shows wildflowers against the backdrop o many mountain ranges merging into a horizon beyond. Valley of Flowers is a sequel to this painting.
Valley of Flowers
Valley of flowers too depicts wildflowers in a mountain valley. Many mountain ranges have been painted in different colours in the backdrop with the effect of sun shining. The sky is dramatic with strong rays on the right and dark crimson on the left. T am particularly happy with the way rocks have been painted.
Heaven on Earth
Two were not enough for me. So I painted this another one. Heaven on Earth depicts the beauty of nature. The mountain ranges with different types of trees and landscape have been painted in various colours and texture. The clouds fill the sky as well as cross over the mountain range. The effect is reflected in the lake. The rocky surface is blooming wildflowers.
This is how the three paintings put together look.
You can have a look at all the landscapes.
Happy viewing!
Oil Paintings by Navdeep Kular 