Still Life painting of teapot and plums by navdeep Kular

Painterly Plums’

January 28, 2023Leave a comment

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.

still life oil painting of carafe and plums with the reflection of plums in the metallic surface of carafe — 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!

Still Life with Cherries

November 3, 2019November 17, 20192 Comments

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.

Cherries in a Glass Bowl

Cherries in a Blue Bowl

Cherries in a Bone China Bowl

Cherries on a Plate

You can view my other still life paintings here.

Happy viewing!

Painterly Plums

October 19, 2019November 17, 2019Leave a comment

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.

Still Life with Teapot and Plums

Still Life with Carafe and Plums

This is how the two paintings put together look.

Still Life with Teapot and Plums

Still Life with Carafe and Plums (Sold)

You can view my other still life paintings here.

Hope you enjoy viewing these paintings as much as I have while painting them!

still life with teapot and re grapes by Navdeep Kular

Still Life with Teapot and Grapes

September 27, 2019November 5, 20193 Comments

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 red grapes oil painting by Navdeep Kular

Still Life with Teapot and Grapes 2

This is how the two paintings put together look.

Still Life with Teapot and Grapes 1

Still Life with Teapot and Grapes 2

You can view my other still life paintings here.

Happy Viewing!

still life oil painting of lemons in a blue plate

Original Oil Paintings: Still Life with Lemons

September 14, 2019June 19, 2021Leave a comment

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.

Lemons in a Blue Plate (Sold)

Still life lemons oil painting by Navdeep Kular

Lemons in a Glass Bowl (Sold)

Still life with Tea Cup, Lemon and Cherries

Lemon Tea (Sold)

still life oil painting with lemon and creamer

Lemon and Creamer (Sold)

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.

Happy Viewing!

colourful painting with reflections in metallic bowl

Still life with artist’s reflection in a metallic bowl

July 13, 2019November 5, 2019Leave a comment

Still Life painting with artist’s reflection in a metallic bowl

Painting from life is a thrilling experience. This is the first time I have painted a metallic bowl and you can see my reflection in it.

I keep admiring things all around all the time whether travelling or at home. The petals of flowers, colours of foliage, flowers on the trees, light and dark patches of green fields, mountain ranges, sunlit snow capped peaks and so on. The inspiration for this painting came from an unusual source.

As I was looking around the house for inspiration, I felt like painting a bowl. Painting a bowl is close to my flower vases. But which bowl to paint; a bone china one, a crystal one or a glass one? I thought that nothing would reflect better than a metallic one. I have placed fruits with flowers in couple of previous still life paintings but never painted vegetables ever. This was an experiment that I was conducting for the first time. I put together colourful vegetables available at that moment and placed everything on a yellow cutting board on my painting table. I filled up the bowl with tomatoes. Juggled around a bit to place capsicum, onion and brinjal around the bowl. Finally I was happy with my composition and started painting.

The arrangement was placed next to my palette. I was looking down on the arrangement from right hand side. Light was shining on the objects from the window on the left. There were so many reflections in the metallic bowl. I noticed so many colours in ordinary onion. It’s outer peel towards the left added another dimension to the composition. The copper bottomed bowl shows the reflections of three vegetable pieces placed around it. It also shows the reflection of yellow cutting board. I am also there. I had not thought about it before the start of the painting process, otherwise another colour could have been added to the composition with the change of dress. This being my first attempt at painting metallic bowl, I kept looking at it again and again to determine whether the colour was white, cream, dark blue, brown, black or dark green in various parts. The rim has so many colours.

This is an alla prima painting. I forgot to take the pictures before the start of painting. I took a few after I finished painting but none reflects the angle from which I was looking. I am happy with the end result. I am amazed that beauty can be found in such mundane things. The only concern is ‘How will it look on my Facebook page (Paintings by Navdeep Kular) and Instagram feed(@navdeepkular_oilpaintings) with all the floral paintings? Should I even post it there?’ What do you say? As of now, this unique painting catches attention while drying with floral paintings all around it.

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Daffodils in a Blue Jug

May 10, 2019November 5, 2019Leave a comment

Springtime gives an opportunity to paint different flowers. Mother earth is decorated with flowers of various colours, textures and sheens. I have been busy soaking in as much beauty of nature as possible. Spent the time admiring flowers and foliage. The different shapes and colours of leaves too intrigue me. The flowering trees add their own persona to the landscape. Tried to capture as many pictures as possible. Many memories of beautiful landscapes are embedded deep in the mind. They periodically come out in the form of paintings. I wanted to paint a blue jug and thought daffodils would go well with it. So here is the end result.

Serenity

Placed the composition by the window side on a wooden cabinet. Mixed ultramarine blue with crimson lake to paint the shadow side of the jug. For the base added a little bit of cobalt blue. With highlights and shine on the jug was able to define its roundness. Experimented with a few colours for the wooden cabinet and ultimately settled with the present one. Painted the lacy mat underneath the jug. The dark background compliments the light flowers.

Named this painting Serenity. Hope you like it.

Peonies in a Vase

May 4, 2019Leave a comment

Peonies in a Vase

The beauty of peonies prompts me to paint these flowers again and again. A card given by a dear cousin was an inspiration for this painting. The challenge was to make the peonies stand out on a light background. In the end, I was able to illustrate the volume of numerous petals of peonies. I like the fluffiness of peonies, the roundness of vase and the sharp front edge of table in this painting. The shadows of the leaves lift them in the air. The cool colour palette of the foreground and middle ground has been contrasted with a tinge of yellow in the background.

Peonies in a Vase

Oil on Canvas

11 X 14

Oil Painting by Navdeep Kular

Peonies and the Blues

April 28, 2019November 5, 2019Leave a comment

Painting is a skill in which finesse comes only through practice and hard work. It is an intrinsic knowledge which gets embedded deep inside as one progresses on the learning curve. Elementary knowledge can be gained through secondary sources regarding the tools and techniques of oil painting but the learning comes only by doing it. What colours to use, what amount to mix, which medium to add, how to apply colours, which brushes to use, impact and direction of brushstrokes; one gets better and better at it through each painting.

As I was painting flowers in a vase, I realised how much I enjoyed painting the vase. The idea to paint more than one vase in a single painting occurred at that point of time. That is how the following two paintings came into being.

Peonies and the Blues 1

I wanted to mix the blues and experiment with different shapes of the vases. These paintings gave me ample opportunity to do so. Cobalt, ultramarine, Prussian blue were mixed with viridian hue, lemon yellow and titanium white for various vases. It was fun to paint the highlights on the vases. Once the vases were painted, I felt like painting some flowers in them. So added the peonies in one of the vases in each painting.

Peonies and the Blues 2

The colour of the background is in contrast to those of the vases. The table and the background were painted using the same three colours i.e. crimson lake, ultramarine blue and cadmium yellow. How the ratio of the colours in the mix can yield a vastly different end result is apparent from this study.

Peonies and the Blues 1

Peonies and the Blues 2

This is how the two paintings put together side by side look.

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Roses, Tulips and Daffodils in a Glass Vase

April 4, 2019November 5, 2019Leave a comment

Flowers in a Glass Vase

Roses, Tulips and Daffodils in a Glass Vase

Roses, tulips and daffodils have been painted in a glass vase. The two images above show how an oil painting can be transformed. More depth has been added in the painting using various tones, tints, values and hues to depict the lit and shadow areas of flowers.

The shape of some flowers has been varied to incorporate the three dimensional effect. Two of the poppies in the original painting have been transformed into tulips. The foliage has been redone. The whites of the daisies have many more colours now.

The vase has been placed on a table. The transparent glass vase and the dark wood table provide a contrast in the painting. The background colour has been changed. The colour of the table and the background is visible through the glass vase. All this has resulted in a vibrant painting.

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Still Life with White Roses

March 22, 2019November 5, 2019Leave a comment

White Roses in a Vase (11H X 14W)

Original still life painting of White Roses in a Vase by Navdeep Kular

Oil on canvas

11H X 14W

This painting is a sequel to Still Life with Red Roses. Along with the roses, the bowl of fruit is a common element between the two paintings. White roses have been painted in an impressionist manner.

Peonies in a Turquoise Vase

March 15, 2019November 5, 20192 Comments

Peonies in a Turquoise Vase

Oil on Canvas (14H X 11W)

Peonies with their multiple petals are fun to paint. Painting one turquoise vase was not enough for me, so I painted these peonies in one.

Peonies in a Turquoise Vase is an original oil painting. Peonies have been placed in such a manner that each flower is tilted at a different angle. Dark wood table contrasts the light background.

The mixing of crimson lake, ultramarine blue and cadmium yellow leads to many colours and I keep experimenting with them. The different wood colours ranging from yellowish to fawn to light brown to blackish brown, can all be obtained by the use of primary colours. Also painting the shadows is as much fun as painting the highlights. The variation of values in the shadows leads to three dimensional effect. The negative painting sharpens the edges.

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red roses in a turquoise vase original oil painting by Navdeep Kular

Still Life with Red Roses

February 10, 2019November 5, 20193 Comments

Red Roses in a Turquoise Vase

Another painting of red roses. Red roses in a turquoise vase is an original oil painting. The central focal point of this painting is the highlight on turquoise vase on the right. I like the gloss on the vase in this painting. I tried to achieve asymmetrical balance in this composition by placing a big vase on the right and balancing it with a bowl of fruits on the left. The colours red and orange are close to each other on the colour wheel, still I have experimented with placing them together.

Enjoyed painting the folds of white curtain in the background. I painted the window with adding whites, greys and little bit of brown to warm it up. I rarely use paint directly from the tube. It is too much fun mixing the basic colours and generating innumerable hues with them. The iris flowers in the wall hangings have been painted with blurred edges. The background colour was mixed using viridian hue with lemon yellow and lit bit of titanium white.

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Peonies and Roses in a Vase

December 21, 2018February 27, 2019Leave a comment

Peonies and Roses in a Vase

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.

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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