Wednesday 29 October 2014

Rainy day - a pastel painting ( Karla - near Lonavala )

While on our visit to Lonavala recently, we went for a drive to Karla. Being rainy season the lush greenary was enchanting. I took couple of photographs ( with the intention of creating Landscape paintings ) and the pastel painting below is the first one which I have done from my reference photograph.

This one did look so complicated but I wanted to give it a try. As I do more of my landscapes, I come across situations where it makes me think, about the colours, the depth and slowly and steadily I find that things do get sorted out. I am also working on few more pastel works, mainly landscapes.

Soft Pastel Landscape painitng of a rainy day in Karla by Manju Panchal

Rainy day in Karla
Pastel painting on Fabriano Tiziano paper

Friday 24 October 2014

Soft pastel painting of landscape at CHITKUL ( Himachal Pradesh )

Once again referring to my photograph taken during Himachal trip, I created a soft pastel painting of
Landscape as seen at CHITKUL. Chitkul is a beautiful small village in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh and I have already mentioned about it in one of my earlier posts. 

The rocks, trees and the surrounding mountains, all add up to the beauty of the place and it seems like a perfect destination for nature lovers. I have used my entire collection of soft pastels as I needed all possible colours I could lay my hands on. Apart from using my soft pastels I have also used my PRIMO charcoal pencil at certain places to create the branches of trees.

As for the paper, I continue to use my recently purchased black colour FABRIANO TIZIANO paper. 

Landscape painting of CHITKUL done in soft pastels by Manju Panchal

In the shadows
Soft pastel painting on Fabriano Tiziano paper
Size 6" X 9" ( Excluding the mountboard )

The Fabriano Tiziano paper is available in FLIPKART. I also use Canson Mi Tentes paper which is available at The Art Lounge at Churchgate.

Monday 20 October 2014

Pastel painting from a reference photograph

Finally I indulged in a pastel painting after a very long time. Pastel medium is one of my favourite mediums. It is very versatile and gets done much faster as compared to canvas and charcoal work.

The photograph I used as a reference for this particular painting was clicked by my son while we were holidaying in COORG. I particularly liked the perspective of the tree and its exposed roots. A very different composition from my normal previous works.

 It looked pretty simple to begin with but as I progressed I realised that it had too many details and finally I landed up using my MUNGYO, KOH-I-NOOR and GALLERY pastels too. A challenging photograph always helps in learning new lessons. I enjoyed doing this painting and am working on my next pastel painting which too is from my reference photograph taken at Himachal Pradesh.


The Mighty one
Soft Pastel painting on FABRIANO TIZIANO paper
size 6.5" X 9" ( Excluding the mountboard )

For this particular work I have used Fabriano paper but for my other works I shall continue using Canson Mi Tentes paper as well. Both the papers I find are good for creating pastel works.

I have used Winsor and Newton fixative after blocking in the values in the first layer. Normally after the last layer I avoid adding further fixative as it dulls the colours.



Saturday 18 October 2014

Climbing the slope - oil painting on 6" X 6" canvas

Created a hilly landscape using Camel Oil paints. Another of my COORG landscape painting ( From my personal collection of photographs ) is almost getting complete and I will be posting the image soon.

I have also been working lately on mixed media canvas paintings which can be browsed in my other blog www.ethnikhomedecor.blogspot.in

Oil painting of a landscape done on 6" X 6" canvas by Manju Panchal

Climbing the slope
Oil Painting on 6" X 6" canvas

Wednesday 15 October 2014

Painting a waterfall in oils

Another of my 6" X 6" canvas painting. This is my first waterfall painting done in oils. In charcoals and pastels its all about movement of pencil and chalks and the blending is a different technique altogether. But in painting with acrylics and oils its a whole lot about mixing the colours right, getting the strokes right and a lot of experimenting to get the values right. I enjoyed doing this work. Added three layers of colours ( Camel artists quality oil tubes )



The Fall
Oil painting on canvas
Available for sale

Art Quote

"The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection."

The Coniferous trees of Chitkul ( Himachal Pradesh ) - Charcoal Painting

Past few days have gone busy in
  • Creating mixed media works for my blog www.ethnikhomedecor.blogspot.in
  • Trying to complete my pending charcoal painting of Niagara Falls
  • Trying out different landscapes in acrylics and oils
While all the above is going on, I just about managed to take out a little time to Create a small charcoal sketching of Landscape as seen at Chitkul, a small village in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh. We were there for our summer vacations last year. The place is nothing short of a paradise. Beautiful white rocks, huge coniferous trees and Baspa river flowing through the village. Perfect place to be close to nature.


I have used my reference photo for the sketching and in particular, loved the light and shadow play
on the foliage in the foreground. It is always a great feeling to be able to create a painting of a place that you have been to and it brings all happy memories attached to it. 


Chitkul Landscape
Charcoal sketching on Canson Ca grain paper ( 180 gsm )
Size 4" X 5.5" ( Excluding the mountboard )

Saturday 11 October 2014

Narkanda - Hatu peak. A painting done from reference photograph

Continuing with my 6" X 6" series of acrylics and oils , I used my reference photograph from Himachal Tour. Hatu Peak stands at 11,000 feet, 5 kms away from a small town in Narkanda. The view around was heavenly. The huge rocks around were piled up and created beautiful compositions. I had to edit my original photograph to get the composition that I was looking for.

Hatu peak in Narkanda painted in acrylics by Manju Panchal

Hatu Peak
Acrylic painting on canvas
Size 6" X 6"

I have used Camel artists acrylic tubes in order to create the above painting.

Getting back to my 6" X 6" canvas paintings - Landscape art works

Back to my 6" X 6" canvas paintings. 

However, unlike my initial works which were based on still life subjects, this time I have decided to get into doing landscapes. I am using both acrylic as well oils in creating these small works from reference photographs.

Two 6" X 6" oil and acrylic paintings on canvas by Manju Panchal

Two Landscape paintings created on 6" X 6" canvas
Acrylic and oil medium on canvas

Art Quotation

"I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way - things 
I had no words for." By  Georgia O'Keeffe


Friday 10 October 2014

Ginger- still life painting in oils

Posted below is the image of a small 6" X 6" oil painting of ginger. In fact I created this painting quite some back when I was doing a series on fruits and vegetables. This particular painting needed a little touch up , which I did recently. 

Of late I have also been involved in doing lot of mixed media works which can be seen on my other blog www.ethnikhomedecor.blogspot.in.

oil painting of ginger on 6" X 6" canvas by Manju Panchal

 Ginger
Oil painting on 6" X 6" canvas.

You can find similar still life acrylic and oil works in my earlier posts. The image below is of a few works which are presently put up on my kitchen wall. It adds a lot of colour and life into my home and I love these small works a lot as one can put them in groups of two or three or many together.
Any combination works.

Group of small still life paintings of fruits in oils done by Manju Panchal

Still life fruit and vegetable paintings.


Thursday 2 October 2014

Drop of water...............in charcoal

Placing a drop of water on a leaf, created a charcoal painting of the same capturing its shadow and the highlight created by sunlight. Painting from a live subject always helps to observe and analyse the details which I find is missing in photographs.

The pencils used for creating this charcoal painting are
  • Camel soft charcoal pencil
  • Conte A Paris charcoal pencil
  • PRIMO charcoal pencil ( General Company )
Also used my usual blending tools at certain places.


Charcoal painting of a drop of water on leaf by Manju Panchal

Drop of water
Charcoal painting on Canson Ca grain paper.

The Canson Ca grain paper is textured paper and is quite good for charcoal work.