Still Life Compositions

 

Sharing with you all a few of my still life compositions and tablescapes - some old and some new, some real and some imagined.

These two were painted earlier this year in summer.

Snake Plant in Green Teacup

Milk and Wine Lilies

While these two were painted almost ten years back and were sold recently.

White Petunias - 2

Red Hibiscus in Orange Can

Can you find any changes through the years? It is good to revisit old work as that gives one a sense of how much progress has been made over time. The one thing that I find has remained constant in my work through the years - my bright and bold style. 

Write to me at creativerumblings@gmail.com to purchase my work.

Having Fun With Gouache and Ink

 

The last couple of weeks I have been making a series of pen drawings accentuated using gouache and ink. 

Some of these drawings use paper collage in the background.

Both gouache and ink are pretty fluid media, and very responsive to how you handle them. 

Being water soluble makes them easily adaptable, but unlike watercolours, once dry they are permanent. I found both media well-suited for botanical drawings. What do you think of the outcomes?

Making Handmade Journals In Lockdown

 

Since the pandemic is going to be around in some part of the world or the other till the entire population gets vaccinated, random lockdowns are going to be a way of life that we will have to get used to. Those of you wondering why I am rambling about all this on an art post, here's the reason. These frequent and often long spells of lockdown can get extremely frustrating. And no better way of dealing with that than creating things out of the simple, everyday things available at home. For art is healing.... so this post focuses on how to make handmade journals with the limited materials on hand.

Handmade junk journals are called so because they are made out of recycled materials. And there are no rules - you can choose whatever you want to play around with. You can also use your journal for varied purposes - sketching, collaging, gluing pictures, writing, even painting and mixed media artwork. Mini-journals are even better as they are easy to carry around and finish up quickly.

So here's a quick video of mine that shows how an ordinary flyer can be turned into a folding mini-journal. 

In case you don't have flyers, use old newspaper pages folded up twice or thrice to make them sturdy. Just glue everything down and you are good to go. Once your journal base is ready, use paint dabs, printed papers from magazines, and even old book papers to make up the background.

I used this mini-journal (that you see in the video above) for sketching and botanical drawings, some of which you can see below.

By changing your paper folds, you can turn out different kinds of journals. 

The one above and below is an accordion-fold journal I used for painting. It was created out of an elongated strip of card stock, simply by folding it in a zigzag.

The junk journal video in my last post was made from sticking random papers in a folded cardboard cover. Yes, it is that simple and yet the results can be amazing!

Most of all, journaling is a good hobby as it calms the mind, and gives us some very valuable me-time. Find a journaling practice that fits your personality. It is indeed a wonderful way of keeping your mind positively engaged in these pandemic times.

And in case of any queries, feel free to mail me at  creativerumblings@gmail.com or connect with me on Instagram (@creativerumblings) or Facebook. Happy journaling, everyone!

Inktober Impressions

 

Hey, readers! So how many of you are Inktober fans here? Well, it was something I had been hearing about for a long time but finally this year I decided to participate in the fun!

To give you some background, Inktober is a month-long drawing challenge started by American artist Jake Parker way back in 2009. It involves making drawings using ink as per a prompt list posted at the beginning of October every year. Now there are many different versions of this challenge floating around Instagram, each with their own set of prompts and hashtags.

So here's presenting you all a peep into my Inktober grid. Though I joined in late (after over half the month had passed), I really enjoyed working on some of the prompts. The above grid shows my drawings based on sleep, table setting, and pomegranates (left to right) while the grid below displays my illustrations for gourds and mushrooms (top to bottom).

Meanwhile, those of you who are still not following Creative Rumblings on Instagram are missing out on some good stuff. I'm sharing more stories out there and posting more often, while the blog only gets to see a delayed compilation. So hope to catch you on Instagram!

April Bouquets

So that special month of the year is here, my birthday month. That calls for celebrations.... and all special occasions deserve some bouquets. Sharing with you these collages of floral bouquets made in the abstract style a few months back.

These flowers are not still life portrayals of real flowers. Rather just a pure play of colours leading to imaginary flower groupings.

An exercise in loosening up, a slapdash style that focussed on negative painting and was fun to try out.

 

So which one should I place on the table on my special day? :)

 

 



Wholesome Breakfast

Another still life I created recently - a table setting for a wholesome breakfast. Care to join in?

This is a mixed media effort, with many details done using paper collaging. I especially like how the flowers, the juice glass and the table cover came out.

Seasons Greetings

The Final Outcome

The searing heat is getting too much to bear so am off on a vacation.... In the meanwhile, as promised last week, here is a peek into what that last sketch turned into.

I haven't named this one yet; any ideas from you all, dear readers?

First Strokes

Does it ever happen to you?....

...That the first few strokes look so amazing that you never get around to working on the rest of it!!!

Yes, it happens with me many a times. This one lay on my work table like this for a week before I actually felt like going in and finishing it. Of course the finished piece always looks quite different from those initial strokes.

Come back next week and I'll give you glimpses of what this finally turned into!

Peach Lilies

Another of the summer lilies.... was finally finished last month.

These peach ones are a real beauty, and stay for many days. So they make for ideal flowers to put in the vase and cheer up your room.

Green Peppers, and Other Struggles

With my FB page not sync-ing with my blog updates, Blogger randomly changing server names, and what not, I've been going over the edge. Then with no responses to my teaser sketches, I almost believed I had done a bad job of them. But seeing how the paintings based on them have turned out, I feel better.

Wonder why your comments, suggestions and responses have all but dried up. Sometimes it gets difficult to keep the tempo going when you are speaking to a wall. :-|

Anyhow, going back to my second quick painting this week. What I loved most about doing this one was the colour mixing. I have now got some hang of what all to mix to get the right shades - using just the primary colours, and black or white.

Moreover, these capsicums, or green peppers, are quite an improvement on the ones I had done last summer. Happy to see some progression in my own work!

An Apple A Day

Yes, don't we all know how an apple a day keeps the doctor away. But in my case it just made me want to play.... with my paints and brushes, that is.

Chomping on a plateful of apple slices recently, I noticed how the light fell on the pieces to make a very interesting composition. And I just had to paint it. Showing you the process...

The Picture

The Sketch

The Painting

The colours don't quite show up right in the photo; the edges look too hard. Believe me, the apples look much better upfront! This was a quick painting, all done in a day. Would love to do that with all my work but mostly things tend to linger for days, sometimes weeks, for paucity of time. Maybe they'll get better now!

Teaser Sketches

Sharing with you two preliminary sketches that are on their way to becoming full-fledged paintings.

Any guesses what these are?

Okay, I'll give you a hint. Both sketches are of food items, all edible stuff. Chew on that and let me know your responses. :)

Fruity Feast

First post of the new year, and I have a special treat for my readers.... A fruity feast to start the year with!

Sitting out in the sun and chomping on fruits is a favourite winter pastime for us. And for those of you who skip the daily intake, hanging some on your walls may just serve as a reminder. :)

So go on, indulge in some fruit-laden goodness for your health and your hearth. As I enjoy the holidays with my kids, friends, and a large dose of happiness and bonhomie!

Sending Some Winter Warmth

The best way to enjoy a foggy winter day? A mug of steaming hot strong coffee... ...and blobs of bright paint on my brushes.

Always brings a warm fuzzy glow to my heart.

Enjoy this bunch of flowers that are part of a painting I finished last month. And have a great weekend, everyone!

Out In The Garden

The last of the stills that had me preoccupied most of last month. Again an amagamation of random things at a certain moment in time.

So two leafy models from the garden, coupled with a jar and some peaches made up this one.

Somehow the camera doesn't capture the blues too well... but the warm colour of the peaches amidst the cool shades in the rest of the painting does make for an interesting combo.

Ready For Breakfast

Another still, focussing on items that brighten up the breakfast table. Some juicy red apples, a creamer indicating coffee on the way, and fresh flowers.

And of course, the most important item (for me at least).... the morning newspaper! The day just doesn't start right without that.

Enjoyed playing around with the paint on this one, especially those places where the paint had to be applied real thick to form outlines. No wonder the flowers are my favourite part of the painting.

Been working on quite a few bottles lately. Look out for one in my next post. Till then, happy work week ahead (July being a month with the least holidays)!

The Blue Table

Worked on a few still life studies recently. Just put random things lying around together, and proceeded to capture them on paper.

The attempt was by no way to be realistic, no. It was more of my prespective of what I saw before me. So the finished paintings are more expressionist than realist, I'd say. And yes, I did play around with colour schemes. So the blue of the table is entirely a figment of my mind, and not something that we have around the house.

Nevertheless, in this painting I'm pretty happy with the way the fruits got done, especially the bunch of bananas. The ceramic jar could surely be bettered though. Was a good exercise on the whole.

Capsicum Study

Didn't I tell you the kitchen has some rather tempting options to paint! Well, here is one of my favourites... I love capsicums (green peppers), and they were a natural choice as they lay waiting to be chopped and cooked.

Painted this one with watercolors, and outlined using charcoal.

Wanna eat some? :)

Tomato Trio

Hubby gets home tomatoes from the market with their green caps on.... and I spot a juicy subject right away!!

Loved working on this tomato trio. And believe me, this one really looks better upfront. In fact am now thinking of doing a kitchen series... the kitchen can do with some dressing up! :)

On another note, April is my fav month (me being an April-born). But since I am in the middle of a transition so posts may be few and far between this month. Of course that doesn't stop me from working.... so I'll be back with loads of new stuff to share! Meanwhile, you keep those creative juices flowing.