My camera is a low resolution one. About 3.2 Megapixels.
So you will be seeing most of the paintings in that
resolution.


Cucumber with a potato and bottle



 
oil on panel , 6 x 7"

Like I menitoned earlier, with my schedule, I'd be grateful to manage 
2 painitings a week! Sorry for the absence, but there was an
architectural project that I had myself in upto my head for a week.
Today I painted a ketchup bottle with a tomato and some lemons.
How do you paint lemons on a white background? Lol , they're
all but invisible. Im still far from satisfied with my alla prima.
But we all have a learining time. So there....

As usual , this pic is copyright fee. no restrictions.
Nice to learn still life. Have fun!




Kechup bottle with tomato and lemons



6 x 7" oil on hardboard panel.

 

Just about getting the hang of alla prima. Needs more work though.
Today I did a couple of onions with a white ceramic bowl.





Onions with white bowl



Oil on hardboad panel, 6 x 7"

 

Here's a pic I took today. I thought I'd do this today , 
but I didnt think my technique in alla prima was  mature
enough to handle it, so I settled for just the pepper.

You may use this pic as you see fit.
No restrictions on its usage, no copyrights.

Good for a still life study

Did you notice I canged the name of the bolg, from  
"THE DAILY PAINTER" to "THE PAINTER'S DIARY"?
Why? Because I know given the schedule I keep, it will be most
difficult to keep the pace of a painting daily. Other things come in
the way. So I 'd rather maintain a log of my daily or weekly activities,
than proclaim I do a painting daily, and then look for an escuse for
skipping a day!
So there, ....now this blog is my artists dairy. Not a daily Painters blog.
I will be posting othere things here, drawings, tutorials, photos etc.


You know Alla Prima isn't an easy technique to master!
Especially when you're switching from one style to another. 
However....I think given my background, my enormous patience,
attention to detail, will get me there. ahem!!
Like Sergei Bongart says..patience....!

Green Capsicum



6 x 7" Oil on Hardboard Panel



 

Sorry, no painting today! I ran out of supports!
Had to prepare some panels. 6 x 7". I had this big hardboard sheet.
Which I cut down to small daily painter sized panels, primed them.
This photo was taken prior to sanding them down.
I want to try a smooth shellac surface, compared to a rough
textured surface. There will be some obvious differences.

Panel preparation

Confession time:

I am new to Alla Prima. I've never painted in alla prima.
Mine was the old classical technique. Layered oil painting.

Here's how my work flow normally went>

1. Charcoal sketch
2. Followed by acryllic or oil outline.
3. Oil light and shadow wash, usually in Burnt Umber.
4. First layer of oil paint, dark tones.
5. Second layer of oil , the mid tones.
6. Third layer , the light tones.
7. The finishing touches, and the highlights.

That's how I used to paint. But Alla Prima was attracting me
very much with its natural style, and the rather attractive
impressionistic results you can obtain.
Here's one of my paintings from my archive, one I did in 1999,
for a Resort hotel. The client wanted an extra huge painting for his
new Conference-cum-Marraige hall. So I did a recopy of E.M.Ward's
"Dr. Johnson in the ante room of Lord Chesterfield, Waiting for an audience" . 
I had to stretch out the original size to
ten feet though , as the clients requirements did not match
the actual painting. A bit of pulling , stretching did the work,
and the painting fit!

Here's the painting side ended to show you scale.
Thats me back then , on the right in white.

Oil on stretched canvas , 10 feet x 4 feet




Here's the painting right side up:



I also am very fond of american southwest art, especially Cowboys
and Indians. I used to do a lot of copy work of old cowboy books.
This painting is from a cover of a Louis L'amour cowboy novel.

Oil on primed hardboard panel.
I think it was about 24 " by 14". This was gifted to a friend of mine,
who after seeing the painting, just HAD to have it!!



So , there , thats my artistic history, old school.
So if you see some of my one day paintings a bit
on the squeaky side, you know Im learning.....!
 
I also LOOOVeee wild life. Its my favourite topic.
When I used to be down on money , I agreed to take on a lot of
portrait commissions. I have done some huge ones, 10 feet, 7 feet,
group portraits. But wildlife is easy. Even if you make a mistake in
a tigers hair or face, ol tiggy isnt going to mind!!!

Here's a tiger paiting I did long back, now with a collector in London.

If you can hear something creaking, then don't worry, its pretty 
natural. Its  been a loooong time since I sat down to do some 
serious painting,  and its  the gears trying to turn. God, there I 
was thinking I could  finish a 12 x 10  in about an hour, and
it took me ages!!! Apart from unwanted people dropping in ,
when they could have just phoned. Then I had to rush out to
take delivery of some photos that I'd given over the weekend.....
talk about planning stuff!  next time.....next time....next time...yeah.........

This is my first art in ages, so go easy on me! Reason Im doing this
daily-painter bit is that it will get me back in action after a long time.



Still life -  Oil on canvas panel. 12"x 10"

Hi , just got back to my abandoned blog, after a long time! So now 
Im just sort of settled in. A lot of things can happen in a single 
year, can't they? Lol. Just came back after a two month trip to 
Dubai. Had to go for an architectural rendering project. Dubai is 
an architects paradise. Lots of beautiful buildings. You will 
enjoy it , if you can beat the heat and stay cool.
Okay, back to my blog, I look forward to starting my 
new google powered blog, by the now popular " a painting a day"
theme. I guess this IS the BEST way to overcome my really 
serious condition of 'aritists block'. 
hmmmm...........................
I am going to start tommorow. 
Of course ' a painting a day ' doesnt really mean 7 paintings a week. 
Give or take thunder , lightning and other mundane stuff 
that taketh away our time. 
So I'm glad to be doing this, and a bit excited too. 
I take it that you guys will encourage me to keep painting daily!!! :)


White Flowers 12 x 7" Oil on canvas 



This definitely isn't a single day painting!! It took me a
week to finish! The reason its posted here is the place
looks empty, and I needed a filler.