Location: Imagination
Technique: Wet on wet
Materials used: Daler Rowny Aqua-fine water color, white tisue paper to wipe colors off from the sky
Fixative: Perfix Colourless Fixative (Daler Rowney)
Surface: Normal sketch pad
Surface color: white
Sketching medium: 9B graphite pencil
Location: Imagination
Technique: Wet on wet
Materials used: Daler Rowny Aqua-fine water color
Fixative: Perfix Colourless Fixative (Daler Rowney)
Surface: Normal sketch pad
Surface color: white
Sketching medium: 9B graphite pencil
Eight reasons for me to love Acrylic medium
1. It can be used either as watercolor to produce delicate wash or like normal oil paints.
2. The paint dries quickly making it possible to apply layer after layer in the same session.
3. The painting doesn’t turn dull with time.
4. One can either get a matt or a glazing finish in his painting.
5. Retarders can be used to prevent the paint from drying too quickly.
6. Heavy impasto works can be created using texture paste.
7. Since the paints act as adhesives also one can mix sand to create special effects.
Shortfall:
1. It spoils expensive brushes and palettes
It has been almost eight months since i finished my doctoral studies and moved to Norway. I am working on projects which I really adore and have people around me who are some of the best in their respective fields and extremely pleasant to me. Work is challenging and I am really passionate about it. All these make me enthusiastic about going to my office every morning. However, it was not manifesting fully in my happiness and pleasant mood. There was something lacking. It was somewhere here but was very difficult to discover. Was it a sudden release of pressure from the slogging towards the end of my PhD that had created a vacuum which was sucking me inside ? Or was it a sudden loss of proximity to my friends who were so much a part of my small happy world in an alien land ? I was trying to find answers to many questions like these. Whenever I was stressed, sad or depressed during my PhD days I used to sit on a special place which I referred to as my “Introspection point”. Once the reasons for the troubles were discovered the corresponding remedies were mostly trivial. With the same hope I was trying to find a similar point in Trondheim and last week I found not only the point but also the root cause of those troubles and a single remedy for all.
Tired of walking I was sat down on a rock close to the Trondheim fjord. At least in appearance it is similar to the wooden bench close to Lake Leman which I tried to break for four years. I was busy throwing small stones one by one into the sea until I was interrupted by a gentleman “you should stop now or else the whole fjord will be full of stones.” He had caught a fish and was going to roast it for himself and his 5 years old son. I was invited to join the party. Reluctantly, I joined them. His son was trying to draw something perhaps a cat and was angry with his dad because he couldn’t help him draw better. There were paper balls spread all around him testifying his failed attempts but a “never give-up” attitude. I helped him sketch whatever he wanted to and within minutes became his best friend. Someone who spent his sleepless nights for him was insignificant then. He had learnt a new art and was trying to master it and was very happy. In the next few minutes even I was completely ignored. In just over an hour I saw relationships building and breaking but the kid was happy throughout because he was doing what he really loved.
I probably had got answers to my questions. I needed something that I loved unconditionally and with whom my association was solely dependent on me. What could it be ? My family and a few friends who stood by my side through all odds were definitely the obvious ones but I wanted something close physically. It didn’t take me long to realize that it had to be my first love. It was so close to me all these months (in fact years) and I completely ignored it. I immediately said bye to my new friends and rushed back home. Another fight with darkness in my underground cave and I finally came out victorious with all my painting equipments albeit in heart breaking conditions. They were covered with dust and dried colors. The color tubes were flattened at weird places. Brushes had lost its shapes but not the reproducibility. They had stood the test of harsh times. I felt like crying. Painting was something I really loved and when the kids of my age were playing, enjoying and partying I was trying to paint something alone in complete isolation. A decade of struggle for a stability in my career had taken me too far away from my love. I cleaned the brushes and sorted out the materials that could be used. In the next few hours I was back to my childhood: playing with colors. The sharpness, skills and confidence has deteriorated considerably but the passion is still there. The brushes no more listen to my commands. Perhaps they are disappointed with me but I am sure I will win them back with time, care and attention they have been devoid of for years. Since I also found my Introspection point in Trondheim, I decided to make it the topic of my revival. I hope to upload paintings as frequently as new photo albums. All these years I have been receiving loads of emails and good wishes. Although I do not reply to all the emails and messages I do read them so keep them coming. I badly need them specially in the revival period.
When: 02.07.2010
With: Expat members
From: Ravnkloa http://www.trondheim.no/ravnkloa/ by boat
Munkholmen (Norwegian, meaning the monk’s islet) is an islet north of Trondheim, Norway in the Trondheimsfjord. The islet has served as a place of execution, a monastery, a fortress, prison, and a World War II anti-aircraft gun station. Today, Munkholmen is a popular tourist attraction and recreation site.
I generally prefer a non-white surface when I am working with pastels. Having a background color tone midway between white and black helps in judging the color values much more easily and accurately.
Step 1: Sketch the outline of the lake with a 9B pencil. Step 2: Color the areas which are dark in color. It is much easier to use lighter colors in the end during the final phase. In this painting i used different shades of blue to paint the blue part of the sky. Similarly I painted the darker trees and bushes on the horizon. The lakes was painted next to show the reflections of the sky and trees. Finally the shades due to long grass in the foreground was painted. Light and bright colors were intentionally avoided at this stage. Step 3: Even darker shades were used on the sky, lake and foreground areas. The colors were then blended lightly with fingers. One can also use tissue papers but I like to get dirty with paints. They are no more too toxic Step 4: The effects generated at the last step were fixed by spraying fixative over it. For this the painting was laid on a horizontal surface and the fixative was sprayed from a distance of about 1m. Spraying from closer distance might blow off the dry pastel dusts. I wanted them to stick to the painting. Also make sure to do it outdoor and do not inhale the fixative. It is not a good idea to get drunk mid way and you might need hours to regain consciousness Step 5: Sharp edged bright colors along with carefully chosen warm dark colors were used to create the shapes of grass and cloud. Step 6: Fixative was once again sprayed. Step 7: I have invented the best way of preserving a pastel painting: laminate them and they will last for ever
Hope you will enjoy painting. Also check out the video section of this website. I sometime film the painting process. Unfortunately I do not speak much while painting so a commentary is always missing but you can learn a lot just by watching.
