Grateful Heart - Squirrel

Grateful Heart - Squirrel - Created 11/5/2020

Now this one is very special for me - inspired by squirrels in our backyard!! It is a favorite pass time to see how the squirrel entices our pet dog - Lily, who is barking inside because we have closed the door :) The squirrel knows it for sure that our Lily cannot do anything as long as she is inside. 

I saw this photo as free reference images for artists on Facebook and right away decided to paint it!

I cropped the reference picture to 4x8 inches. This specific size was required by the Randy Higbee show - "The Huge Show Small Art". Its an online show to be published on Nov 7th 2020.

I chose a Taos Mini Frame (Taos Black Mini floater frame), which was on sale.

The speciality about this watercolor painting is that it can be framed without glass. The painting is varnished using archival varnish and looks beautiful in this frame.

click on image to view larger 

Grateful Heart - Squirrel, 8x4 inches, Watercolor on Arches 140 lbs coldpress

Grateful Heart - Squirrel, 8x4 inches, Watercolor on Arches 140 lbs coldpress,

Taos Black Mini floater frame (bought from Randy Higbee Gallery)

Code# PK_20_010 

Available - Info coming soon...

For other Original Oil Paintings, Original Watercolor Paintings, Fine art Prints and more, please visit my Etsy Website here: 

https://www.etsy.com/shop/preranap

Fall is in the Air

The inspiration for this painting is beautiful fall colors and the leaves illuminated by sun shining on it!! It is quite a big painting and for me the challenge was to control water on such a big area of each leaf. For every painting I try to experiment with the background. At first I was going to use Alcohol drops to create this kind of texture. But I did not use Alcohol, instead I experimented with water itself.
So first I wet all of the background. Then I put in strong different colors in a circular motion. When I did this I could see a magical effect of the water and color mingling into each other. The paper has to be very wet though for color to do its magic. When the paper slightly dried, I took just plain water in my brush and added drops randomly all over the paper. The place where the water was dropped became white and the color spread to the sides following the circumference of the water drop. This way I did 2-3 layers n my background. I was afraid whether using so many colors would work or not, but I like the colorful texture.
Now feeling accomplished!!

click on image to view larger

Fall is in the Air - 22x30 inches, Watercolor on 300lbs coldpress Arches paper

Code# PK_18_005
Available - contact me @ preranap@hotmail.com

Fall Colors - SOLD

Fall colors have always fascinated me. Now equipped with new watercolor paints (Maimeriblu professional watercolors), new watercolor brushes, an awesome new palette and masking fluid, I had the urge to try out couple different techniques. The techniques used in this are - masking and spreading salt. Below is the result:

Fall Colors - 9 x 12 inches, Watercolor on Archies paper

SOLD

Masking: the very bright areas in the painting were covered with masking fluid. At the very end, the masking was removed. On few areas I left the white of the paper as it is and that is the brightest in the painting. I did cover few areas with very watery paint so it doesn't appear as bright.
Salt: I used the simple cooking salt in few areas to create a texture. Different salts create fine or coarse texture and it also depends how wet the paper is when salt is sprinkled. In this case I got a fine texture. Next time I will try a different salt.
I had so much fun and reminded me of the silk painting techniques which are quite similar to watercolor painting techniques. 

Autumn Story

Once upon a time lived a wonderful couple - Pumpkin Prince and Pumpkin Princess of the Land of Pumpkins. They were very kind to the pumpkin people in their Land. They took great care of their Land of Pumpkins. It was a lot of responsibility and they handled it very well. As fancy as it sounded to be called Prince and Princess, among all their royal  chores.., it got a bit challenging for them. So they decided to go on a date to rejuvenate themselves. The Pumpkin Prince loved reading books and the Princess loved to listen. What could be a better place than a perfect garden on the outskirts of their Pumpkin land!? They found this perfect spot in the garden to happily spend time together, doing their favorite thing.

I modified this painting, the background greens to give it more depth, do you like this one better?

click on image to view larger

The original one is below if anyone would like to see the difference:

click on the image to view larger

Autumn Story - 11 x 14 inches, Oil on Canvas Panel

Does anyone want to continue the story to the end? Please do write in your comments..

Day 11 - 30 Paintings in 30 days - Fall Glory

After 5 Christmas Themed paintings, I changed the theme once again. Some of the next ones will be on the theme Fall/Autumn Season. This is the most colorful seasons of all and I used to love the fall leaves until recently... Our new puppy - Lily,  goes in the backyard and although the leaves are not so colorful, she still likes to chew on them. Its not fun for us because we got to constantly watch out for her not to eat those leaves. Any ways here is my painting, hope you like it!

click on image to view larger

Fall Glory - 5 x 7 inches, Oil on Canvas Panel in daylight

 Below is how it looks in Studio Light:

Fall Glory - 5 x 7 inches, Oil on Canvas Panel in Studio Light

Church n Fall Colors - SOLD

It might seem really odd that in the middle of summer I came up with this fall color landscape, hmmm....  I had started this one during the first painting workshop I had attended couple of years ago. Since then it was lying around unfinished. Yes! finally... I am very happy that I got done with this :)

This landscape reminds me of my time living in Minden, Germany. It was a very similar setting. In the fall season, I went for long walks with my host family (the Klaus Kettig & family) in this wilderness. Enjoying nature, collecting nuts and listening to German conversations. Good Times!

Church n Fall Colors - 16 x 20 inches on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

SOLD