Certificate of excellence Award

Very happy to know that my painting 'The last light, Varanasi' has been awarded the Certificate of Excellence in the Palm Art Award 2015 contest in Germany! I thank the jury wholeheartedly.

And so I'm ending 2015 on a happy note. This year has been good for me and I hope the new year to be even better.

Let's welcome the New year with optimism and hope...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

My selection in the Shenzhen Watercolor Biennial 2015

'Varanasi Nocturne'

Watercolor on Saunders Waterford Paper,

14 x 21 inches

Extremely delighted and honored to have my painting – ‘Varanasi Nocturne’ included in the Shenzhen International Watercolor Biennial 2015, one of the most prestigious watercolor exhibitions in the world, to be held in December in Shenzhen, China. The other selected artists are some very big names in the watercolor world today and I'm super excited to share the wall with them!

View at dusk, Varanasi

'View at dusk, Varanasi'

Watercolor on Saunders Paper,

14 x 21 inches

I remember a quote by the famous pastel artist Harley Brown that in a painting, the center of interest needn't be big. On the contrary, a small center of interest when placed appropriately, becomes more powerful. This is well proved in this painting. The center of interest here is the bright illuminated part of the shoreline, which comparatively, is a small portion in the painting . This painting also serves as an example of dominant color scheme, which is blue here. The monotony of this blue space is broken by the introduction of complementary colors yellow-orange, thereby creating a contrast and drama in the painting.
Hope you enjoy it!

Rest

'Rest'

Watercolor on Arches Paper,

14 x 21 inches

This was inspired by the lovely shadows of the bicycle and the beautiful textures on the wall.

Morning Coffee

'Morning Coffee'

Watercolor on Saunders Waterford Paper,

14 x 21 inches

Glowing Awnings

'Glowing Awnings'

Watercolor on Saunders Waterford Paper,

21 x 14 inches

The 2015-2016 China/NWS Small Image Exchange Exhibition

Very happy to announce that my painting 'Udaipur Lane' has been accepted into the 2015-2016 China/NWS Small Image Exchange Exhibition.

The painting will first show in China in 2015 then in San Pedro, CA, USA in 2016.

'Udaipur Lane'

Watercolor on Fabriano Paper,

10 x 7 inches

My entries for CASTRA Biennial 2015

Happy to share the news that the following 2 paintings of mine have made it to the second round of judging in ‘Castra Biennial 2015’ which will take place in Slovenia from 29th August to 30th September.

'Towards a New Hope'

Watercolor on Paper,

21 x 14 inches

'Jodhpur Street'

Watercolor on Paper,

14 x 21 inches

Towards Howrah Bridge

'Towards Howrah Bridge'

Watercolor on Saunders Waterford Paper,

14 x 21 inches

PRIVATE COLLECTION

A preliminary small black & white watercolor study (5 x 7 in.)

From planning to execution

Today I’m posting 2 recent paintings from my varanasi series, showing how I plan and execute my paintings

Both have been painted from my reference photographs. In the case of 'Morning Ferry' there was a certain portion in the reference photograph in which I was interested. So in order to check the composition, I did a thumbnail sketch. I normally follow this procedure, if I'm interested in just a portion of the photograph.

 And once I like it, I do another sketch, this time, little bigger and in color. These studies give me an idea how the final paintings would look. Some changes can still be made if need be, at this stage.

Doing these small color sketches is much more fun than the final painting :-)

Here are the final paintings -

'Morning Ferry, Varanasi'

Watercolor on Saunders Waterford paper,

10 x 14 inches

'Varanasi Hues'

Watercolor on Saunders Waterford Paper,

10 x 14 inches

Flight

'Flight'

Watercolor on Fabriano Paper

10 x 14 inches

Selected for World Watercolor Triennial 2015

Very happy to share the news that 2 of my works 'A new morning' and 'Lanes of Varanasi' have been included in the 2015 World Watercolor Triennial in Seoul, South Korea. Honored to be part of such an event.

Jodhpur Tangas - revisited

I did this painting way back in 2010. The subject was very good, interesting forms, shapes, nice light and shadows and of course, the colors. So I painted it. The result, however, was not as good as I had expected. Something was not correct.  I just kept it with my not so good paintings ( Yes, there are quite a few! )

Now, after more than 4 years while I was trying to organize my paintings, sorting them as which ones to keep and the ones to throw away (I did throw away some), I took out this particular painting and immediately knew why it hadn’t worked. The problem – ‘Values’. (Over time, the experience you gain really helps)The tonal values just needed to be darkened a little so I mixed a wash to glaze over the lighter areas and voila…it worked! I started liking it :)

Do you like it? It’ll be good to know.

Cheers

Before

After

'Jodhpur Tangas'

Watercolor on handmade paper

11 x 15 inches

A Quiet Moment Together

'A quiet moment together'

Watercolor on Fabriano paper,

7 x 10 inches

A small watercolor of one of my most preferred locations in Bangalore - the Lalbagh botanical garden.

Plein air painting at lalbagh

Lalbagh botanical garden in Bengaluru is my most preferred spot for plein air painting, mainly because its full of trees and foliage and that is one area which I need to learn to simplify in my plein air paintings and not get bogged down by trying to paint the details. So when I saw this huge tree, my main focus was the lovely light on it and its shadows on the ground. The leaves and foliage on the tree and the background were painted minimally so as to avoid unwanted distractions. What's more, while I was painting this, 3 girls just came and sat under its shade for a chit chat, which made the subject more interesting. So rather naming this painting as 'the big tree at lalbagh', I titled it as '3 friends'.
After completing the painting, I decided to do one more before heading back home. Wanted to do a different subject from the first one, so selected this red building at the garden. This was not as interesting as the first one, yet I carried on. It could have been better though!
Hope you enjoy them.

'3 friends'

Watercolor on fabriano paper,

10 x 14 inches

'Red building at lalbagh'

Watercolor on fabriano paper,

10 x 14 inches

Honorable Mention Award

Very pleased to know that my painting – ‘Standing the test of time’ has been awarded an honourable mention in Time and seasons competition by Exhibeo art magazine, followed by a wonderful review of my art by Jonathan Raddatz, art critic and chief editor of Exhibeo Art Magazine.

Click on the link for the review.

Thanks and Happy painting! :-)

http://www.artexhibeo.com/the-very-rich-hours-of-ramesh-jhawar/

Happy new year 2015

As the New Year dawns, I hope it is filled with the promises of a brighter tomorrow. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

'A New Morning'

Watercolor on Saunders paper, 

14 x 21inches