'En Plein Air' painting session at the Lal Bagh park at Bangalore.

It is always a refreshing change to paint in the open air to cut the monotony of studio painting.

On the 8th of June 2010, I led my art class to the Lal Bagh of Bangalore for an experience of 'en plein air' painting, 








We spent the first two hours in search of a great scene to paint, (which was in abundance at the park), that also had a shadowy spot close by - to settle down for painting. 

Sankara exploring  the length and breath of Lal Bagh in search for the ideal spot. 

Finally we chose to sit in the shade, by the lakeside - to paint, and decided to capture the beautiful reflections of the palm trees on the lake. The red flowers of the Jacaranda trees on the left provided all the color, and the larger trees on the island at the right side had a halo of birds above it that was irresistable.  

The girls decided to sit together, as they liked the same view of the lake from this bench. 

Sankar settled on a wrought iron garden bench in the shade across the lake and painted from this angle.         

Geethika absorbed in painting. 

Sukanya also absorbed in painting. 

I too took up my paints, and grabbed the opportunity to paint 'en plein air'.  I chose a spot close to my students and settled with my gear to paint.   Here is me painting away during the day on my pochade box.  The painting you see here is in the under-painting stage.  

There was a large audience of onlookers throughout the day, who watched us painting, and liberally threw in many compliments which made our 'plein air' session  a wonderful experience.  

Watch out for the finished paintings of our ' En Plein Air' session in my next blog!!!   

How to paint Stainless- Steel

The question of 'how to paint stainless steel' arose when Sankar was painting a lady wearing metallic jewellery. 

Hence, the subject matter for the next 'still life' project was hit upon!    This new still life project was to be dedicated just to enjoy the experience of painting 'stainless steel' from real life.

So I set up a number of objects that included a water jug, a set of 4 tumblers (glasses), a sweet lime squeezer, and a couple of spoons (all stainless steel); on a table. 

The students carefully chose their views of choice, and sat around the 'still life setting' and started to paint.  In this 'real life experience', photograhic reference was avoided completely.

The students had the choice of selecting their own color combinations.  It was very interesting to note how different each one's perspective is. 

All of them did a wonderful job of capturing the reflections of objects on the stainless steel water jug, and the also the light and shadow effects. 

Geethika's chose to do her painting in shades of yellow and yellow ochre. 

Sankara chose the boldest color scheme, using the complimentary shades of orange and purple for his painting.   

Sukanya chose to use a blue table cloth that is beautifully reflected on the steel jug.  Her perspective was from a far point of view, taking in the whole table and table cloth as well.    

Rajith chose to use pastel shades of pinks for this still life, that made his stainless steel really stand out. 

The whole class completey engrossed in their project  'How to paint stainless steel' - still life

Geethika seated along with the 'stainless steel still life setting', and her own painting.   

We have already decided on what the next project will be.  -   'En Plein Air Painting'.    

 So you can look forward to my next blog that will have pictures of our class trip to the 'Lal Bagh'-  Bangalore.  Here all of us including me did 'plein air paintings' of the beautiful lake, trees and islands of Lal Bagh.