A New Challenger - Brinda Crishna

Good day! I am excited to share with you that Brinda Crishna has taken on the 100 Painting Challenge!

To learn more about Brinda, you can visit her at her blog, Moments of Quiet. Brinda joins us from Kolkata, India and has some beautiful watercolors on her blog.

Welcome, Brinda!

Edge of the Forest #33

A Yellowstone sketch: The gnarly roots of the tree first caught my attention, and then I noticed an elk antler nearby. I was walking at the time, a long way from the car and in a place where we couldn't park ... so I photographed it and painted in on a day the weather kept us in.

Pelican fountain pen and watercolor.

Sandhill Cranes # 32

This is one of a series of five sandhill crane drawings drawn after watching them on April 17 when were were in Yellowstone. Here the cranes are performing their mating dance, part of the pair bonding process.

Drawn from far off photos we took in Yellowstone. Pelikan fountain pen on Strathmore 140# cold press paper.

Ruddy Duck # 31

Ruddy ducks are improbable little fellers. They are smaller than most ducks, have a great big head, and during the breeding season sport a bright blue bill that must be the envy of every duck on the pond. Their plain brown hens are definitly impressed by it.

Drawn squished in the back seat of our RAV on a cold, windy day in Yellowstone ... Pelikan Fountain pen and watercolor.

Beta Male of the Canyon Pack # 30

I didn't succeed in drawing 100 'Yellowstone Dogs' before we got to Yellowstone, but I got close. I think the practice helped a lot when it came time to draw a wolf.

This is the beta male of the Canyon Wolf Pack. I drew it from a photo I took right through the windshield. I penciled first, then inked with my Pelican fountain pen and finally added watercolor.

For more about the encounter go to my blog.

Painting #61 Cactus and Full Moon

One morning a few years ago we were going to church early (in Arizona), early enough that it was still dark out when I saw these cactus framed by the full moon.  I tried to paint it back then and failed so I did this one from memory and used gouache.  Worked great.  There is just something about painting on black paper that really interests me.

High and Wild #29

A golden eagle in front of Barronette Peak, Yellowstone National Park. I painted this one after I got home, but I knew I wanted to paint it and photographed the peak while I was there. It was inspired by watching two golden eagles soaring way up there, at over 10,000 feet in elevation. The eagle should actually be much smaller, but then I was afraid you wouldn't see it.

Pelican Pen on Strathmore 140# cold press watercolor paper.

I'm Looking at You # 28

I knew before I left for Yellowstone that I wanted to draw this. I have a pencil sketch of this idea in an old journal. So I brought with me a photo of the doe and then looked for the right aspen. I drew lightly in pencil first, then added ink with a 005 Micron Pigma pen.

Spatzie # 27

Most of us think of English Sparrows invading other bird's bird houses and making a royal nuisance out of themselves. In western Washington they build their own nests -- nests that look like prickly soccer balls. They are a cheerful addition to an oasis of trees out in the middle of vast openess.

Pelican fountain pen with ink and watercolor added.

#26 Mountain Bluebird on Aspen

Mountain bluebirds have nested in this aspen tree for several years. The hole used to be much smaller, but a couple of years ago a pair of flickers reamed it out. I’m not sure if flickers or bluebirds nested that year. I was happy to see the bluebirds are back. Note that this aspen also has scars made years ago when a bear cub climbed the tree.

I used my Pelican pen and watercolor for this sketch. It is one of the few I actually painted outside (not scrunched up inside our car).

#25 Robin on Lodgepole Snag

I’m back after a long, wonderful trip to Yellowstone. I got lots of painting done while I was gone and lots of material for this challenge and for my blog. It will take me awhile to get it all posted.

This robin on a lodgepole snag is done with a Pelican Fountain pen and a little water added with one of those wonderful plastic brushes that have a little reservoir of water. What a wonderful invention!

Painting #60 - An Experiment

I have been reading "Watercolor, The Spirit of Spontaneity' written by Karlyn Holman and this is one of the exercises she suggested trying.  It is called 'designing with three white corners'.

You tape over any three corners in any design and paint the rest.  I also combined it with wet-in-wet and tried to see what kind of design I could make of it.  It got a little wild but I really like the three open corners.

I painted into them a little and added a bee.

Fun exercise.  I'm looking forward to trying it again.

Just for grins, I did a wet-in-wet with this painting that wasn't working out the way I wanted.  Now I like it lots better.

Painting #59 - Memorial Day and Cactus

This is how to celebrate Memorial Day on Cactus Monday.

Painting #58 - Church Hat

I see this lady in church every Sunday and she ALWAYS has a hat on.  

And it is always a different hat. 

And it always coordinates with what she is wearing.  

Always!

So I did a one minute pencil sketch and painted it at home.

I am quite fascinated with her hats and you may be seeing more of them.  I can only imagine what her 'hat closet' must look like.  An artist dream no doubt.

There is something so appealing to me in this sketch that I am making it one of my '100'.

Painting #57 Iris

All my iris were budding last week and I just had to paint their graceful lines.

The top one is what I started with, and I like it.

However, I was in the kind of mood where I wanted to try adding something special to the painting but I like the first one better, it's cleaner and more of a botanical specimen.

Painting #56 Multi-media Cactus Blooms

I was in a creative mood when I did this multi-media sketch.

I wanted to do something in ink and it evolved into an ink, water-soluble graphite and watercolor cactus bloom.

Then it evolved even further into leaving the audience to finish the image in their mind.  Sometimes our creativity just takes over.

I like the way it turned out.

Painting # 55 - Wyoming Bull Bison

I recently found "The Wilderness Art Challenge" created and managed by Gary Keimig who is an artist of nature in Wyoming.  He submits a photo each month for everyone to use as a reference and paint it in any medium they want.

So I did.  I tried to make that Wyoming landscape as vast, open and sunny as it is in my mind.

Thanks for making this challenge available Gary.

Painting #54 Daisy Tuesday

I received these daisies on Mother's Day from the restaurant where we ate breakfast.  They are still fresh in my vase so I just had to paint them.

Love those daisies.


I want to get back to landscapes but those flowers just keep getting in the way. :)

Painting #53 - Blooming Cactus

This is from a photo reference I took of a blooming cactus just before we left Arizona.  I am trying to play with light more but those yellows get me every time!

Painting #52 - Puppy Time

The grands are getting a puppy, a Golden Retriever, in 10 days.  I painted this from a photo taken when they went to visit, hold and cuddle the puppies.

I foresee a lot of painting opportunities coming up!

Painting #51 - Pine Cone

When we returned to Wisconsin we had a million pine cones all over the yard and they had to be picked up or they wreck the mower.  Needless to say we were so sore from raking and burning them that it only seemed appropriate to paint the biggest one I found. 

After the wind blew and it rained for two days guess what we did again?!!

I had a hard time scanning it because I did it on 10x14 inch paper.

As basic as this pine cone is I had fun painting it.