Painting for me is meditation, and painting with watercolors is one of my greatest delights. It has now become an addiction too. I would describe myself as more of an impressionist artist. I love to paint busy scenes like streets, markets and figures in my paintings. Earlier I used to paint train engines, and my engine paintings received many awards. But slowly when I started traveling all around the world, busy streets and cityscapes attracted me a great deal, and I started painting cityscapes and more boats. In 2015, I painted a top view of the beautiful city of Kolkata, India, and the Howrah Bridge, which earned me a Silver Star Award from the National Watercolor Society. This gave me new perspective and energy in my painting, and then I started capturing more aerial views.

Afternoon in Madrid, watercolor, 14 x 21" (36 x 53½ cm) I painted the Metropolis Building in Madrid many times at different times of day. This piece I painted in the afternoon, and the colors were totally different at this time of day, with far more warm colors. I tried to captured the beautiful light and shadow of the Metropolis Building falling on the other building.

 

View of Italy, watercolor, 21½ x 29½" (55 x 75 cm) This is a lovely view of Monopoli, Italy. I tried to capture beautiful afternoon light in this painting, though I always love to play with light and shadow. I love the reflections and color of the water. The combination of warm and cool colors always looks more attractive so I tried to capture that in this painting.

 

I always love to capture the hustle and bustle in my paintings, capturing more movement and action by showing more figures in my work. In my college days I was more focusing on the medium of oil, but when I started traveling more I found that we have to work fast and just have to capture the mood and atmosphere in the painting while doing plein air works. That changed my mind and I started doing more watercolors, and I found more freshness and magic in my painting. For me, a painting should look like a painting—not a picture—as we have a very good option for that, the camera. We just have to capture the mood of the particular location. Because I work in impressionism, you will find less details in my painting as I love to paint more bold strokes. I love to use more blues in my painting, and I love to work with a limited palette as it creates harmony in the painting. I make my own greens in my paintings and use different shades of blues as well. I hope to continue working with watercolors in the future and, eventually, paint every part of the world.  

Streets of Paris, watercolor, 11 x 15" (27 x 38 cm) This is a view of Paris. I love to paint top views so I attempted this one. The blue color on the top of the buildings was beautiful, and the light falling on the top of the building created lovely shadows on the opposite sides, making this view more dynamic. I did my best to capture the unique light and shadow of this scene. 

 

My Art in the Making Boats of Italy

Stage 1

Stage 1  Sketch

I always try to capture light and shadow, as well as perspective in my painting. For me, drawing is a very important part of the painting. If your drawing is not correct, then the colors will never support your painting. To begin, I will start with a light sketch, focusing more on shapes.

Stage 2

Stage 2  Blocking in Major Colors

I always go from top to bottom, starting with the sky and leaving the white shapes/spots for the highlights. I start with the background wash and then come to the middle ground and foreground.

Stage 3

Stage 3  Additional Details in Building

I have added more details in the building. I am squinting at the scene and determining the correct values, then adding them in. 

Stage 4

Stage 4  Coloring the Water

In this stage I have added the color of the water, which is cobalt green and horizon blue. Later I painted the boats, carefully leaving the paper white for the highlights.

Stage 5

Stage 5  Finished Artwork

Boats of Italy, watercolor, 21½ x 29½" (55 x 75 cm)
I always come to my focal point at the end. Your focal point is the area with the highest value contrast. I have given more depth by adding shadows, which adds the volume in the painting.