Acrylic landscape painting on board -Wooden Bungalows

© Shubhankar  Adhikari 2013

Acrylic painting on board (size 11" x 14")

Acrylic is one of my favourite medium for painting. This is an acrylic  painting  which I have completed recently. Working with acrylic on board is always a nice experience .

Green Dream - Landscape in watercolour

© Shubhankar  Adhikari 2013

Watercolour painting on paper

Title - Green Dream (Size- 11" x 15" )

Here in this artwork I have used a big brush (no. 12 round brush ). I have used  sap green,viridian hue, payne's grey and hooker's green . While digging the memory of  Purulia tour, I have planned to work more on my "Bengal Landscape Series". Just stay tuned to view more of my works in future.

An old house sketch with ball point pen

© Shubhankar  Adhikari 

 Last week when I visited Taki, the heritage town of Bengal ,I noticed this beautiful  house . I have made this sketch work last week. In my previous blog post  I have alreadty mentioned about  Taki in short. In Taki I have found many old structures like this  . I have a plan to do a painting series later on.

An artful tour to Taki - a Heritage Town

© Shubhankar  Adhikari

watercolour painting  on paper ( 11" x 15")

Taki is an extremely peaceful place for plein air painting .Last week I visited Taki to do some plein air painting.
I boarded the Hasnabad Local Train from Sealdah Station,(Kolkata ) to reach Taki Road Station.From Taki Road station I took a cycle-van to arrive at the Zamindar Bari (Palatial building ) on the banks of River Ichamoti in 10 minutes. Two-third of the Zamindar Bari (Palatial building ) property has been engulfed by the river Ichamoti,still this ( Zamindar Bari -Palatial building ) is one of the main attraction here.These Zamindars ruled from the time of Mughals and served till the time of British rules. It is quite painful to see the Zamindar Baris(Palatial buildings ) are now in dilpidated state. This historical Zamindar Bari(Palatial building ) as a witness, has lot more to say, if we all are willing to listen it.

Taki is a heritage town and also the gateway to Sunderban ( Bay of Bengal ). It is situated by the bank of beautiful river Ichamoti. Bangladesh is on the other bank of the river Ichamoti. Taki Municipality is  one of the oldest municipalities in India established in1869. Taki Gov’t High School is more than 250 years old.

A boat ride on the waters of Ichamoti is an activity which I surely cannot miss for speed sketching. I sketched the house of the the fishermen, their boats ,trees near  the shore, boats dancing in the high tide. The murmuring sound of the water and a boatman singing some folk tune enchanted my creative spirit. I spent a lovely day observing, painting,sketching  a variety of birds, trees, sailing boats,motor boats etc.

After completion of my fine art related job wholeday long , I enjoyed rolls, ghugnis ,sweets and tea on the shores of Ichamoti in the evening . It was quite relaxing. As an avid fan of prawn I also tried some prawn items here. Taki is also well known for prawn.

While returning home ,I noticed this beautiful old structure near Taki Municipality. I decided that I will paint it very soon. Yesterday I have made it. In this painting I have applied scarlet lake, lemon yellow,prussian blue,burnt sienna,hooker’s green,and payne’s grey.

A Village scene from my sketch book

© Shubhankar  Adhikari 

pen on paper 

To develop your art sketching is very important .  If you want to improve your art ,then sketch a lot . Sketching on regular basis will improve your power to compose. Do lots of doodles also. 

Watercolour Landscape - near Chandil, Jharkhand

© Shubhankar  Adhikari (Artist ) 2013

watercolour painting on handmade paper (11" x 15")

Way to Mirik, Darjeeling, North Bengal

© Shubhankar  Adhikari (Artist )2013

Art of watercolour on paper

Happy to share my recent artwork on Darjeeling, India.  

Kolkata Cityscape - Victoria Memorial Hall

© Shubhankar  Adhikari (Artist )

Watercolour painting on paper ( 11" x 7" )

This is my recent painting on Kolkata cityscape. I always liked the architectural style of Victoria Memorial Hall. I am happy with the outcome of this artwork.In this work I have applied little bit of lemon yellow,sap green,payne's grey,prussian blue and olive green. 

Presently Victoria Memorial Hall is one of the most prominent building and also an art museum of Calcutta,under the Department of Culture ,Government of India.

How to develop your painting skills - Eleven tips

© Shubhankar  Adhikari (Artist )

watercolour painting on paper ( 11" x 7" )


How to develop your painting skills - Eleven tips

1.  Practice a lot.
2. Try to use the best tools you can afford for your artworks.
3. Try to visit the art fair and galleries regularly.
4. Mix with other fellow artists and exchange your views with them.
5. Draw or paint regularly.
6. Plan well before starting your art work.
7. Read good books on art.
8. Travel new places to increase your creative spirit.
9. Limit your palette to increase concentration.
10. Try to develop your own style
11. Listen soft instrumental music in the background while working.

A Red House - watercolour & pen

© Shubhankar  Adhikari (Artist ) 2013

Watercolour painting on paper 

Here in this work I applied pen and watercolour on catrige paper.

Sketching with Indian Ink and brush

© Shubhankar Adhikari (Artist ) 2013

Ink and brush on paper (7" x 11")

Last time when I visited Chinsurah (a historical Dutch colonial town placed in Hooghly district, West Bengal , India ) , I noticed many beautifully structured houses . I took some snaps . Later I made some speed sketches with brush and Indian ink on paper. Sharing one of them with you. 

Semi -Abstract Naturescape

© Shubhankar  Adhikari (Artist) 2013

watercolour painting on handmade paper (7" x 11")

Completed this painting last night. Happy to share with you all. 

Landscape in watercolour and ink

© Shubhankar  Adhikari (Artist) 2013

watercolour on paper

Townscape

© Shubhankar  Adhikari 2013 (Artist)

watercolour painting on paper 

Kolkata Cityscape - Cruiser on Hooghly river near Princep Ghat

© Shubhankar  Adhikari

Title - Cruiser on Hooghly river

watercolour paintings on paper

Happy to share with you all my first post of 2013.This painting was done by me last year.  Year 2012 was incredibly busy for me. I hope 2013 will be much busier,happier and peaceful for everyone.

Evergreen North Bengal

© Shubhankar  Adhikari ( artist )

watercolour painting on paper (8" x 11")

I made this paintings in the month of august 2012. This year when I visited North Bengal , I was lucky enough to find a very experienced driver for my rented car. He spotted me various beautiful places on the way to Lataguri,Jhalong, Bindu,Chalsa ,Gorumara ,Murti  ( ...........the list will be a long one ). He stopped the car many a time and gave me enough chance  to do my fine art related works. In this painting you can see a beautiful place between  Jhalong and Bindu.We stopped their for a while to take a cup of tea from a tea stall . The place is so beautiful that I will be unable to forget it ever. 

Delhi bound super fast train departing Kolkata-Howrah station........Kolkata cityscape painting

© Shubhankar  Adhikari (Artist )

watercolor painting on paper 

This is a painting I have completed yesterday morning. Now I am working on Kolkata city life .  I will share more paintings with you in near future, so stay tuned. :)

Tractor in service

© Shubhankar Adhikari (Artist )

Watercolor painting on handmade paper 

size-(10" x 18")

This composition was made by me last week. Love to share with you all. Have a nice week :)

Kolkata Cityscape - Tramways

© Shubhankar Adhikari (Artist)

Watercolour painting on paper 

Sharing a painting from my “Kolkata Tram” series. In this painting I have painted a  tram passing through the lush green area of Esplanade .I have used here sap green, payne’s gray, lemon yellow  and little bit of ultramarine blue. I often love to travel by tram specially the Esplanade to Khidirpur  route.

Tram is one my favourite mode of transport. . I like tram because as a mode of transport it is very clean and green , environment friendly,no emissions ,safe and secured, moderately speedy, smooth and comfortable, pedestrian-friendly, affordable , inspiring for the creative minded people .

Kolkata is the only city in India where still trams are operating. Perhaps the Kolkata tram is the oldest electric tram in Asia.  Worldwide the trams are gaining significance after the sharp increase in oil price. I think the Kolkata tramways will retains its heritage and will expand further by setting up new routes as well as reopening the closed routes. There are huge fans for this iconic tram services in Kolkata and suburbs .  Recently we can see some beautiful modern trams replacing the old ones on the streets of Kolkata.

Kolkata bound super-fast train leaving the Tatanagar Station.....Watercolour painting

© Shubhankar Adhikari (Artist )

watercolour painting on paper 

size -8" x 11"

This is a painting done by me after my recent trip to Tatanagar /Jamshedpur  Beautiful city ,nice people,beautiful city life,nice landscapes,parks,zoos,hills, Subornarekha river,Dimna lake ,lush greens surrounded the Tatanagar. 

When I was waiting for my return train to Kolkata at the Tatanagar station, suddenly this beautifully coloured rail engine captured my attention and I drew some initial sketch and later I painted it in my studio.