Maasai herdsman - Watercolor

Here is a painting that's different from the others I've posted here. I usually enjoy painting carefully, observing the various shades and shapes of objects, but sometimes, it takes so much effort and the painting seems so overworked. So here I tried painting a little more loosely. I had no reference picture to study and paint, only some images in my head from my childhood. I also wanted to complete this painting in two hours. It ended up taking three hours instead, but that wasn't too much off the mark. Although the painting didn't quite come out the way I imagined it would, I still like the way it looks - especially the impression of the cows.

Size: 9"x12"
Medium: Watercolor on watercolor paper

A pair of pears- Watercolor challenge

Here is my latest painting that I completed for a challenge posted on this blog I liked the composition on the reference photo, with the colors on the pears, the reflection on the marble surface and the cool background.
Size: 9in by 12in
Medium: Watercolor on watercolor paper

The Elephant-headed God - Watercolor

This is my painting of an elephant-headed Hindu god, Ganesha. The idea behind this setup was that I wanted only one source of light, and long shadows in my composition. I also wanted to try depicting something metallic and painting fire or light. Since I was just beginning with watercolor paints and Ganesha is believed to be the remover of obstacles, I thought this composition would be perfect. I really liked the way this turned out :)
Size: 9in by 12in
Medium: Watercolor on watercolor paper

Watercolor- Tropical Hibiscus

Here is another painting I did last August. In this painting, I tried layering to obtain different shades on the painting. So I painted the dark areas of the flower with blue or green and later painted over with red to obtain the various shades of purple or grey-red. Similarly for the brighter areas, I had an under-painting of yellow before painting red on top. I had a lot of trouble with the background on this one. The original background on the picture was a light gray, but I wanted something darker and cooler that would make the flower and leaves in the foreground stand out a little more. I also wanted some of the leaves on the left to be less defined to give the illusion of depth. The end result looks very tropical. I am not sure I like the final composition, but I decided to stop here and move on to another painting :)

This is a scan of the original painting, with an embedded watermark. For some reason, the colors here are a little different than the original painting. I think I need to figure out some setting on the scanner to get the true colors on the scanned image.

Size: 9in by 12in
Medium: Watercolor on watercolor paper

Just Peachy -watercolor

Here is my first real painting that I completed last June (as you can see from the date on my signature!). My favorite aspect of this painting is the reflections of the peaches on the cup behind the peaches. Of course my name is not painted on, but is just a watermark I added.

Size: 6in by 9in
Medium: Watercolor on watercolor paper