forest painting

Serenity. A moment in time. A sand painting.

November 18, 2011 Filed Under: My Paintings By Ishrath Humairah 7 Comments

There is something sacred about sand.

It is abundant near water. It is abundant where there is no water.
It sifts through if you try to hold but leaves a few grains behind if you let go.
It looks like a dull color of gold but see closer you find colors breathtakingly bold.
It is magic. It is real.

And it continues to remain mysterious and elusive, giving us a lifetime of discovery and delight in every grain of sand.

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Serenity – A Moment in Time – 18″ x 18″

Working with sand is at a different realm altogether. Brushes and knives dont seem enough. The sand with its dunes, soft peaks, and patterns is a mesmerising medium… we only have to follow the way of the sand. It is like working with someone who has a mind of its own. The artist becomes an apprentice.

This abstract nature landscape painting was made from a salvaged canvas that had a green abstract.
But it never felt complete.

The sand did to it what I could not. It raised the work to another dimension. Touch it and you will know how.

The Refuge I Seek – An Abstract Landscape Painting in Oil Media

July 9, 2010 Filed Under: My Paintings By Ishrath Humairah 15 Comments

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The Refuge I Seek – Abstract Impressionist Landscape Painting – Oil on Canvas

Here is another painting that is growing on me. And teaching me more than I can ever comprehend. There is handiwork of the One above – in everything we see.

I now find reasons to go past by this painting which is now hung to dry. It will take a long for sure as it is laden with thick textures and thick colors

I started with turquoise, copper and Indian red as base colors. I knew it would be a landscape for the colors were speaking for themselves, conveying sky, earth and trees. As the new layers got added, a beautiful abstract landscape was formed. I cant even remember the number of days it took to reach here.

There was a danger of doing more work on this and spoil it. Thankfully, I stopped. This time I kept going back and looking at it as a whole and decided to stop. It seemed very light, beautiful and airy earlier with less darker tones. But with a little more brushwork and darkness around, it feels better.

Call it abstract, impressionist or anything, its beyond my care. I was and am stunned by the simplicity of this painting. It is growing on me at the moment. If there is a calling, this is it.

If there is a refuge for my soul, this is it.

Deep Forest – An Abstract Oil Painting in Terre Verte

June 29, 2010 Filed Under: My Paintings By Ishrath Humairah 8 Comments

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Deep Forest – Oil on Canvas – Heavy Texture

Deep Forest uses a single color and spreads over in different shades and hues. It is actually a painting over a painting because I salvaged an existing canvas that did not have much on it. Thanks to liberal amount of gesso and paper shreds, a lovely texture was created. And that lovely canvas texture in pure white formed images of woods, branches, trees and more. It itself gave rise to an old deep forest.

I love textures in paintings – with lots of paint. But for deep forest, the textures were made with shreds of tissue paper, little water and gesso. I had to leave it to dry for 2 days and did another layer of gesso to seal it all in. All I had was a milk white canvas with beautiful textures that looked like a painting. Needless to say, it needed a bit of green. Verte green was not my first color of choice. I chose it to make the undertones. When I started with this shade of green, I could not stop.

Terre Verte is surprisingly a beautiful color (dirty yet leafy). A blob on the palette deceives its capabilities. But as you go about using it over white, it looks spectacular. I see myself using more of it in future. And not to mention that the above photo is not an exact reproduction of verte green color due to the camera/ monitor technicalities.

I’d say, go get that shade for yourself and start playing. You wont be disappointed.

The Unfinished Forest – My Incomplete Oil Painting

May 22, 2010 Filed Under: My Paintings By Ishrath Humairah 4 Comments

The Unfinished Forest

The Unfinished Forest.
Undone. Cherished.
Never Abandoned.

This painting was born eons ago but was never completed. I stopped painting it midway; the reason for which requires a big cup of tea with you as it is a long story.

I remember the evening when I unwrapped this fresh canvas to paint. Beautiful trees, dead trees, young trees, grasses, shadows were my visions. Layer by layer the paints got wild and thick. Maybe I was guessing that the whole canvas will have many shades of green. I did not know what the final work would ever look like. But I always knew that what I had seen within would eventually be seen here.

And I remember the night when I had put down the brushes. The painting was left on easel to find its true colors. The oils dried on the palette.

I dont think I will ever complete this. I had begun to love it this way. Undone, unfinished, and in wait.

It hangs holy and high in our home and goes with us wherever we live.
This will forever remain my unfinished business.