Archive for the ‘dancer series’ Category
Ecstasy
These days, when I upload my paintings to flickr, it automatically gets updated on Google Buzz. This way, my family gets to follow my paintings regularly. My parents do not generally visit my blog or follow what I do. But then, since Buzz is so on-your-face, they do not miss anything.:) At a time when social media is nothing but suffocating, I was so not interested in embracing yet another place to post mindless status updates. I have however not deactivated buzz for the sole reason that it saves my folks the trouble of remembering my blog url or any such things.:) Though I do not post anything new to Buzz, the auto update from flickr is good for me.
Ecstasy
Acrylics on Canvas, 16 x 20 inches
© Nithya Swaminathan
This one is completed and signed, but something about her body/anatomy doesn’t seem alright to me. I thought I have made the hands too small, but looks like that isn’t the case. So while I am unsure of what exactly is missing, I have kept it aside to take another look after a few days. I hope some flaw pops out at me 
Your feedback is welcome!
Break Free
After painting some legs, I think it is time to do a whole body again. So I am getting back to my belly dancers and capturing movement. One of the ideas that I employ in this series is a haphazard background. I wanted the background with large amounts of red, as it is fire and passion that I want to portray. By making the background rather hazy and with very visible broad brushstrokes, it gives a better sense of movement than what a still background would do. And painting the background is one of the most exciting part of the series, as I just play around to my heart’s content and keep applying color as wild as I can.
Break Free
Acrylics on Canvas, 16 x 20 inches
© Nithya Swaminathan
This painting is based on a reference from Flickr photographer Adelita Chohfi. With this reference, it was love at first sight, and the flowing hair on her face is what did it for me. The idea of depicting complete freedom and happiness, without showing even a bit of the face or a smile was a fascinating idea and I just *had* to paint this one.
The mood of the painting, and the title, all represent very precisely the kind of mood that I was in while doing this. Over the last few days, I was obsessing over a self portrait, which turned out to be a disaster. I cannot explain how depressed I was with it. I thought I gave it a decent start, but then it turned out really bad. I tweaked it to no end, spent a lot of time and energy tweaking it but it was a lost cause. I did complete the painting and post it on WetCanvas, where people did have nice things to say. But I am totally bugged and will not be posting it elsewhere. Anyway, getting back to this painting, this was the perfect way to unwind for me, after a portrait where I harped so much about the details. This one is so exactly opposite, no detail whatsoever, and is all about mood. I literally did leave myself loose and had maximum fun painting this. And I really like how it turned out.
Your feedback is welcome!
95. Tango #6
Tango #6
Acrylics on board, 5 x 7 inches
© Nithya Swaminathan
94. Tango #5
Tango #5
Acrylics on board, 5 x 7 inches
© Nithya Swaminathan
93. Tango #4
This one’s my favorite from the Tango paintings, what do you think? I loved painting it and like how the lady’s legs turned out. Your feedback is welcome!
Tango #4
Acrylics on board, 5 x 7 inches
© Nithya Swaminathan
92. Tango #3
These Tango paintings are based on the references from a dancer couple on Flickr. They are a real life couple who also perform together. And when I requested their permission to paint these photos, they were so gracious and allowed me to. In the first couple of paintings, I spent about 75% of the time doing the lady’s legs and hardly spent any time on the guy’s. So a friend told me that they are not as good as the woman’s legs. And so I tried slowing down a bit and added a little more detail to the guy’s legs as well. Your feedback is welcome!
Tango #3
Acrylics on board, 5 x 7 inches
© Nithya Swaminathan
91. Tango #2
I had picked up a set of moulding/structure paste recently, just to see what was possible with it. The set also had a bottle of gold, which I thought could be used in these dancer shoes. I love the effect it gives. The shoes are done in burnt umber, yellow ochre and white and finally a touch of gold here and there. It looks as though they are fully done in gold.:) Your feedback is welcome!
Tango #2
Acrylics on board, 5 x 7 inches
© Nithya Swaminathan
90. Tango #1
Last year, I did a series of belly dancers. The main idea of the series was to capture movement, and the passion of a dancer without focusing on the facial expression. The series relies only on capturing the body language. It was a series I thoroughly enjoyed, and it also struck me that I could extend it to some other forms of dance as well. I had some references of Tango that I had saved several months ago. If I had painted them then, I’d have done them in full, but now it occurred that I could just paint the legs and see if I could still capture the attitude.:) And so I decided to do a series of just legs in various Tango postures.
Tango #1
Acrylics on board, 5 x 7 inches
© Nithya Swaminathan
With these paintings I am also getting back to the brush. Boy it’s been quite long! I do miss my knife a great deal though. Let me know what you think of this one.
Let your hair down
Continuing with my series, this is my 3rd painting of belly dancers. There is one more to go as of now. All these paintings have been done based on the photos of Flickr photographer Adelita Choffi. While I was searching for pictures of dancers, I came across her treasure trove of snaps, all of beautiful belly dancers. She was generous enough to allow me to use them as references for paintings. I have favourited several more of her snaps, and will probably get to them after a while.
I might even extend this kind of a series to paint the various different forms of dance. There are too many exciting possibilities and I need to think before I jump in.
Let your hair down
16 * 20, Acrylics on Gallery wrapped canvas
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan
Unleashed
I love dance as an art form to bits, and not knowing to dance is one of my biggest regrets in life. I did not pursue it despite having had an opportunity to learn. This series of mine essentially aims to celebrate the beauty of the art form, and also the grace of the female form. I wanted the paintings to ooze passion, and that’s the basis for my color choices. I have gone in for a lot of oranges and reds in the background, as I believe it denotes a surge of passion. I aim to capture movement, with emphasis on the body language and not on facial expression. I wanted the whole figure to convey a sense of passion, true to the words “Dance like no one’s watching”.16 * 20 inches, Acrylics on Gallery wrapped canvas
Copyright Nithya Swaminathan
While I chose blue in her dress mainly because the complementary colors would work well together, I also chose it keeping the peacock in mind. When I was thinking about dancing without a care in the world, or just dancing to your own heartbeat, the peacock was what popped up in my mind first. Hence I have gone in for a lot of Pthalo Turqiose in the dresses.
The style is different from what I normally do, on quite a few counts. This is the first time I have tried to paint focusing on what I “feel”, rather than what I “see”. This could perhaps be a new direction in my work, but I cannot say that for sure now. The style in which the background is done, is totally new. I painted like a woman possessed, dabbing color randomly. I wanted to have fun and yes I did. A lot.
Even with the dancers, I have given all the detailing only to the face and the hair. The hands have not been done as detailed as I’d usually do them. Since I wanted to focus only on the face and hair, I chose to go a little loose with the hands. The dresses also have intricate mirror work and beads in my references. I have omitted all of those and just briefly indicated some designs. I think it works well, but it remains to be seen if I still like it say after a week. I might get back to it and change something if I don’t like it.
