Mt Hope Sketches #2

Some of you may recall my previous Mt Hope sketches post, where I posted one of my sketches of Mt Hope and my progress as I turned it into a painting. I did do a few more other sketches and this year I started work on another one of those sketches.

Reference Image and preliminary sketch

Current WIP!

The challenges with these pieces for me was mixing the right colours. The paint colours of Mt Hope....leave much to be desired (lol) I am not even sure what you would call some of the shades that you can see in the reference image.

I am not totally pleased with my progress in the above piece. Hopefully as I continue to work on it, things will improve!

Thoughts?

You can look at the following post to see more photos of the EWMSC by clicking HERE

Mt Hope Sketches #1

Recall my post about the photographs of Mt Hope? Well here is a sample of what I did with those photographs. I'll write more about this current project later on but I thought I should update my blog on what I've been doing recently.

This is the first of the Mt Hope sketches that progressed into painting form. It should have been completed last week but as I have an exam on the upcoming Friday, I put a pause on all my artsy endeavours to study.

I hope to do a few more paintings based on the other sketches of Mt Hope that I did. Thoughts and views? Should I post the other sketches?

Ref Image: Mt Hope has definitely gotten its walls
power-washed since then. 

Trying out my Inktense Pencils on the pencil sketch

Usually I finish painting the entire thing first, then Ink over but I was a bit excited to finish it. Also I needed some new ref pics of the lower portion of the building. I had a feeling my prelim sketches weren't as accurate as they should be.

Photos of Mt Hope/ EWMSC

I've been working on some new projects for some time now. However my life has been a bit busy juggling those art projects with exams fast approaching, that I never make time to finish writing the blog post!

Until then here are some photos I took of the student section at Mt Hope/ Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex (EWMSC) over my last vacation.

Mt Hope's architecture is so distinct from the other two teaching hospitals (Port of Spain General Hospital and San Fernando General Hospital). Its design is more contemporary and geometric while with the other two hospitals you can see the influence of our colonial past. Port of Spain General was after all once the colonial hospital in Trinidad.

Consider this a hint as to my current projects ;) Thank you to the people who are helping me make them a reality.

East Port of Spain Photos

I went to the Port of Spain General Hospital today. It's on my list of buildings that I want to paint. On the bus drive to the hospital, I also saw some other buildings/landmarks of interest that I just had to photograph to remember as potential reference material for future paintings. The others, like the Salvation Army building or that bar on the corner of Henry and Duke, I did not pull my camera out in time for or the bus drove away too quickly for me to capture. 

Port-of Spain is such a treasure trove of different architectural styles. In the coming year I would like to try some urban cityscapes.

 Here are some photos from my journey this morning of East POS.

Driving into Port of Spain. The ideal shot for me would have been angled a bit more east so that  the towers would be more in focus and the Northern Range more visible. 

Did not mean to capture the garbage! But look at the mother holding her daughter's hand as she walks her to school.

Van that drove into my picture! grrr!

Corner of Piccadily Street. Not the view I wanted again but I did not pull out my camera in time, but this is a historical corner. I think you definitely will be seeing this or something similar in the future from me

My Father's House (Update #4) COMPLETED

Status: Completed

My Father's House is finally finished! Here is a quick review of what it looked like when I first started it and the progress as it went along.

Update #1: Reference picture and first sketches <--Refer to this link for the inspiration for this piece

       Update # 2: Watercolours added                             Update #3: More watercolours and Ink pen details

I ran the finished piece by my dad and uncle and the "old house" got their seal of approval for authenticity. Here's a picture of the finished product!

My Father's House.Watercolour and Ink on watercolour paper, 16 x 20 inches. ©2012 Shazanna Khan.

 According to my dad, the bushes look a bit more overgrown than he remembers but perhaps we can pretend that my grandfather forgot to cut them.  All that's left to do with this piece is to make a print for my Dad's office and send them both to an Art store to be matted and framed. Maybe when I write my book of the Chronicles of Ahamad Khan, I will include it.

I am so glad that I finally have some new artwork! Not only to hang around the house but for next year, when the Art Society of Mt Hope hosts its annual Art exhibition.

Let me know what you think of the finished piece and thank you for reading.

My Father's House (Update #3)

Made some time on the Eid holiday to work on this piece. Almost done! It is amazing how far it came from Update #1 and Update #2.

According to my Uncle Ahamad who lives with me, the house was made from one Cedar tree, with each piece of wood cut by a two-man saw. Now that's a lot of work! Plus one very large tree.

Another uncle came over today, my Uncle Nazir. While I worked on this piece, all 3 men reminisced and shared their funny stories from the old days.Uncle Nazir apparently stayed in the 3rd room with the closed windows. Before my dad was around, every Christmas holiday that Uncle Nazir visited, he was given the task to clean the copper tank, because he was the smallest and could climb into it.

I am really glad that my painting could remind them of fond memories.

Update #3: Filled in the vegetation.

What do you guys think about it so far? Also should I do any pen & ink detailing on it?

Thank you for reading and remember to subscribe to my blog :)

Edit: This piece has now been completed! Click this post for the finished product- My Father's House Update #4 Completed

My Father's House (Update #2)

Continuing from yesterday's project, here's what I did today. 

Day 2: Watercolour added

It has been so long since I've worked with watercolours that I had to keep testing out brushstrokes on a paper nearby.

The agenda for tomorrow is the background, and all the green vegetation. I am a bit rusty with trees and plants so I hope I don't spoil it! 

Comments/thoughts appreciated.


EDIT: An update to this piece is available. Click here for the next recent update to this piece--> "My Father's House (Update #3)"

This work by Shazanna Khan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

My Father's House (Update #1)

Status: Current Work-in-progress

I am a big fan of doing Architectural pieces. I like the idea of being able to capture a piece of history. So often we take for granted the landscapes we are familiar with, but it is ever changing and its only when we look at an old photo that we can actually see how drastically things have changed.

Two buildings that I have always wanted to work on was that of the Lothians Plantation House, an old plantation house that was around in the early 1900s, which I shall describe in a next post; and the Old House that my father and his siblings grew up in.

When I was younger, my uncle would tell us stories of both. It was quite sad to me that the only thing left of them were a single photograph of each of the buildings and his stories. That was where the idea began, to maybe record his rich life and write a book so his many adventures and stories would always remain, as well as to try and illustrate both houses and capture them as they were.

Now that I have some free time, I decided to begin work on the "Old House". My uncle had this old photograph in his album. Apparently this photo was taken after they no longer lived in it, and modern day amenities like washing machines and running water were available. 

Photograph of the Old House

Sketch #1

In Sketch #1, my Dad and I sat down together and he explained to me how the house really looked when he and my uncle both lived in it, as well as the landscape of the time. 

Imagine, galvanized spouting to collect water into a large copper tank, outhouses/latrines and pitch oil lamps.

After we ironed out the fine details, and we were both satisfied that the image was as authentic as possible, I did Sketch #2 on Watercolour paper.  

Sketch #2

So far I am having a little bit of difficulty with the cylindrical copper water tank at the side of the house. The photo was not clear about it, but thankfully the tank is still around. It is still in use in my neighbours' yard. So I shall try to take a good peek over the fence tomorrow when there is better light :D

The next step for this, is to remove all the extra pencil lines on the drawing and begin painting with watercolours. I usually like doing black pen & ink detailing after all my architectural pieces, but this time I think I will hold off til I am finished to see if I am partial or not to it.

Stay tuned for more updates on this piece tomorrow!

EDIT: Click here for the most recent update on this piece --> My Father's House (Update #2)