From a portrait sketching & painting class I took in 2024 with live models
Portrait Sketches
Torso of Venus
Sketch inspired by “Torso of Venus” at the MFA, from a visit in 2023
Happy New Year
Wow, it’s been a while since I updated this website. But here I am now because I made a New Year’s resolution to keep working on my art & writing. I don’t want to be one of those people that waits until they retire to enjoy their hobbies. I like to work and play in equal measure.
I seem to do best when I take art classes or have writing projects with deadlines, so that’s what I’m trying to do for 2026. My ultimate goal would be to try and get into some kind of routine where I don’t need all these external pressures to be creative. Please share your tips if you’ve figured out how to have an art and writing practice on your own.
I’ve done a bit of art the last few years but it hasn’t made it to this site yet, so my first posts are just going to be some old art.
I’m also excited to share art I’m making now in a painting class at the MFA in Boston. I feel like I’ve had a breakthrough in understanding how to paint faster and “alla prima”. I’m having a great time!
Twilight in Santa Fe
I went to a medical conference in Santa Fe a few years ago and I found a poem I wrote while I was there. 🧡 This is why I like to travel alone sometimes.
Big Sur
Sharing a few pics from Big Sur where I spent some time to celebrate my birthday last week. 🙂 It feels strange to be 50 now!
Carmel-by-the-sea 
Carmel-by-the-sea 
Fisherman’s Wharf, Monterey 
Big Sur 
Monterey Bay Aquarium 
Monterey Bay Aquarium 
Bixby Creek Bridge 
Coast at Bixby Creek Bridge
Kylie 💋
I wanted to make a painting for my nephew but he doesn’t have a pet so instead I painted his celebrity crush, Kylie Jenner. Hopefully he likes his Xmas present as much as I enjoyed making it. I was kind of sick of doing pet portraits anyhow and this now makes me to want to paint more beautiful people. I’d love to get more practice painting people and it seems perfect to start by painting strangers before people I actually know, so I can avoid offending anyone in case I do a terrible job!
Levi & Riley
Posting my latest paintings…a pair of dog portraits for my nieces of their adorable shih tzus for Christmas. It was the first time I painted 2 paintings at the same time. I enjoyed being able to go back and forth between the canvases. When I was bored with one, I could work on the other. The key to doing this is to use the same palette for both. In this case, I used a palette of titanium white, ivory black, burnt umber, cadmium yellow, and French ultramarine.
Napa
Sharing a few favorites pics from a trip to Napa earlier this month ❤
Domaine Carneros 
Domaine Carneros 
Domaine Carneros 
Domaine Carneros 
Domaine Carneros 
Beringer Vineyards 
Beringer Vineyards 
Beringer Vineyards 
Beringer Vineyards 
Beringer Vineyards 
Castello di Amorosa 
Castello di Amorosa 
Castello di Amorosa 
Castello di Amorosa 
Castello di Amorosa 
Castello di Amorosa 
Castello di Amorosa
First Plein Air
I was very excited today to try out my new ‘pochade box’ for painting ‘en plein air’ (outdoors). I’m looking forward to bringing it on my travels. I love that I have to paint kind of faster and looser than I normally would. I’d love to keep loosening up the brush strokes and get more impressionistic or even abstract over time. Today’s painting was made with a limited palette of burnt umber, phthalo blue, cadmium yellow, permanent rose, and titanium white.
Secret Harbor Beach
This is my first tiny painting. It measures only 4″ x 4″. Sometimes when I haven’t painted in a while I feel overwhelmed looking at a big empty white canvas and I feel like I just don’t have the time, energy, or talent to do anything with it. But when I saw these teeny tiny canvases at the art supply, I knew they’d help for those moments and ease me back into painting after extended breaks.
It was also fun to paint with a limited palette of only 4 colors (titanium white, cobalt blue, lemon yellow, and burnt umber) and alla prima (meaning “at first attempt”). Normally I take days to weeks to finish a painting. Very satisfying to finish a painting in an hour!
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Kirti Patel 
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