A quick sketch

A quick sketch with a thick marker, while she was busy surfing on her phone.

Another sketch from the Book Fair

Another sketch from the next day at the Kolkata Book Fair. I went there with my brother, as it was pre-scheduled. That day I carried only the same tools as before—the permanent marker and a few sheets of paper.

Kolkata Book Fair 2026

Today’s sketch is from the Kolkata Book Fair. At first, I thought of carrying my watercolour box as well, but after seeing a picture of yesterday’s crowd in the newspaper, I dropped the idea. So I sketched using only a permanent marker.

M.G.Road and Parmanet Marker

Urban sketching at M. G. Road today. Took only ink, thinking I’d do ink and wash, but stuck to sketching there and added color at home. Picked up a thick, cheap permanent marker to fill the area, but it came out wrong because I was using the wrong paper.

Kumortuli

An evening walk at Kumortuli, sketching before two days of Saraswati Puja.

Urban sketching at Galiff Street, Kolkata

Yesterday, I went to Galiff Street to do a few sketches. I was confident enough that I could manage with only watercolours, so I didn’t carry a pen this time. But it was too much chaos over there, and finding a place to stand still took some time before I could start painting. I must say, pen and watercolour (or wash) outdoors is the most convenient way to sketch quickly.

Urban sketching at Babughat Transit Camp, Kolkata 2026

It was my first time there as a sketcher. As a photographer, I know I missed a lot, so next year I will try to cover those. I visited for three days, and these few sketches seem good to me. 

At first, I thought of painting with watercolor, but it would be difficult to spend three hours standing with a palette, water, and brushes. So finally, I took an A6 bound sketchbook (which I could use as an A5 page) and a 1.0 mm gel pen.

*** Sketches are from 2026. I put the wrong dates on the images.

Sketches from my Terrace

Direct work with watercolor on rice paper.

Sketching at Maidan, Kolkata

At the start of the new year, I went to Maidan to do some sketches. I came back with just one. I think I spent more hours standing there, hoping the fog would clear soon. It was extremely foggy until around 7:30 a.m., while I was there from about 5:30 a.m.