Sketch of a Fishermen boat

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Quick sketch of a simple fishermen boat on river Brahmaputra. The water is so shallow at some places, they were fishing with nets in less than knee length water . Hope they had a good catch.

Medium: watercolor on sketchbook.
Size 5" H x 61/2" W
Time: 20 min.
Source: live

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© Dhruba Mazumder, 2014. All rights reserved.

Boats at River Brahmaputra

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The mighty river Brahmaputra runs almost whole across the state of Assam from east to west and definitely one of the biggest river in India. You have to see it to believe it where at places it's almost couple of kms wide!! Along with this, there are numerous other small and big rivers flow all over the state from the surrounding hills, into the valleys and merging with Brahmaputra. Not long time ago, there was only one bridge connecting both banks of this river. Hence these boats of different sizes and shapes were the only mode of commuting option for common people to cross it. Even now, these run on the heart of Brahmaputra. This boat is capable of carrying not only people but also couple of small vehicles on the open space in between the enclosed cabins. Traveling on these boats across this river is a memorable experience.

Medium: watercolor on sketchbook.
Size: 10" H x 13" W
Time: 120 min.
Source: line work on location, colored at home.

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© Dhruba Mazumder, 2014. All rights reserved.

Boat at Guwahati Jetty

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Did this quick sketch today at the jetty in Guwahati. These are one of the many versions and sizes of boat available that runs between both sides of Guwahati ( Guwahati and North Guwahati) over the mighty river Brahmaputra, helping thousands of commuters every single day to cross it. These wooden boats are around 50 feet long. People sit on the roof also along with two wheel vehicles!!

Medium: ink on recycled paper journal
Size: 4" H x 6" W
Time: 20 min.
Source: live

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 © Dhruba Mazumder, 2014. All rights reserved.

Sketches at Chennai Beach

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I visited Chennai last weekend to conduct a watercolor workshop on watercolor techniques which went on very well. There, I was staying at Balaji sir and Nithya madam's place which is just next to the sea. On Monday morning I took the opportunity for a walk to the beach which is only few meters away and did this sketch of a fisherman's village [ Thiruvanmiyur Beach ]. This was done very quickly standing right on the edge of the beach with waves touching the feet every now and then, So I had to be extra careful not to loose any sketching tools. This was painted with my new paint box recycled from a small mint tin box. In spite of the hot and humid weather of Chennai, the morning breeze was very pleasant at the beach.

Medium: watercolor on sketchbook.
size: 5" H x 13" W
time: 20 min aprox.
Source: live

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This is the second sketch from my morning walk at the beach in Chennai. This view is of another fisherman's village towards south [may be Kottivakkam Beach.]. It was getting hotter slowly and I was in dilemma of sketching or not as there were no shade but finally deiced to do a very quick one. To save time, this was sketched directly with a brush and color without any underlying guidelines. At the end I was pleased to have couple of quick sketches at this Chennai beach !

Medium: watercolor on sketchbook.
size: 5" H x 6 1/2" W
time: 15 min approx.
Source: live

© Dhruba Mazumder, 2014. All rights reserved.
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Comparision of sketches done over a period of time.

Do you keep your old, older and oldest sketches for comparison with your recent ones to see how much improvement you are doing over a period of time?! Do you ever take them out?!! Here are three sketches of mine done of the same subject over 3 years and their analysis.

#1 was sketched in early January '11 when for the first time I started going for plein air studies. It was very hard to handle overload of details. Tendency was to look at 'subjects' rather than interesting shapes. Focus went on everything including the distance vegetation. Struggled on the reflection and on the main foliage of the tree itself. Was not happy but I was hopeful to overcome these obstacles.

#2 was sketched on a sunny afternoon of December '12. Improvement on the foliage of the main tree, bolder approach to render them as masses of shapes and not individual leaves. Reflection was better though not confident strokes and I still went on to add unwanted details on the faraway vegetation. and that red roof on the right attracted too much attention. more lessons learned, more improvement required.

# 3 was sketched recently on January '14 from a reference picture by Shyam Deshpande. Tried to simplify as much as possible and visualize everything in shapes of different value masses. Background vegetation was kept to a minimum hint. foliage from the main tree were just a group of different colors all mixed together and the reflection was done in minimum strokes. also tried a different format for dramatic effect. better applications of brush marks. still need improvement.

Its a good idea to take out our old study sketches and do some analysis to understand where we have improved so far, where we still need to improve and where we may be actually going wrong. After all, sketches are or can be for studies, right?! well sometime they themselves are pieces of finished artworks too!

So, dig out your old sketches and start doing that honest comparison! You don't have to share however it will be nice to see the self analysis. I am sure, analysis of the #4 will be interesting too when it will be done in coming time. Still way to go, more to learn. it's a lifelong learning process.

© dhruba mazumder, 2014. all rights reserved
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a small sketch from a beautiful reference picture shot at Varanashi by Shruti.

medium: watercolor on sketchbook
size: 5 3/4" x 8"
time: 60 min approx
source: from a reference picture

the pedal boats for hire at Ulsoor lake. i have again realized few days back, how beautiful it is to sit there on the steps of this lake in the heart of Bangalore and enjoy the reflected afternoon sunlit water, the pedal boats and to view the defense personals' everyday routine practice of their sail boats, rowing and kayaking activities. i was thinking initially to spend an hour there before i had to visit a post office regarding the parcel, however i loved so much being there that i ended up viewing a beautiful sunset! if u have some free time to spare in the afternoon somewhere nearby, pls step in to this beautiful place and enjoy the setting sun with a cup of tea. well i did not have the tea but did couple of sketches. btw, apart from the green wooden boat, all the other ones there went for a paddle and returned while i was sketching this. its a nice part of outdoor sketching :)!

medium: waterproof ink and watercolor on sketchbook
size: 5 3/4" x 8"
time: 60 min approx.
source: live

medium: watercolor on sketchbook
size: 5 3/4" x 8"
time: 25 min approx.
source: live

water color on textured paper...14" x 10 "...

adventure with water colors...and ink & wash...