Urban Sketching the Old Cafe in Kolkata with Acrylics

A quick urban sketching session with USK Kolkata Sketch Meet at the Old Cafe, located just beside Jatin Das Metro Station in Kolkata. 

I started with the interior, working directly with acrylics on a small 5.5 × 4-inch paper. After finishing the first sketch, I stepped outside and tried to capture the cafe from the street as well. The second sketch was done super quickly—probably around 20 minutes—trying to capture the atmosphere and overall character of the place rather than the details. Two views of the same cafe, painted directly with acrylics.

Painting A Market Scene with Acrylics

A Acrylic Painting based on a reference image I got from https://www.instagram.com/paintingreferencesbyhinabhatt?stkn=cnY1OW50aDg2ZG43

St. Thomas Church with USK Kolkata

Sunday urban sketch meet with USK Kolkata, sketching St. Thomas Church on a tiny 3.8 × 2.5-inch canvas. Watercolour used like gouache for bold, colourful strokes.

A Little Bit of Jhulon Bari

Few quick urban sketches from Jhulon Bari, Kolkata today. Tiny ink-and-watercolour painting, keeping it loose and expressive while capturing the charm of the old buildings and the lively colours around them.

A Quick Sketch Before the Meal

A quick sketch before the meal at Avani Riverside Mall. Just capturing a few moments before the food arrived.

Filling the Last Three Pages

The last three pages of the sketchbook had to be filled, so I decided to keep things simple and spontaneous. 

The first page is a quick sketch of fellow Urban Sketchers from last Sunday’s meet. The second and third pages are drawn from photographs I took in Kurseong in 2022. And for the very last page, I decided to try something different—a blind contour drawing for the first time. 

A slightly crazy way to finish a sketchbook, but a fun one.

Sketching with a Twist, Amulya Mansion, Kolkata

Today’s urban sketch meet with USK Kolkata. Instead of focusing on detailed drawings, I tried something different, a more comic-book approach with bold lines, and little moments from the street. It was fun to turn an ordinary day around Amulya Mansion into a collection of quirky visual stories.

Ghoom in Ink

Street scenes from Ghoom, captured in photographs in 2023 and revisited through quick, comical ink sketches. Simple people, shops, and everyday moments turned into little stories.

Musical Bands at MG Road, Kolkata

Sketched from photos I took earlier, with the approach of finding the quickest way to spend some time with my sketchbook.

Sketching with Ink, Mullick Ghat Flower Market

Self Portrait and More

Trying to make a self-portrait and one of my wife’s portraits. The last one was drawn from direct observation while she was talking on the phone, using oil pastels.

Acrylic from Photo

Sketching with Acrylic from a photo.