Entering Book Fair again

Visited the book fair for the third time—probably the most I’ve ever been there. Though I didn’t enter a single stall, I went only for sketching. It may not sound great, but it was.

Visiting Mullick Ghat Flower Market

Today’s sketch was done again at Mullick Ghat Flower Market. I’ve always loved sketching people more than buildings. Initially, I didn’t plan to use watercolour, so I didn’t bring a water container with me—only water brush and a palette, just in case I worked on one watercolour piece. But I ended up doing three.

The problem was that the third one got a bit dirty, since the water brush always gets muddy after a painting. I carry two brushes, so for the third sketch I had no option except to use the dirty water inside. Still, it was fun—using watercolours while standing, holding everything in my hands, always feels alive and spontaneous.

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.