A Busy Scene in a Tiny Frame

Trying a slightly more complex scene with people in it. Before stepping out with my tiny painting kit for tomorrow’s sketch meet, I wanted to be a bit prepared—especially to see if I can capture people at such a small scale. The scene is from Koley Market, from a photograph I took a while back.

The house at Kumortuli

Continuing my tiny painting series. The House at Kumortuli, Kolkata, painted from a photograph I took a while ago. Trying to see how much I can include within such a small canvas.

Bartir Bill

It’s another tiny painting I did yesterday, and I must say I’m really enjoying it right now. A painting based on a photograph I took at Bartir Bill.

Painting Small

Trying for the first time to do a tiny painting with watercolor and white on my portable small watercolor palette. I don’t use that palette anymore for watercolor because it has become rusted. Recently I saw tiny paintings done on a tin box, but those were done with oil paint. So I thought—why not give it a try?

Back to the Street with Colors

After a couple of weeks, I attended the Sunday meet with the Urban Sketchers Kolkata group. The place—or maybe the subject—didn’t excite me much, but it was still fun to sit on the street and mess around with colors.

Waiting at Babughat

A quick watercolor sketch from the Babughat transit camp. Just a small moment of people waiting and talking, painted loosely with simple washes.

Colors of the Morning Market

The morning at Mallick Ghat Flower Market is always a burst of color and movement. On one of my visits, I took a photograph of a flower seller quietly sitting beside heaps of marigolds and other blossoms, surrounded by the busy rhythm of the market. 

This painting grew from that photograph. I approached it with a loose, direct watercolor method, letting the pigments spread and mingle to capture the lively atmosphere rather than every detail. The warm yellows and oranges of the flowers became the heart of the composition, contrasting with the cooler tones of the surroundings and the calm figure of the seller. 

What fascinates me about the market is this quiet contrast—amid the chaos of buyers, sellers, and piles of flowers, there are small moments of stillness. That fleeting moment became the inspiration for this piece. 

Sometimes a single photograph is enough to bring back the sound, color, and mood of a place—and painting it feels like visiting that moment again.

At Rishikhola

Painting from a photograph I took during our Silk Route journey. 

The place was quiet, almost whispering—a thin river slipping past stones, hills layered softly in the background, and that slow mountain light changing every few minutes. While painting, I focused less on details and more on the mood—that peaceful hillside afternoon, the stillness in the air, and the feeling of being tucked away from everything.

A Morning Near Nakhoda Masjid

When watercolor is mixed with Chinese white, I would still call it watercolor—just in a more opaque form. It makes the medium much more versatile. This was a direct watercolor approach without any initial sketch. The picture was taken near Nakhoda Masjid.