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.

Painting with what remains

Did a quick painting using whatever colors were left on my palette. I really wanted a warm red and more white, but only crimson lake and a tiny bit of white were available. I decided to use only what I had at the moment. Photo taken at M.G. Road, Kolkata.

Flower Seller

Painted from a photo I took at Mallick Ghat Flower Market. A direct watercolor approach — really enjoying color these days :)

In my local market

Sketched from a photo I took a while ago at my local market, probably during a morning grocery run.

Chinese New Year Sketch at Bow Barracks

Today’s sketch from Bow Barracks during Chinese New Year. I had carried my watercolours, but due to the extreme crowd, I abandoned the idea and only sketched this time. 

I do think the lions would definitely look even cooler with colours, though.