Sketching The Transcendent Sundargarh – I

Plan for a sketching trip of my sketching club to Sambalpur was in place; a perfect plan. Everything taken care of including stay, food, travel and even the locations that we were going to sketch at. Personally this was also going to be my first trip to western part of Odisha. Our art materials along with other not so necessary belongings had been neatly packed and we were super ready. But as it often happens with perfect plans, our plan too came crashing down in the eleventh hour.

On the eve of our train journey we got the news that there was going to be a two day Bundh at Sambalpur; which meant no food, conveyance or any safe places to paint at. Every person we talked to advised us not to go because in Sambalpur a Bundh means a complete shut down. We were heart broken and just could not digest the fact that our sketching trip was not going to happen. But after pulling ourselves together, we got together in a conference call and Kedar who stays at Sundargarh suggested to change our destination to Sundargarh which is about 100 kms beyond Sambalpur. All we had to do was to go to Sambalpur, take a train to Jharsuguda and then a bus to Sundargarh from there. But we had no arrangements there and hence we were a little skeptical about travelling so far with nothing in place. Kedar had only about 12 hours to work out the logistics. But that was the best alternative we had and we took it.

The Journey to Sundargarh

06 Jan 2019

We traveled to Sambalpur in Bhubaneswar-Bolangir intercity express and got down at Sambalpur Road station only to realize that is not the station we were supposed to get down at. So we got an auto and asked him to take us to the station that is in ‘Sambalpur City’, without realizing that Sambalpur City is yet another satellite station and not ‘Sambalpur Junction’ where we actually wanted to go to. Hence we landed up at this small station in the outskirts of Sambalpur without any public transport in near vicinity to take us to Sambalpur Junction. But guess what! The latest train to Jharsuguda was available from Sambalpur City station within the next twenty minutes and it was on time. And…. (hold your breaths)….it was not going to pass through Sambalpur Junction. We would never have got the train had we gone to Sambalpur Junction. And that is not all; the train was relatively empty and reached Jharsuguda on time. After a quick meal at Jharsuguda we immediately got a bus to Sundargarh and it had exactly four empty seats left (there were four of us), as if it was waiting for us. As soon as we got seated the bus left for Sundargarh.

After a journey full of welcome happenstances we reached Sundargarh bus station in the afternoon. Kedar joined us within few minutes and we took an auto to the hostel of Kalayatan Art College, where our stay arrangements had been made. It was vacation time and the hostel was quite empty. Kedar who works as a lecturer at the same college had done very neat arrangements for us in the hostel. We quickly got rid of our baggage and ventured into the town. After a couple of hours of our town darshan we moved to the studio of Kalayatan Art College and did gesture study sketches for sometime with the students before dinner. Our sketching trip had now started in the true sense of it.

Capturing Scenic Sundargarh Town

07 Jan 2019

Sundargarh experiences very cold winters and being early part of January winter was at its peak. But missing the early morning light is the biggest crime a plein air painter could do and there was no other option than to brave the early morning chill and get ready. Hardship has its benefits and some of them are immediate. For us it came in the form of piping hot dosas, idlis and vadas at a nearby eatery. Food was not only hot, it tasted brilliant too. And thus with our souls satisfied and stomachs satiated we started our walk to Samalai temple which overlooks Ib river.

Ib river was quite dried up exposing its sandy bed and giving us an opportunity to paint from the middle of the river. It was something I had never done before and hence I rushed to the middle to find my spot from where I would be painting for the next couple of hours. A couple of minutes into my sketching, my adrenaline slowly stated to wear off and reality started to sink in. There was a steady breeze blowing which was amplified because of the open expanse of the river bed. This chilly wind was really hurting. But gradually I got involved with my work and all the discomfort vanished. In under hundred minutes time I had completed my first work of our Sundargarh Sketching Trip which seemed to have a feel of the chilly wind; suffering does not go in vain after all.

I continued sketching a little more at the same place and then moved up to the temple where I took a place under the shade of the temple. As the temple is a significant landmark of Sundargarh town I thought of painting it from the place I was stationed. When I shared this work later on Facebook, one of my friends reminisced about his childhood memories attached to the temple. You never know how and when your work is going to touch people, but when it happens suddenly out of the blue like it did in this case, its always a great feeling. Many students from Kalayatan Art College had also joined us for the sketching session and all of them had done beautiful works. Our joint morning sketching session ended at the temple with some group pics and group selfies.

For afternoon session we moved to Sundargarh court premises. The court is an old British building painted in brick red color. My color intensity was not permitting me to get the actual color of the building while keeping it transparent. Hence I stepped down the tonal values of almost everything in the subject, so that their tonal relationships don’t change. This was a fun exercise to do and what I ended up with was a brighter painting. The day ended with some quick facial gesture sketching at Kalayatn Art College later in the evening.

Kid in a Candy Store

08 Jan 2019

For second day, Kedar had planned a trip to a nearby tribal village called Tangarmunda. It was the first day of Bundh in western Odisha and fearing roadblocks we left quite early in the morning for Tangarmunda by an auto. Upon reaching there Kedar booked lunch in advance at the only eatery near the village. The eatery deals with snacks and short eats, but the owner agreed to cook lunch for the five of us. With food taken care of we moved inside the village and whoa!! What a sight it was. The village was dotted with cow dung smeared mud hoses with tiled roofs. There were all types and sizes of trees everywhere; probably more than the number of residents. Most houses had stacks of hay piled neatly in their backyards for the cows. Hens and Goats roamed around freely and a few children played with them while others were busy playing cricket. The hazy winter light was casting soft dappled shadows on the walls of the houses and on the muddy roads where children were busy running alongside their cycle tyres which they rolled by hitting with a stick to keep it in motion and hence in balance. Anywhere I looked there was a great subject to be painted. This was a paradise for a painter. At Tangarmunda I felt like a Kid in a Candy store. Unfortunately I could not paint everything; I could manage only two paintings till lunch. But during this time we had managed to strike conversations with the villagers and kids. When we were leaving the location we even got an invitation for a meal during our next visit. But it was time for our immediate meal which was waiting for us at the village eatery.

We walked to the eatery and took our places inside the small shack. Soon we were served steaming hot rice, dal, tomato khata and a mixed veg dish seasoned with mustard and garlic. The meal made with very few ingredients was simple yet super delicious. We ate to our hearts content and for me it was a meal I would not forget for a long time.

The afternoon sketching session took place in the outskirts of Tangarmunda. As I was looking around trying to pick my subject, my eyes fell on Kadar who had already started working on his painting. I like sketching people in an outdoor environment. When people are unaware of themselves being sketched they stay natural. But problem is that you don’t know when they would change their posture completely or simply get up and go. So when you know that your co-sketcher is going to sit there at least for the next hour you don’t want to miss the opportunity of sketching him. So I happily sketched Kedar away in the most direct way possible and this sketch turned out to be one of my favorites of the trip.

Read The concluding part of Sketching trip to Sundargarh here

Kedar's Sketch 08 Jan 2019 — Kedar’s Sketch 08 Jan 2019

En Plein Air at Ib river - I ; 07 Jan 19 — En Plein Air at Ib river – I ; 07 Jan 19

En Plein Air at Ib river - II ; 07 Jan 19 — En Plein Air at Ib river – II ; 07 Jan 19

En Plein AIr at Tangarmunda - I ; 08 Jan 2019 — En Plein AIr at Tangarmunda – I ; 08 Jan 2019

En Plein AIr at Tangarmunda - II ; 08 Jan 2019 — En Plein AIr at Tangarmunda – II ; 08 Jan 2019

En Plein Air at Sundargarh Court ; 07 Jan 19.JPG.JPG

IIT KGP En Plein Air Diary – Epilogue

Epilogue

27 April, 2018

I saw a dream. And in just over a year’s time it has come to be fulfilled. I thought on this day I’ll be the happiest person on earth. But today I don’t really feel happy or thrilled. On the contrary for some unknown reasons I feel heaviness engulfing in my heart.

Also read the Prologue , Chapter I , Chapter II, Chapter III, Chapter IV,  Chapter V, Chapter VI and Chapter VII of IITKGPEPA Diary!

After the shoot of the film ended on a high, the journey of IITKGPEPA project went on a downward spiral until last month. The first editor of the film spent over six months on the film. Even after all that time he was unable to proceed beyond the first two minutes of the film. I am not sure what the reason was, but to me it looked like he had lost interest. Whatever the reason, he did not make progress and we had to find a new editor. This is how one member of the camera crew, came on board as the new editor. But he too could not make any real progress in the last three months. Now that the academic session is going to end and our director Lokesh is going to leave KGP, it looked game over for IIT KGP en plein air project. But then what seemed like a divine intervention (again), both Lokesh and new editor decided to stay back in KGP after their end semester exams to complete the film. Lokesh messaged me this seemingly fabulous piece of news today. That meant finally the film is going to be completed within the few days. Surely this piece of news should have got me very excited. But it has not. My intuition just does not allow me to be happy. May be it is the exasperating experience of dealing with the editors or maybe it is just premonition. Whatever the case may be, I just do not feel fine.

04 May, 2018

Universe has played a very dirty joke on me. I am completely shattered. How can a hard disk get misplaced? I just do not believe what the editor has told me just now. It is not like a needle has got lost in a haystack. It’s a hard drive which had been lost inside a room of not more than 100 square feet of space. And the nonchalance in the tone of our editor has troubled me even further. He made it seem as if it is just another hard disk which has been misplaced. It was not just a hard disk. It was my dream. It was a big chunk of my heart and soul. And then what about a backup copy? Two hard drives were acquired for this project. The backup copy must be present somewhere. A lost hard disk just cannot be an excuse now. I don’t know what the truth is, but I just cannot believe what I have been told.

A few captures at Harrys' — A few captures at Harrys’

29 May, 2018

It has been a very tough month. I have not been able to focus on anything. Sleep has been hard to come by all these days. Sharing with friends also has not helped.

I completely believed that the film that captured the spirit of IIT Kharagpur was meant to be made. I believed it in so much so that I started imagining coincidences to be signs of destiny. I had created an alternate reality for myself and had got trapped in it. And that’s why it has been so painful. Some of my friends suggest that I should go for it again. But what has passed can’t be recreated. What was captured on camera then just cannot be captured again. It will be different; very different. Even if I gather the courage to do it all over again it will be a different film. It may look similar from outer appearance, but in spirit it will be completely different. It will not be able to fill the void of what has been lost. But anyway right now I do not have the courage or strength to do it all over again. I am afraid the universe will trick me once again.

31 May, 2018

Does it really have to end like this? I have been behaving as if the world has come to an end. Whats wrong with me! Not many people dare to dream and pursue it like what I have done. Yes, it has ended in a way which has been difficult for me to accept and the cynics are probably laughing right now. But that cannot make me weak. Yes I do not have the film to show. But I have something significant to show right now. I have those art works I made. They stand witness to the amazing experience I had. Though they cannot replace the film, they capture the spirit of IIT KGP in a way that nothing else can capture.

My journey did not have the destination I expected. But what matters to me now is that I took the journey. My paintings bear a testimony to this journey. And they will touch people. They will be able to transport people back to KGP. People will experience their journeys at IIT Kharagpur all over again through my work.

Probably this was the destiny universe had in mind for my journey. As of now I’ll take that, till I start dreaming again.

p.s. Luckily I had this part of the film from the initial edits which will continue to remind me of my unfulfilled dream.

A Sketching Trip to Beautiful and Resplendent Mayurbhanj

Shimilipal tiger reserve in Mayurbhanj district of north Odisha had been in my bucket list for quiet a long time. But somehow luck had never been on my side and I could never make a pilgrimage to the tiger temple of Odisha. But then I had my ‘Oh Yes Finally’ moment in November this year. And it was not just a trip to Shimilpal. It was a sketching trip to the tribal hinterlands of northern Odisha. I was going to be painting in Mayurbhanj en plein air. And the icing on cake was that I made this trip with a group of sketchers of Bhubaneswar Sketching Club (BSC). I could not have wished for more.

Baripada

Baripada is the district headquarter of Mayurbhanj district and this is where we flagged off our sketching marathon on 4th of November. Coincidentally it was Kartik Poornima on the same day, a festival which is celebrated with a lot of enthusiasm across Odisha. People had gathered on the streets early in the morning after boita bandana and it created a very energetic atmosphere. We happen to be at MPC junior college which is actually a palace now functioning as a educational institute. The sunlight was also quiet angular and it created very interesting shadow patterns on the walls of the college. All in all it was a perfect morning to paint on location and all of us enjoyed sketching there. Later we moved to collector’s office which is housed in an old British building and sketched there.

Baldiha

On day 2 we headed to a tribal village named Baldiha. But before going inside the village we decided to sketch at the Baldiha dam where many films have been shot. When we reached the dam it was not difficult to understand why so many films have been shot there. The vast expanse of the river flowing smoothly till the dam and them the overflowing water from the dam gushing down with brutal force was something I could not take my eyes off from. We sketched here till lunch. After a hearty lunch of simple and delicious local food we moved inside the village.

Sketching inside the village was one of the highlights of the trip. The villagers welcomed us with a smile everywhere we went. I sketched in the courtyard of a house. It was amazing to see how the living space is shared with cattle, goats, poultry which itself is surrounded by agricultural land and forest. The life of the villagers was all about inclusion, interdependence, community and restraint. It was such a humbling experience to sketch there.

Similipal

It was the third and last day of our trip and a day I had been waiting for a really long time. We were going into Similipal and if possible we were going to do some sketching there. Once we got inside the forest, Similipal started to reveal its beauty gradually. And it was better than what I could have imagined. It was serene yet edgy. Sort of sensual in a way. We traveled about 120 kms into the forest. On the way we made stops at a few waterfalls. But nothing prepared me for our last pit stop at Uski waterfall. We could get really close to the waterfall. In fact two of us trekked upto the fall through the river and it was a lot of fun. Watching the water gush down the hill made time stop. It was difficult to take my eyes off it. Unfortunately it was starting to get dark and we started our journey back to Baripada. And in the meanwhile we did manage to sketch at a couple of places including Uski waterfall.

All of us had a great time doing intensive sketching and enjoying the natural beauty of Mayubhanj for three days in stretch. But those three days seemed to have flown by in a jiffy. Three days indeed were too short to soak in the beauty of north Odisha. I am already planning my next trip there.

The sketchers of Bhubaneswar Sketching Club

p.s. I also made a small video on our Similipal visit. You can see it here.

The Creative Process – Painting Outdoors

“Painting from nature is not copying the object; it is realizing one’s sensations.” -Cezanne

The sparkling morning dew on the grass that’s still refreshingly damp to touch. The whispering wind that caresses, carrying on with it the faint whiff of wildflowers and the sounds of roosting birds. The rains that darken the sky, mist the horizon and tap a melody over rustling leaves. This is what the artist is faced with when painting en plein air – where all his senses of sight, smell, sound and touch are continuously engaged, where he is in direct contact with nature’s life force. And in turn, this lends to his art something that is so invigorating – that it never fails to touch a chord with the viewer. A work done in the comfort of indoors may be technically more accomplished, but nothing can match the vitality of a watercolor painted outdoor in natural light!

The above paragraph was penned down by one of my writer friends called Amit. And I think it really captures the essence of painting en plein air. Sometimes these forces of nature have such a strong effect that a painting just happens spontaneously. But still most times there is a creative process that is at work when artists paint outdoors. This process is necessary not only to make successful paintings, but also to maximize learning and the joy of painting outdoors. This week I am headed to IIT Kharagpur, my Alma Mater to capture few of its beautiful location en plein air. And I thought it will be a good time to discuss about my creative process of painting outdoors.

This is the second post in my series of posts on Creative process. In the first post of this series, I have talked about the creative process in a generic way.

The Creative Process of Painting Outdoors

Identifying subject and the sweet spot

The first thing that happens in any creative process is Inspiration. Morning and afternoon light has the capability to turn mundane scenes to great subjects. Hence I generally prefer to look for inspiration in the morning or in the afternoon and avoid the flat noon light. A good subject does not necessarily mean a very beautiful scene. In fact sometimes a very beautiful scene may not turn out to be a great subject. What I aim to find in a scene is basically big abstract shapes, play of light and may be an interesting perspective. What I avoid is is clutter of too many shapes and colors. When I have found my subject, the next task is to find a good place to station myself for the next 2-3 hours from where I can observe the subject and paint. In fact the spot from where I paint generally becomes more important than the subject itself because if I am not comfortable in a place it is difficult for me to paint. When I find the perfect place for the perfect subject I call it sweet spot. All this exercise of finding a sweet spot involves quiet a bit of walking and exploration. Hence I keep my outdoor equipment very light and minimal and paint on papers that are no bigger than 11 x 15 inch (quarter sheet).

Getting a Feel

To begin with I only take out my portable chair and sketchbook and just start sketching anything that catches my eye. People, trees, buildings, cars, bikes, lamp post… It could just be anything. I just sketch to get a feel of the surrounding. Most of the times I would get my figures which later come into my paintings from these sketches itself. This exercise of getting a feel this way sets off the creative process of painting outdoors and it kind of prepares me mentally.

The Thumbnail and Idea Sketches

detail sketch of the temple and thumbnail

When I have sketched enough I start narrowing down on the scene that I would be painting. I look around through a view finder made with my palms to get an idea of the portion of the scene to paint. Squinting helps to identify the big shapes in the subject at this time. When I have found my subject I do a few thumbnail/composition studies to reduce the subject to 2-3 major tonal shapes. In these sketches I may move things around, add something that may not be there (without taking away from the subject), merge shapes together. This is an exercise to get my composition right without losing the tonal layout. Sometime I even color these sketches lightly to get an idea if my color scheme will work or not.

Execution – Spontaneity v/s Original Idea

When I am done with my preparation I finally setup my easel to paint. At this point I feel I have got it all worked out in my head. I feel very confident of making a great painting. I draw my subject and then start my painting with great enthusiasm. But somewhere in the middle of the painting many a times my world comes crashing down. I find myself completely lost. After all the medium I paint in is watercolor. And it has a mind of its own. It has its own powers to guide the painting. And when that happens its always better to go with the flow. Its better to change my plans and go in the direction watercolor wants me to go. Believe me or not, most of the times it does result in a better painting. The best parts in the paintings actually turns out to be what I did not paint, so to say.

Reflection

A sketh with color notes — A sketch with color notes

Ninety Nine percent of the times I am not happy with my painting on location. When I get back home I put my work in a drawer or a corner so that I cant see it for a few days. When I see it after a few days it does look much better. It is probably because I do not have the actual scene in front of me to compare with. But at the same time I look at it critically and if needed I make some tonal or color corrections. One trick I learnt from a friend is to take picture of the painting, print it and then try the corrections on the print first to check if it works or not. This way I can be sure that the changes to the painting will not kill it at least.

Indoor v/s Outdoor

somedays its just about sketching — some days its just about sketching

There are three major differences between working in the studio and working outdoors. First is the time factor. When you are painting outdoors you have to finish (or almost finish) your painting within a shorter time period. Second is the tools and materials that you can use will always remain limited. And third is that the outdoor environment is very dynamic and can be very uncomfortable. The secret to painting outdoors is to turn these into positives. Painting fast with a purpose often takes away over thinking and brings in spontaneity and freshness. Working with limited material makes the work simple which is the hall mark of a great watercolor work. And the dynamic environment is a great source of learning and also brings in new elements to one’s work.

In the end I would stress upon the fact that this is just a generalized process I follow. But in reality sometimes I don’t sketch at all and directly paint while at other times I keep sketching and never paint. While a process can help you never be afraid to go with your gut feel. Its more fun that way.