Architect Rajshree Rajmohan is an avid traveller who lets her sketches trace her journey. She belongs to a rare breed of travel sketch artists who sketch instead of clicking pictures to capture their trips for posterity. Sketch-books, pencils and charcoal pencils can always be found in her bag, no matter where she goes. “If you are taking pictures, you move quickly from one place to another. But sketching takes a lot of time. So you notice details that you might miss when you are moving from one point to another while photographing,” she says. A concept artist from Thiruvananthapuram, Kishore Mohan, too believes that sketching connects him to the tiniest detail of what is before his eyes and is, perhaps, the best way to experience a place. Moreover spending time at a place lets you get close to the residents. For Vippin K P, who runs a design studio in Kochi, travel sketching is a means to connect with the people and come out of his shell. “Recently while sketching in Kozhikode, I had a wonderful conversation with an elderly guy named ‘Kunjikka’, a total stranger. I never used to do that,” says Vippin. Sketching can earn you the respect of residents of a locality, as it is seen as a passionate attempt to learn about their home and culture. Rajshree has on multiple occasions received much affection from random strangers in the form of free food, wine and hugs. But it is not just about absorbing the essence of a place. Sketching brings about a change in how you perceive the places, people and the culture you get to see during your journeys. Akhil VK, a young architect from Kozhikode, observes that sketching has changed his perspective on architecture. “I began drawing at a very young age. But travel sketching was something that started much later during my final year at College Of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram. Since then, I have experienced a significant change in the way I view buildings, structures and their designs,” he says. The sketch subjects could be anything - from Rajshree’s cityscapes to a single pine tree on the edge of a cliff, which Kishore sketched during his trip to Meghalaya. Rajshree’s recent trips to Greece and Italy, she says, was a wonderful experience for her as an architect as well as an artist. “I got to visit the beautiful town of Oia, Greece, where buildings are all white and blue. Although I only make pencil and charcoal sketches, it was a pleasure sketching the gorgeous houses and Chapels of Oia. I guess, I should start using water colours,” she adds. Akhil is into street-life sketching. Being a traditional architecture buff as well, Akhil spends most of the weekends sketching old streets and structures in and around Kozhikode. Vippin, on the other hand, concentrates on urban-sketching. Fort Kochi is one of his favourite places for sketching. He has made it a practice to take a boat early in the morning to Fort Kochi just for sketching. For Kishore, subject means anything that stands out. “For me, pretty much everything does. The other week I was out sketching street dogs. What I am doing is perhaps adding to the visual library in my mind from which I can draw inspiration later on for my comic and animation works,” he says. Most of the sketches are completed on the spot itself, usually with in an hour. But sometimes, they have to be finished later. “I will be short of time or it will be too crowded. So I finish whatever is left, back home,” says Akhil. Sketches can be of different type. Some artists prefer pencil and charcoal drawing, like Rajshree, while others go for pens and water colour sketches. Pens are used to make a basic sketch and then it is coloured using water-colours or acrylic. Ink is used as well. There are other options too. “When I do have the choice, I love using red/blue Polychromos/Prismacolor pencils which were introduced to me by my wife, Merryn, who is a designer. Since then they have replaced all things graphite. I make rough sketches with them and later clean them up a bit with black ink and watercolour washes,” explains Kishore. Scribbles Artists often makes notes beside the sketches - tips to finish the sketches later on or thoughts regarding the place or subject. Kishore often scribbles random things, like the lyrics of a song, which he feels would have added to the experience. For beginners Don’t worry if you are not very good at drawing. All you need, Kishore says, is a sketch book, some stationery and a general curiosity about all that surrounds you. In time you’ll know what to include and what not to in your sketch. Vippin advices to practice with pen rather than pencil as you can’t erase it and will force you to make lesser mistakes. For beginners it is better to practice drawing lines, before you actually start sketching.

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