Nature & Park Life Sketching
I head out with my sketchbook to capture the rhythm of nature. From the quiet boating lake at Sanjay Gandhi National Park to mountain vistas, I draw the scenes exactly as I see them.
This is the place where my art journey began. As a child, I used to visit Sanjay Gandhi National Park with my father and watch art students drawing by the lake. Decades later, I found myself sitting in the same spot, sketchbook in hand. This video captures that full-circle moment.
There is a special connection formed when you draw a place while you are in it. I held up my finished sketchbook to show my pen drawing against the real boating lake at Sanjay Gandhi National Park. My goal is to capture the essence of the scene, not just a perfect copy.
A clean, finished sketchbook spread of the boating area at Sanjay Gandhi National Park. This drawing was done entirely with a green ballpoint pen, focusing on the shapes of the trees, the bridge, and the swan boats on the water.
A close-up view of my sketchbook and the 4-in-1 ballpoint pen I used for this landscape drawing. You can see the cross-hatching and line work that create texture and depth in the trees and water.
This sketchbook page documents a small food stall I found in the park, complete with a sleeping dog curled up at the base. These are the small, quiet moments I love to capture during my on-site sketching sessions.
Here is a photo of me holding the sketch of the food stall. It shows the drawing in my hand, giving a sense of scale and the handmade quality of the work.
Sometimes the best view is right outside your window. This short video shows the breathtaking mountain landscape I saw from my room and the resulting sketch I created to remember it, using expressive lines to capture the layers of hills and clouds.
About this collection
I work with a simple 4-in-1 ballpoint pen, which means there is no hitting an undo button. When I am sitting by the lake at SGNP or looking at a mountain range, I lean into the mistakes. The ink might smear or a line might go astray, but that is exactly what keeps the drawing honest and alive.
When I draw on location, my goal is not to create a photograph. A camera captures the optics, but a sketchbook captures the atmosphere. I look for the texture of the tree bark, the way light hits the water, or the shape of a sleeping dog in the shade. These are the details that make a place feel like a memory rather than just a scene.
My process relies on observation. I don't use pencils for long setup; I prefer to jump straight into ink. This forces me to be decisive and accept the sketch as it develops. It is a practice I have cultivated over years of sketching with groups like Urban Sketchers Mumbai. We often sit in the same spot, but every one of us sees something different.
Whether it is the lush greenery of Sanjay Gandhi National Park or a distant view from a window, I stick to a sketchbook aesthetic. I use ballpoint pens and sometimes alcohol markers to build depth through cross-hatching rather than smooth shading. This raw, hand-drawn quality is what I bring to my live sketching events and private workshops. If you are looking for art that feels personal, rough around the edges, and deeply connected to the environment, that is what I do best.
Shirish Ghatge
I am Shirish, and my sketchbook is my constant companion. I have traded digital perfection for the messy, honest lines of pen on paper, finding my rhythm in the quiet corners of Mumbai and beyond.
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