A Sketching Walkabout in Bangkok

October 10, 2011

Drawing the temples
In spite of Bangkok flooding...
The plan was to fly to Nepal where I would video-document a volunteer village water development project with travel group Crooked Trails. Since I had a connecting flight in Bangkok, I arranged to spend a few days seeing the fabulous temples and golden Buddhas in Bangkok.
In spite of Bangkok flooding at the time, I sat at a little floating coffee house to make sketches of Wat Arun and other temples across the Chao Phraya River - pen and ink and a few watercolor ones in my little moleskin sketchbook. After drawing 3 or 4 actual places, I wanted to change it up.

watercolor sketches

Pen and ink drawing

the walkabout

Most of the temples are so complex that it makes one dizzy attempting to draw these intricate and exacting symmetrical structures. I suppose this is why I drew this more as an expression of movement, pattern and complexity rather than of a specific temple.
It is a process of "collecting" shapes and elements as I wander through the city, trying to capture the liveliness and diversity of Bangkok. A decorative rooftop caught my eye, lattice patterns, signs, whatever had interesting forms in it. The drawing evolved somewhat on its own. It is a blending of intention and surprise. I was definitely conscious of overall form and relationship, but I didn't have a plan. It filled itself in. Some areas worked better than others. Then later back in my room, I refined it more and drew over the pencil with ink pens.

the final painting

I chose this image to paint in acrylic. The final piece is 30 x 40 inches. It is sold and in a private collection.