Sketching spots in old Jaipur
Where to sit with a sketchbook in the walled city: Hawa Mahal, the bazaars, the stepwells and a few quiet corners.
Your first watercolour morning with us
Three hours, eight people and all the materials: what happens at our second-Sunday workshop, even if you have never painted.
Every second Sunday we hold a three-hour watercolour workshop for eight people, at ₹1,800 a seat with tea and a take-home palette. Many people who book have not painted since school, and wonder whether they will keep up. Here is what the morning looks like.
Arrive at 9.45 for a 10 am start. The workshop is held at the large table at the back of the shop, under the skylight. Each seat has a board, two sheets of 300 gsm cotton paper, a 12-colour half-pan set, two brushes, a water jar and a rag. You do not need to bring anything except perhaps an apron.
Meera, who teaches most sessions, starts with how the paint behaves: wetting the pans, mixing on the palette, and laying a flat wash across the page. Then come gradients, wet-in-wet blooms and lifting colour with a damp brush. Everyone paints the same small exercises, and she walks around the table helping each person. After tea, around 11.30, the group paints one small scene together, often a view of the Nahargarh hills or a doorway from the old city, using photographs Meera brings. By 1 pm, each person has a page of exercises and one finished painting to take home, along with the palette.
Nobody is asked to show their work, and nobody judges it. If you enjoy it, the next workshop builds on the first, with skies, trees and buildings. Seats are refunded up to three days before. Book at the counter or online, and tell us if you are left-handed so we can seat you at a corner.
