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Travel and art meet in more than a sketchbook opened on a train. In eight examples profiled by Rohini Kejriwal for Scroll.in on April 22, 2017, artists turn journeys into photographs, studio illustrations, digital drawings, GIFs, portraits, and even taxi upholstery. Some draw on location; others collect visual details and make the work later.
Eight ways artists connect travel and art
The examples below come from an individual 2017 feature, not a survey or a current directory. They show distinct ways of looking, recording, and making: travel can supply the subject, the method of observation, or the memories that shape a finished piece.
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| Artist or project | What the work records | How it is made |
|---|---|---|
| Abhijit Kalan | Less-touristed landscapes, especially water and seascapes | Photographs from travel prompt minimal landscapes made later in the studio, also shaped by dreams and memory. |
| Sameer Kulavoor | Cycles and their role in culture, society, and the economy; places encountered on trips | The Ghoda Cycle Project drawings were studio-made. Some travel sketches, including work from Kochi, New York, and Southeast Asia, were drawn on location. |
| Siddharth Dasari | Indian locomotives and trains | Photographs of locomotives served as references for colorful digital drawings. |
| Sachin Karle | The relationship between time and modes of travel | Thumbnails and sketches developed over time, using remembered details as well as observed and surreal elements. |
| Kanika Sethi | People from communities including Paraja and Gadaba in Odisha, Drokpa and Lamayuru in Ladakh, and Gond in Chhattisgarh | Travel and photography informed simple, bold, graphic illustrations using color. |
| Taxi Fabric, founded by Sanket Avlani | Mumbai taxi interiors as public-facing art | Designers made illustrations around themes; the images were printed on fabric, stitched into upholstery, and installed in taxis. |
| Neethi | Regional tourism stories in Madhya Pradesh | GIFs presented stories gathered during a reported seven-day visit to Gwalior, Datia, Chanderi, and nearby places. |
| Suhita Shirodkar | The particular feel of places and the details of everyday urban life | She sketches on location while travelling, using observation to notice familiar things afresh and retain a sensory memory of a place. |
Travel does not always mean drawing on the spot
The clearest distinction across these practices is when the drawing happens. Shirodkar works directly in a sketchbook on location, and Kulavoor’s travel sketches include on-site work. By contrast, Kalan uses travel photographs as studio prompts, Dasari turns locomotive photographs into digital illustrations, and Karle develops work over time from details he remembers. Kulavoor’s cycle project is another studio-made body of work, rather than a record of drawing during a journey.
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That range matters for anyone interested in a travel sketchbook: drawing in the moment is one option, not a rule. A photograph, a thumbnail, a written note, or a remembered shape can also become the starting point for finished art later.
From landscapes and machines to people and place stories
The subjects are just as varied as the methods. Kalan focuses on quiet landscape forms, while Dasari looks to the color and shape of Indian trains. Kulavoor’s project asks what cycles mean in everyday life, from mobile shops to carrying goods. Karle combines observed details with surreal invention to consider how time and travel connect.
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Sethi’s portraits bring attention to communities across several regions of India; the feature says she travelled and photographed people, sometimes asking fellow travellers to translate. It does not describe consent procedures or community consultation, so no such process can be inferred from this account. Neethi’s tourism GIFs take another route, shaping gathered local stories into a moving digital format. Taxi Fabric makes the setting itself part of the artwork: passengers encounter designed upholstery as they move through Mumbai.
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Shirodkar describes travel as a way to see new places and “to see the world afresh, even everyday and ordinary things.” Her approach suggests a useful starting point for sketching while travelling: choose a detail that rewards looking twice, rather than trying to capture an entire destination. A mailbox, a particular light source, a sign, a vehicle, or the arrangement of a street can hold a sense of place.
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- Observe first: Notice shapes, colors, relationships, and small features that distinguish this view from another.
- Choose a workable record: Make a quick sketch, take a reference photograph, or jot down a detail to use later.
- Let the finished work change: Studio refinement, memory, imagination, and digital or material processes can all reshape what was observed.
The eight profiles do not establish that travel improves creativity for every artist. They do show how sustained attention to places—whether in the field or afterward—can give an artwork its subject and particular point of view.
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