Komorebi

Living in parts of the world that have long winters, it is curious how summer brings with it some measure of guilt. Everyday that I do not step outside, I feel I have wasted an opportunity. Yearning for the sun is not a very Indian trait, but I have a distinct memory from childhood of winters in my hometown, Kolkata. In this memory, I sit in the balcony, bare feet on cold floor, as sunlight filters through the leaves of trees. My mother is peeling water chestnuts, and I am next to her. We are sitting on the floor. The water chestnuts are juicy and crunchy. I could keep eating them forever. I close my eyes, and feel my body toasting in the gentle warmth.

Komorebi roughly translates as the sunlight filtering through the branches or leaves of trees. I learned this Japanese word yesterday, from a comment on my Instagram post of this drawing below.

I watched people picnicking in George Wainborn park, in downtown Vancouver. The task of drawing from observation is first a task of seeing - filtering down reality to a set of important elements. The second half of the job is representing this vision on the page. The seeing is just as important as the drawing.

Here’s how I filter the scene.

I watch. I make careful observations. I frame the observations in a simple but beautiful description. As beautiful as possible, as simple as possible. I sit there not moving, doing this a few times in my head.

This was my observation.

I saw a lot of life. It was sandwiched between the green grass below and the dark canopies of trees overhead. The world existed between these boundaries. While some of its life sat cool in the shade, other life shone brilliantly in the sun.

I saw young families, older couples, a person reading a book, people playing badminton, and several people walking along the park’s periphery. In a 1-inch tall space in my sketchbook, over a double-spread, I was able to capture this much life.

This ink drawing is available as a 20x30” giclee print on my shop*. All the large prints are on sale, because new shop and all that. To select this or other prints for yourself (or someone else) visit here.