Nepal sketchbook (four pages), 1984

James Brown

Four early sketchbook pages from my first trip to India and Nepal:

“Kathmandu”, 1984

“Kathmandu, Paradise Hotel”, 1984

“Kathmandu, King’s Palace”, 1984

“Pokhara, Nepal”, 1984

Pencil on bond paper

Size of each page: 27.4 x 21.1 cm

My memories of Kathmandu, seen in 1984, remain intensely vivid. The experience was a jarring departure from the world I knew, an abrupt immersion into a sensory overload of noise and congestion. I had the new smell and taste sensations of air thick with fumes from bustling motorbikes and three-wheeled tuk-tuks. These potent sensory impressions have remained with me.

The four sketchbook drawings shown here were created “on the spot,” in secluded nooks. Finding these pockets of quiet, where I could concentrate on my work, was a constant challenge. I was, after all, a member of a Topdeck tour group, snuggly fitted into a red double-decker London bus which was journeying from Nepal deep into India. Our sleeping quarters were upstairs, while the space below buzzed with the activities of cooking, communal meals, and socialising.