Faces tell stories that words never will.
I draw them.
One at a time.
Portraits drawn by hand in ink and acrylic.
Sketchbook · 2025–26
Vol. iv · sketchbook
Pink Veilfrom the sketchbook · Plate 01 / 0902
Artworks
03
Collections
(Every face ends up somewhere. These are the drawers they fell into.)
Gold, silver, and stone; the quiet things a face wears that speak before it does.
Every cap, turban, and pagdi carries more than a head. It carries a name, a place, and a generation.
Scroll sideways for the rest — or give a drawing a tug.
The face sits still. The background doesn’t. Stripes, florals, geometry; each one a conversation with the person in front of it.
Just fabric, a knot, and the kind of trust only a mother's back can offer.
Scroll sideways for the rest — or give a drawing a tug.
Before the name, before the handshake — the dog, the rooster, the goose. The companion a person reaches for first.
Scroll sideways for the rest — or give a drawing a tug.
04
About
I'm Vikas. I draw faces.
Sometimes a matchbox, a door, or a bike gets a page too, but it always comes back to faces.
Not for a living — for the living. Every face I come across carries something worth keeping, and I need to get it on paper before the moment passes.
I work mostly in ink, sometimes acrylic, occasionally watercolour — whatever the drawing asks for. I'm based in Bangalore, but my sketchbook travels with me everywhere. A café, a train, a waiting room — anywhere something catches my eye.
This website is my sketchbook, open for everyone. No algorithms, no feeds — just the work. Flip through, stay as long as you want, and if something speaks to you, say hello.
Tools
InkAcrylicWatercolourPaperPatience
- Based in
- Bangalore
- Custom portraits
- Yes — get in touch
- Shipping
- Globally
05
Process
- 1
Find the face.
It starts with a photograph. Sometimes on a phone, sometimes a laptop, sometimes a print I can't stop looking at. The face has to ask to be drawn. If it doesn't, I scroll past. If it does, I clear the table.
- 2
Start ugly.
The first twenty minutes look like nothing. Rough boundaries, stray lines, shapes that don't belong to anyone yet. Every portrait begins as a mess. I've learned to trust the mess. Somewhere around the halfway mark, a face starts showing up.
- 3
Stay until it's done.
I don't leave a portrait unfinished. Once I sit down, I stay. Three hours, six hours, however long the face needs. Music helps. Classical, qawwali, hip-hop, rock, whatever the drawing asks for. Patience is the only skill that actually matters.
06
The Kit
07
The Pinboard
“Less, but better.” — Dieter Rams
“The job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery.” — Francis Bacon
Well, you wore out your welcome with random precision
Rode on the steel breeze
Come on, you raver, you seer of visions
Come on, you painter, you piper, you prisoner, and shine— Shine On You Crazy Diamond
ADMIT ONEPast LivesPVR · Tue 8:30 PM—— Row J, seat 14 ——
BMTC · CONDUCTOR₹ 10Koramangala → Bommanahalli
Upcoming work
- Doors of India — new series
- Texture play — layered acrylic & ink
Call this number if you find this sketchbook
+91 97425 04103Studio TapeSide A · 90
While I draw…
♪ Riders on the StormJim Morrison · The Doors
08
Colour Recipes
#C2186C
The Magenta
- 2 parts magenta gouache
- 1 part lamp black
- a drop of water, no more
For the shawl in 'Magenta.' Mixed in a saucer the day of the sitting.
#0D0D0D
Studio black
- sumi ink, Kuretake
- a thumb-tip of Sennelier indigo
- rinse-water, two parts
The everyday ink. Used on most of the portraits since 2023.
#C83A30
Bindi red
- 3 parts vermilion
- 1 part cadmium red, deep
- pinpoint of lamp black
For bindis, vermilion alone is too thin. The black settles it.
#B89154
Brass jewellery
- yellow ochre, 2 parts
- raw sienna, 1 part
- a hint of viridian
For nose rings, bangles, the gold edge of saris. Always two layers.
#7FA8CE
Sky in Bengaluru
- cerulean, 3 parts
- a touch of cobalt
- a thread of titanium white
- water, until it sits flat
Softer than the coast — that washed monsoon blue over the gulmohars.
#8B7D68
Paper shadow
- burnt umber
- a wash of Payne's grey
- a lot of water
The shadow under a sketchbook lying on a table. Used in flat-lays.
#2E3F6E
Indigo turban
- French ultramarine, 2 parts
- a touch of Prussian blue
- a pinpoint of crimson
For the deep folds of cloth. Warmed slightly so it never goes cold.
#E8A33D
Marigold
- cadmium yellow, deep
- a stroke of cadmium orange
- a whisper of white
Temple flowers, festival garlands. Laid down thick, almost dry.
#7A6E3A
Mehndi green
- olive green, 2 parts
- raw umber, 1 part
- a drop of yellow ochre
The dried-henna tone on hands. Muddier than you'd expect.
#1F6F78
Peacock teal
- phthalo green, 2 parts
- cerulean, 1 part
- a speck of lamp black
The sheen on a sari border. Glazed over a dry first coat.
#C58A5E
Skin, warm light
- raw sienna, 2 parts
- a touch of vermilion
- white, to lift
The base for most faces. Built up in thin, patient washes.
#E0641C
Saffron
- cadmium orange, 3 parts
- a thread of crimson
- a little ochre to settle
Robes and festival skies. The one colour I never dilute much.
09
The Passport
KarnatakaHome ground · Bangalore studios & café sketches
DelhiWhere the first exhibitions happened
GoaSun, colour, and faces that don't rush
HimachalMountain light · different shadows entirely
KeralaBackwaters and temple faces
JharkhandTribal portraits · the most honest sittings
BengalKolkata streets · ink dries different in the humidity
Each stamp a place. Each place, a face. Each face, a sitting that mattered.
Say hello
Commission a portrait · Buy an original · Meet for coffee & ideas
Postcard · from Vikas
I love talking about art, faces, and the stories behind both. Whether you want a custom portrait, a piece from the sketchbook, or just coffee and conversation, write to me.
— VikasBangalore
ships worldwide
ships worldwide
Chalk something out, clear your head
A blackboard in the studio · just for you · nothing is sent
chalk here…