There are some places you visit as a tourist, and there are others you experience as an artist.

For me, Hampi was definitely the second.

As a watercolor artist from India, I have always been fascinated by places where architecture, history, landscape and light come together. Hampi offers all of these in abundance. The ancient ruins, enormous granite boulders, temples, pathways and changing sunlight create endless possibilities for an artist.

But when you arrive at a place like Hampi with a sketchbook and watercolor paints, an important question immediately comes to mind:

What should I paint?

That is where plein air painting becomes much more than simply sitting outdoors and copying what you see.

Why I Chose Hampi for Plein Air Watercolor Painting

Hampi is one of those rare places where the landscape itself becomes part of the story.

The site was once the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire and today contains an extraordinary collection of temples, royal structures, sacred complexes, gateways, mandapas and other archaeological remains. UNESCO describes the surviving monuments as being remarkably integrated with the surrounding Tungabhadra River, hills, boulders and open landscape.

That combination immediately attracted me as an artist.

When I choose a location for plein air watercolor painting, I am not simply looking for something beautiful.

I look for a story.

I ask myself:

What makes this place special?

Where is the light coming from?

What is the strongest visual element?

Can I capture the atmosphere rather than every single detail?

And most importantly, what can I say about this place through watercolor?

That is how I approached Hampi.

Choosing What to Paint in Hampi

One of the biggest challenges when you paint outdoors is that you are surrounded by too many possibilities.

You may see an impressive temple in one direction, beautiful boulders in another, people walking through an ancient street, and dramatic sunlight changing everything every few minutes.

If you try to paint everything, the painting can quickly lose its focus.

So before putting my brush into the water, I spend some time simply observing.

I walk around the location.

I look at the architecture from different angles.

I watch how the sunlight falls on the monument.

I look for interesting foregrounds and backgrounds.

And then I try to identify one dominant idea.

Sometimes it is the architecture.

Sometimes it is the light.