In Paraty, you never forget you are by the sea. There are, of course, the colorful fishing boats (which I sketched a lot ). And then there is this fascinating flooding of the city. Paraty was designed so that the streets are flooded by the high tide when there is a full moon. Every month, for just a few hours, these floods turn the cobbled streets into reflecting pools that are great fun to sketch.
Here are my sketches from one afternoon’s flood.
And here are some photographs of the tide coming in through openings in the seawalls and of sketchers at work, capturing the phenomenon. We’ sketchers are a dedicated bunch, aren’t we?
This sketch was made as the water retreated, leaving little puddles for this boy to play in with his make-believe fishing rod.
My other tryst with the sea was on a boat excursion to the little islands that dot Paraty Bay. It was so relaxing to fill in a page with notes and tiny sketches while we cruised: no large image to capture before it was gone, and a page full of little notes and memories I would have lost if I hadn’t sketched… I really need to do more of these pages.
More sketches from the boat and from an island we docked at for lunch.
Still more from Paraty coming up soon. And all my sketches form Brazil, as I upload them, here on flickr.
Sketch Away: Travels with my sketchbook 