Journey Along with Travel Sketchbook Project at Jakarta Doodle Fest
Jakarta Doodle Fest officially opened last Friday (01/10) at Taman Ismail Marzuki, Jakarta. The annual event hosting many different illustrators and creatives was filled with crowds eager to get their hands on their favorite artist’s works. One such artist at the event was Nugraha Pratama, bringing his Travel Sketchbook Project. Sitting down with Grafis Masa Kini, Nugraha tells us all about this project.
Nugraha is a Jakarta-based illustrator who began his creative journey back in 2009. Originally, Nugraha began sketching as a way to practice his craft. “If athletes have daily exercise, then the daily exercise for an illustrator for me is sketching,” he remarked. “Because this is live on location practice, so it’s not just a drawing exercise. We also learn to manage our time. We learn to get to know our surroundings and meet people who see us draw,” Nugraha explained.
Beyond artistic practice, he continued to explain that sketching is also a way for him to archive his surroundings. Sketching became a regular activity for Nugraha on his travels, documenting all the places he visited. By the time the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Nugraha had more material than he could count. As began to scan and compile his sketches, Nugraha realized that he had documented many historical buildings and culinary hotspots. In 2023, he finally launched the Travel Sketchbook Project, compilations of his sketches in zine form and an accompanying line of products. Through the Travel Sketchbook Project, Nugraha helps preserve many heritage buildings in his work as well as contributing to gastrodiplomacy, where Indonesia showcases her ample culinary riches to the world.
With the urban sketching style, the Travel Sketchbook Project almost naturally attains a candid and journalistic quality. Armed with small sketchbooks, portable watercolor sets, and pens, readers and enjoyers of and taken along on Nugraha’s travels. “Actually, the process is very organic. Because of traveling, I became an artist without a studio. Because wherever I sit, that already becomes my studio. So my drawing tools have to be as compact as possible. That’s the reason why I use watercolors and pens. Because watercolors and pens are the two tools that can help me draw faster in a short amount of time… So all my drawing tools, my studio, is in my bag,” he explained.
While some may argue that many digital creative tools, like tablets, are just as convenient for sketching, Nugraha still remains steadfast about the practicality of his watercolors considering how much of his creative journey is spent outdoors. “To this day, there's nothing that can withstand the heat of Jakarta,” he chuckled. “If it rains, it’s definitely not strong either. But to me, watercolor is still better.” However, Nugraha still uses digital tools when needed. For him, at the end of the day they are just tools for Nugraha to journal, archive, and document his experiences.
The Travel Sketchbook Project has been busy this past year, taking part in many art events as well as initiating a few. Nugraha has organized dining events and walking tours with museums around the city. This past weekend, Nugraha joined the line up of illustrators for Jakarta Doodle Fest. Nugraha reminisced about the early days of his career where events like Jakarta Doodle Fest and interest in them were few and far between. Today the industry has transformed and Indonesian audiences are more engaged than ever and, for Nugraha, the event is an opportunity for his audience to engage with his work more directly and deeply.
For creatives like Nugraha and the Travel Sketchbook Project, events like Jakarta Doodle Fest is also a chance to present his work in a different way. “In the past, artists presented their work in exhibitions, now it’s much broader,” Nugraha remarked. Here he stresses the opportunity for creatives to gain a wider audience beyond white cube gallery. Jakarta Doodle Fest completed yet another successful run this year and we look forward to what future editions of the event will bring.
