Painting Rajasthan is a painting journey for artists featuring:
** slow travel with beautiful accommodation, in which we will establish pop-up studios to develop your daily sketches.
** an extraordinary array of unique tribal people and communities who will sit for you.
** galleries and local artists who will introduce the Indian art process.
** time to sketch and absorb the amazing visions of India.
** Mentorship from renowned artist Lorraine Simonds.
Small Group Travel :12 – 15 Pax
Dates : 25 October to 8 November, 2026
Step into Rajasthan with a sketchbook in hand and everything arranged for you – exceptional food, gorgeous havelis, and the guidance of local artists at every stop.
This program is NOT A RESIDENCY but a travel journey designed for artists. Days are filled with sketching and creating. We visit India’s most fascinating places and extraordinary people who sit for us. Time is allocated to allow absorption into the incredible world around you; evenings are spent in pop-up studios where your work takes shape.
Beyond the monuments and landscape we visit, we travel into the backroads – meeting the Bheel, Rabari, Bhopa, and Manganiyar people. Their traditions are disappearing, but their stories and colours will enrich your art and stay with you forever. Painting Rajasthan allows access to another world.
Along the way, we connect with local masters, exploring breathtaking art forms like Udaipur’s Pichhwai and Jaisalmer’s miniature single-hair paintings.
Painting Rajasthan is more than travel – it’s an immersion into a world of dazzling colour, rare culture, and authentic human connection; a journey into a fascinating world designed for artists to experience and process India through their art.
We are accompanied by the wonderful Canadian/British watercolour artist – Lorraine Simonds – who will act as mentor and sounding board.
Lorraine is an award-winning watercolour artist and educator known for her expressive, emotive portraits. She is an International Brand Ambassador for Rockwell Art Canada and Golden Maple, BC Representative of the Canadian Branch of the International Watercolor Society and an Exhibiting Member of the Federation of Canadian Artists, with a history of successfully showcasing her work in juried exhibitions. She has served as a juror for international watercolour competitions, including the annual Women in Watercolor International Juried Competition, and her work is held in private and permanent collections worldwide.
Her artistic journey began in Plymouth, England, where she first learned to draw from books and practised on the vast, rugged English Moorlands. She developed a love for portraiture through acrylics and oils and later formalised her understanding of contrast, focus, and composition through film photography at Plymouth College of Art & Design, before earning a BA in Fine Art from the University of Leeds. She has also studied under the mentorship of Thomas Schaller, refining her approach to composition and storytelling.
A deep admiration for traditional Chinese art also informs her approach, particularly its economy of brushstroke, expressive linework, and philosophy of capturing essence rather than mere likeness. These influences are evident in her signature style – loose, atmospheric, and richly textured, with an intentional interplay between control and spontaneity, presence and absence.
Through her work, she seeks to capture the essence of humanity – the beauty, vulnerability, and quiet resilience that unite us all. Each portrait tells a story, not just of a subject, but of a moment, a feeling, and a life fully seen.
Painting India is for those people who process and assimilate experience through their eyes, that is to say, it is a journey for artists. The event crafts a travel experience into one of the most stimulating environments on earth and allows time to sit and sketch, to draw, to absorb and then to take that time back to a beautiful studio space at the accommodation to develop ideas.
How does it work?
Rajasthan is the most diverse, the most colourful & the most fascinating part of India. It will leave you transported into another dimension.
We have selected three places that traverse the rugged grandeur of the Aravali Hills and the austere golden Thar Desert.
All care is taken to experience every hue of the natural and cultural landscape.
Four of India’s most Incredible Destinations
The hotels and havelis chosen for Painting Rajasthan are compliment the beautiful imagery that we encounter each day. Each allows for a pop-up gallery to be established for the duration of our stay.
A 15 day journey through the backroads of Rajasthan, India’s most otherworldly state. The emphasis is on magical moments with tribal people with quiet contemplative time to paint as you travel.
October 25 to November 8 – 2026
15 days
10 – 12 pax
Painting Rajasthan is a moderately active program with some walking required.
Apart form that, some conversations with different Indian people need guidance from participants to avoid culturally inappropriate questions. As a general rule, questions will be asked at the conclusion of sessions and at the discretion of the facilitator.
The tour commences in Delhi on Sunday at 2 pm on October 25 – 2026.
The tour concludes in Delhi on Sunday after breakfast on Sunday November 8 – 2026.
The tour starts in Delhi.
If you wish to add tours to Agra or any other Indian location you can contact Manu Singh at India Personal Tours – travel@indiapersonaltours.com.
$6,950 USD Per Person [Twin Share]
Deposit $1,500 USD Per Person [Payable upon booking]
Single Room Supplement $1,500 USD Per Person. [Payable upon booking]
Balance payable payable 3 months before departure.
Tour deposit is non-refundable.
– Programs accompanied by Tour Facilitator, Tour Director plus one other translator/ cultural guide plus local specialist guides and cultural interactions in Delhi, Udaipur, Jawai and Jaisalmer.
– Accommodation on Double/Twin occupancy for 14 nights.
– All Meals
– All transfers, excursions & sightseeing on AC Coach.
– Fully curated event that integrates tour theme into the daily itinerary.
– Translated conversations with Bhopa Gypsies. Manganiyar Muslim, Bheel and Rabari communities.
– Monuments. forts, temples and havelis entrance Fees.
– Visits to Art Galleries and conversations with local people.
– 2 x internal Domestic Airfares.
– Services of agents representatives at airports.
– All currently applicable taxes including Government Service Tax.
– Alcohol.
– Laundry bills, telephone – calls, Tips, table drinks etc.
– Travel insurance, visa etc.
– Camera fees – still & video.
– Flights to and from India.
– Any other expense which is not mentioned in inclusions.
Dr. Vishakha Sharma
VANISHING INDIA is an imprint of Fabulous Limited, part of the market-leading Fabulous Media Private Limited group, one of the leading marketing networks. It works in association with India Personal Tours [IPT Travel Private Limited] and Explore Himalaya Travel Pvt. Ltd {Explore Himalaya Tours}, two long-standing travel companies. Bookings are made through Stripe, one of the world’s most secure payment gateway.
Legacy travel companies are working with one of India’s leading entrepreneurial entities to deliver on VANISHING INDIA’s simple objective – to revolutionise the way travel is experienced on the subcontinent.
