Sunrise at Chong Kneas Floating Village (Entry #2/37)

Sketch of sunrise at Chong Kneas Floating Village at Tonle Sap Lake
Click for a larger view

That was sketched during sunrise at Chong Kneas, the floating & fishing village at Tonle Sap Lake. The village is probably 30 minutes tuk tuk drive away from Siem Reap's town.

When sketching sunrise, preparation is important so that you don't panic when the sun rises. The sky is going to be gradated, so this is not really the time to practice a gradated wash. You either gradate to a light wash, or you gradate from one colour to another. I should have put in a gradated wash but didn't so this sketch does not really look like a sunrise.

The line work is from a Hero pen. Unfortunately, the ink feathers on the Etcetra sketchbook that I'm using, and the ink flow wasn't terrific on that day. This is the only sketch I drew with the Hero pen.

January is in Cambodia's dry season so water level at the lake is low. A portion of the village is on ground, and the other portion floating.

There are two ways to see the village. One's to see it from land, and the other is from water.

To visit the village on land, you need a US$3 ticket. It's sold at a building before you reach the village. That building is beside an open space for buses to park. Toilet's there also. After buying the ticket, ask your driver to drive all the way past the jetty (smaller building) to the village's gate. Show the ticket to the security guard there.

To see the village from water, you just have to book your boat ride at the jetty. We didn't go for that.

The sketch I drew above is at the end of the village. There are lots of activity if you go there for sunrise. Fishermen would be bringing in and sorting out their catch, loading them onto trucks for transporting them elsewhere. The activity would be gone within two hours after the sun rises from the horizon.

The ride in the early morning for the sunrise is going to be cold. Bring a jacket or scarf.

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