AQUARELLE: Watercolor painting in Ladakh with Pavel Pugachev.

The master-trainer of the tour is Pavel Pugachev.
Member of the Artists Union of Russia
IWS Master Membership
American Watercolor Society member

You can enjoy a lively dialogue with a professional artist, ask important questions and look at the process of watercolor, plein air painting by Pavel Pugachev.
Paul will share with you his invaluable experience of creating breathtaking, majestic mountain landscapes that conceal the unique beauties of Ladakh, the ancient Buddhist temples and the crystal clearness of the lake!
You will learn technical secrets from the master of plein air painting and sharpen them in practice!
Do not miss the opportunity to see and try the author's watercolor technique in an incomparable beauty, energetically charged place.
This is a unique opportunity to paint in an open air under the guidance of a world-famous watercolor artist!

A little about Pavel Pugachev:
Pugachev Pavel Stanislavovich was born in Volgograd on January 17, 1976.
In 1998 he graduated from the faculty of arts of the VSPU, the department "Fine Arts and Drawing".
In 2005 he became a member of the All-Russian Creative Public Organization "Union of Artists of Russia".
In 2017 he received the status of a master of the International Society of Watercolors IWS Master Membership.
In 2017 he became a member of the American Society of Watercolorists AWS.
In his record a number of significant international, all-Russian, regional, as well as personal art exhibitions, design of books (Red Book of the Volgograd Region, Red Book of the Moscow Region, Flora of the Lower Volga).
The artist's works are in collections of museums, public and private Russian and foreign collections.

The works of Pavel Pugachev can be viewed on his websites, here:
www.pavelpugachev.ru
vk.com/pugachev_art
instagram.com/pugachev_art
facebook.com/pugachev.art

Attention!
Please, for any consultations on the "watercolor" program of the tour, please contact Pavel Pugachev:
Mail: [email protected]
Watsap: + 7 927 520 91 88 (Vacap)

Who is this tour intended for?
Tour "AQUARELLE: Watercolor Painter in Ladakh with Pavel Pugachev" is designed for any level of training of participants from Russia, CIS countries and the world.
Training takes place in a group, but with each participant the teacher communicates individually.
Those who are not familiar with watercolor, learn the basic techniques of this technique, through which they can write sketches from nature and express their emotions from the perception of the surrounding world.
Experienced artists will get acquainted with the author's methods of conveying the atmosphere, texture and materiality of the landscape, ways of creating an image of the landscape.
Paul will give individual advice and help in the work.
Everyone will find for themselves something interesting, important and necessary.
The level of preparation does not matter, since an individual approach to each participant is guaranteed.
The tour is designed for both professional artists and beginners from scratch.
The main thing is the desire to plunge into the atmosphere of plein air painting.

When working in the open-air there are certain features that we will consider in the class and consolidate them practically.
The state of nature is constantly changing and this makes the artist work differently than in the workshop.
You will learn how to choose the plot and determine the main tasks that you must perform in the first minutes of work.
We will consider color themes, air and linear perspective, materiality of textures and landscapes, as well as various methods of writing.

What else do you need to know about the tour AQUARELLE: Ladakh?
And you need to know the following:
Ladakh is a very creative place - high mountains, powerful mountain chains, just breathe energy.
Here it is very clean:
here the crystal air, the air that has the smell of grass and glacial snow,
here is pure water that has a taste - for everyone this taste will seem its own, but it will really be fresh and tasty water.
There are a lot of fruits and vegetables here), also fresh, tasty and without fertilizers.
It is easy to fall asleep from the saturation of the day and sleeps deeply at night, sometimes dreaming colored dreams with hints of local color.
Here is a very friendly culture of living Tibetan Buddhism, a culture in which aggression is completely absent.
And most importantly, Ladakh is a very emotionally clean place.
And this means that there is an opportunity to emotionally unload, energize and immerse yourself in creativity.

What could be better than this holiday?
We will be very glad to see you!

p.s. This is the first contender for the art tour for watercolors in Ladakh.
Therefore, the cost of the tour is advertising.

All photos in the description of the tour were shot by us during our trips to Ladakh and these are the places that you will really see and where you will write, you will visit the schedule of the tour, weather, etc.
The photo is clickable to a large size, just click on the photo and it will open in a new window.
In the description of each day of the tour, the heading gives an approximate mileage for each day and the heights of the places visited.

Day 1, August 4: Delhi - Leh. Delhi - Leh (air travel). Adaptation day. Acclimatization. Walking through Leh.
Arrival at New Delhi International Airport (India) from the country of residence.
We pass visa control, we receive luggage and move to the free shuttle (bus) from the international terminal D3 of New Delhi airport to the terminal of domestic airlines D1:
The bus runs between the terminals every 15 minutes, the journey takes 15 - 20 minutes.
This is a common practice on our tours in Ladakh:
flights on which participants of our tours arrive at the airport of New Delhi, usually arrive at the terminal D3 from 2 to 5 am,
participants immediately move to the shuttle in the terminal D1 and one of the morning flights fly to Leh.
Flights on Delhi-Leh birm flight so that the time reserve between international and domestic flights was at least 3-4 hours.
In the terminal D1 we check-in for Delhi-Leh flight, flight to Leh, flight 1 hour 20 minutes.
The Delhi-Lech air flight itself is an exciting sight - it's impossible to tear yourself away, the plane flies over the most beautiful peaks of the Himalayas.
It is highly recommended that when buying air tickets immediately book places near the portholes.
For those who want to photograph mountain ranges from an airplane, the most suitable seats will be those with 25F to 30F and 25A to 30A.

The plane literally moves along the corridor in the middle of the mountain chains, the mountain ridges are pictures below:
huge glaciers, moraines, colorful mountain valleys, mountain lakes of Ladakh:

Incredible beauty and brightness rock massifs before landing in Leh:

There is something to see, passengers do not break away from the windows, but it is very important - to book a place in advance near the porthole:
When you register at the airport, such places may not be available.

We fly to Ladakh, the plane makes a beautiful turn over the valley of the river Indus and lands at the only airport in the valley - in Leh.

Transfer to the hotel, breakfast.
Leh is at an altitude of 3600 m.
And on the first day of the tour it is very important for participants to undergo the correct altitude acclimatization:
we pass the instruction on acclimatization, drink a lot of liquid, the first hours on arrival we rest in the hotel.
After acclimatization rest in the hotel we go on a leisurely adaptation walk to the center of Leh on Main Market:
get acquainted with the infrastructure of the city, walk along the main street of the city.

We'll finish the walk in one of the restaurants on Main Market, where our first dinner in Lech will take place.
Hotel in Leh.

Day 2, August 5: Organizational session. White stupas of Naropa, 30 km, heights of 3,600-3,400 m.
In the morning we quietly wake up and have breakfast on the open veranda of our hotel overlooking the Ladakh valley, the upper course of the Indus River.
After breakfast, an organizational session with the master-instructor of the tour Pavel Pugachev.

Closer to noon, we go to our first open air to Shay Gonpa and the White Stupa of Naropa.
The Buddhist monastery of Shay Gonpa is located in the upper course of the Indus, 15 km east of Lech.
Monasteries, stupas, stones "mani" are found on the road in a significant amount.
Near the monastery of Shei lies the largest in the Ladakh field of the chortens with hundreds of white sanctuaries scattered across the desert landscape.
This is where we are heading:
here - in nature will our first conversation about the culture of Tibetan Buddhism, and here - our first plein air in Ladakh.

This is how this amazing place looks from different sides - and the place is really very unusual and first of all in sensations:
Here, as if Time had stopped and quite different ideas about Space:
The territory of the White Stupa is felt as incredibly large, huge, infinite.

In the evening we return to Leh.
Hotel in Leh.

Day 3, August 6: Buddhist monastery of Basgo Gonpa. Lamayuru, 140 km, altitude 3,600 - 3,000 m.
In the morning we go to the lowering of the heights - to the valley of Lamayuru, downstream of the Indus River.

On the way there are numerous stops in all interesting places, for example - a view of the Basgo Valley:

The confluence of the rivers Indus and Zanskar:

Through these mountain landscapes we will move to the Buddhist monastic complex of Basgo Gonpa.
This is where our second open air will be held.

Buddhist Monastery Basgo, Basgo Gompa - built in 1680 by the rulers of the Buddhist dynasty Namgyal.
The village of Basgo itself was known from antiquity and is mentioned in the Ladakh Chronicles as a political and cultural center and the former capital of Lower Ladakh.
The monastery is famous for its unique frescoes of the 16th century and the Buddha statue.
Basgo Gompa stands on steep rocks, no, probably more correctly this way:
Basgo Gonpa - as grown up, hovered in Space and Time on the tops of steep cliffs that really are part of its basement and literally soars in the air over the village of Basgo.
In Ladakh, in general, a very peculiar relationship with Time and Space - for example, many of our tourists say that it was not the 2 weeks of the tour that went by, it felt like a lifetime), and the route of our plein airs goes exactly to places where it is felt especially strongly.

The views in the territory of the Basgo Gonpa Reserve park are simply incredible - another word and not found:
the quaint shape of the cliffs are mixed with the buildings of the monastery, and are connected not by paths, but by steep mountain paths.
And in the middle of this nature-rugged landscape - in the hollows of colorful lakes.

It's infinitely beautiful: probably, Basgo Gonpa is still the most unusual Buddhist monastery in Ladakh.
Located Basgo Gonpa in the steep bard rock, the very territory of the monastery - is a completely incredible landscapes.
You can wander around indefinitely.
What we will do is scatter along the territory in accessible visibility and our second plaque in Ladakh.

By the way, there are also a lot of valery landscapes here:

Towards evening we leave for the village of Lamayuru.
Guest house at the monastery of Lamayuru Gonpa.

Day 4, August 7: Lamayuru. Lamayuru Gonpa. The village of Vanla, 50 km, height 2800 - 3 000 m.
We wake up in a completely amazing place - in the mountain Bonov village of Lamayuru.
A wonderful delicious breakfast in a restaurant near Tashi, it's the owner of the guest house - the most charming person who created in Lamayuru the maximum possible in these places a cosiness for tourists.
Let's talk a little about the monastery of Lamayuru Gonpa and about the places we ended up in.

 The Buddhist monastery of Lamayuru Gonpa (Jungdrun is the sign of the swastika) is one of the oldest monasteries of Ladakh, its construction is attributed to Rinchen Sanpo (958-1055).
The monastery was founded in the XI century by the famous Teacher Naropa, after spending several years in meditation in the cave.

The monastery got its name from the plantation of sacred grain, which mysteriously took the form of a swastika (a swastika with a left-hand movement symbolizes Jungdrun Bon or a new Bon).
Now the Monastery of Lamayuru refers to the direction of the Buddhist school of Drikung Kagyu, but for a long time it was a refuge for the followers of the Bon religion.

The places here are amazing, the monastery of Lamayuru Gonpa itself is built in high forest sediments, the buildings of the monastery seem to be a continuation of the mountains and do not conflict with the environment at all.

But we will come back to Lamayuru later, and for now we have a trip to the ancient Aryan village of Vanla, a unique place from any point of view:
- Firstly, even in Ladakh there are very few Aryan villages (these are the true Aryans where Hitler sent expeditions for Aryan blood)
- Secondly, it is here that the unique Vanla Gonpa, whose wall paintings are attributed to the 10th century AD - bright Kashmiri Buddhism,
- Thirdly, this, fortunately, is absolutely not a tourist place, and here again we will face the phenomenon of loss of the sense of Time.

Some photos from Vanla.
This is Vanla Gonpa herself, a small ancient monastery on top of a rock mountain:

They are sculptures and wall paintings inside the monastery for more than 1000 years:

And this is inside the monastery of Vanla:

Our third plein air will be held here.

For lunch, we return to the village of Lamayuru.

After lunch - a walk around the monastery Lamayuru Gonpa and our fourth plein air in the equally interesting village of Lamayuru -
all the buildings, as already mentioned, are built and for centuries stand among loess idols, as if they themselves are a natural element of the surrounding mountainous terrain:

Guest house at the monastery of Lamayuru Gonpa.

Day 5, August 8: Lamayuru - Leh. Moon Earth, about 140 km, height 2,800 - 3,600 m.
Today we will spend the whole day in the open air of the Moon Earth - unique loess deposits of the valley of Lamayuru - 5 and 6 open-air.

In the morning we will rise to the military road, which runs at high altitude and from where the Moon Land (Moon Earth) is visible from above - there is an incredible number of beautiful landscape points and very diverse:
from the bright yellow rugged landscapes of the Moon Earth:

up to the views of the powerful mountain chains of Lamayuru:

and individual gorges, where the greenery of the villages fits with the green threads of life into the inaccessibility of the ancient mountains.
The Ladakh mountains are beautiful and naked - they are bare:
there is practically no vegetation and mountain ranges appear in all their multicolored majesty.
Greenery in Ladakh is a marker of a residential area - a village, a monastery.

And then we return to Leh.
And this is the way the road along which we will go down into the Indus valley is completely harmless, and the spirit, honestly, will seize!)

Free evening in Leh, we rest after the road, we sit-enjoy life in the tasty cafes of Lech.
We prepare the work for tomorrow's analysis with the master teacher.
Hotel in Leh.

Day 6, August 9: Analysis of works. Old Leh, height 3 600 m.
In the morning - the analysis of the works made during the 7 plein airs with Pavel Pugachev.

In the afternoon we go to our 8 plein air in Old Leh.
this part of the city is under the protection of UNESCO, here a lot has been preserved in the same form as a hundred years ago, here are all the same old walls:

Changes in the architecture of Old Lech are forbidden, but nevertheless many houses remain residential, here everything is really alive - old narrow streets, a heap of stones:

The oldest walls with wooden doors that remember the times of the Ladakh Kings:

Protective Buddhist amulets in the deserted, but not destroyed houses - here you can go and wander inside these ancient walls:

We quietly, with stops we will rise to the Royal Palace of Lech, from here the smart views on Leh himself and the Ladakh valley open:

The choice of points for an open air game is very individual:
Everyone stops for painting where he finds his place.
The master-trainer of the course and guides travel between the group members.
Hotel in Leh.

Days 7-8, August 10 - 11: Buddhist Mystery DakTok Tsechu, DakTok Monastery. Chamdey Monastery, about 100 km every day, altitude 3600 - 3800m.
The next 2 days - a powerful energy reset:
These two days we will spend on the Buddhist mystery DakTok Tsechu in the Buddhist monastery DakTok (Tuktuk).
DakTtok Gonpa is the only Buddhist monastery of the Nigmap school in the valley of Ladakh.
The Buddhist mystery itself with the performance of the Dance of Tsam is a strong and unforgettable energy.

Dance Tsam is always a very beautiful event filled with emotions and sensations.
But when the Deer comes to the site of the Duck-Tok monastery - Time stops.
However, not only Time stops, everything stops:
you stop noticing someone around, you stop breathing, you stop feeling the world around - there is only Deer dancing the unimaginable Something.
And this Something opens its wings above the ground and Silence sets in, in which new worlds are born.
And this is impossible to convey in words.
All conversations on the site are stopped, everyone stops in this Deer Dance, tears are flowing down the cheeks of people.

One day we will also visit the Buddhist city-monastery Chimre (Chamrey) Gonpa, also located in the valley of the Sakti River.

Plein airs these days - according to the situation, perhaps - almost all day.
Let's designate them as 9 - 10 plein air.
Hotel in Leh.

Day 9, August 12: Free day. The analysis of works, the height of 3 600 m.
The final day of the tour and the main event of the day - the analysis of works for the tour.
The analysis will be thorough and thorough and will take the first half of the day.

The second half of the day - quiet walks along Leh, fees on the way back.
Hotel in Leh.

Day 10, August 13: Flight of Leh - Delhi. Homecoming.
Early in the morning transfer to the airport and the flight of Leh - Delhi.
And again the Great Himalayas will pose for you in all their majestic beauty.

Upon arrival in Delhi, a tour of the capital of India (on request), a transfer to the international airport of New Delhi and return to the homeland is possible.

ATTENTION!
To participate in the tour Aquareli you will need:
1. Paper: Arshes (fin or torshon) 300 gr. 56x76 - at least 6 sheets.
2. Watercolor: Any professional quality is 24 colors.
3. Brushes.
Which brushes are preferable:
- round columns No. 1-3
- round large, medium and small protein or sable No., 3-4, 6-7, 10-12
- Flat flutes (ponies, goats or synthetics), No. 20, 40
4. Capacity for water.
5. The palette is made of plastic.
6. Graphite pencil 2-3 V.
7. Scotch paper.
8. A tablet for fastening paper. (sheet dvp or plexiglass.Minimum size 33h43 cm).
9. Cutter.
10. Umbrella from the rain / sun (you can buy inexpensively in Lehi).
11. Folding chair, mat foamy for sitting (you can buy inexpensively in Lehi).
12. Notepad for sketches.