Sketching for Environment - Research Thumbnails

So this week, we were given a fun little assignment. We drew pieces of paper out of a hat and were paired with 1) a location and 2) a culture.

I drew "Indian" and "Relaxing Canyon". That's South Asia India, not Native American, by the way. We were to attempt three thumbnails with no research whatsoever, then draw 12 more after research.
Here are my first attempts at the topic.

These really highlight the fact that I honestly don't know much about India. Just look at that ridiculous buddha-esque figure...

After the research, here's a collage of images that impacted my thumbnails the most...

When trying desperately to scour the rather flat land of India for canyons, I honed in on what seems to be the bottom parts of the Himalayan mountain range that covers a lot of South Asia. This is in Northern India, which seems to have a lower population density and a lot of water, both from mountainous runoff from the north, and from the southern storms. Therefore it seemed like a good idea to capitalize on the solitude and on the serenity of the water to convey the feeling of relaxation.

I ran into a couple of drawbacks. First off, a relaxing canyon in India is typically devoid of people, and therefore practically devoid of any cultural aesthetic that would make it feel Indian. At the time, I wanted to go for something as accurate to my research as possible, but in retrospect I should have taken more liberties. I also wish that I had a better approach for mountainsides covered in trees... Not sure how to convey that detail or scale. I still had a good time with this assignment, and I think I'd like to push it further in the next stage with a closer-in shot.

This assignment helped me pick up acute differences in environments in certain areas. A mountain range is a mountain range, but they do look a bit different in South Asia than in the ol' USA. Stay tuned for more.