TECHNIQUES

Thank you to Mary Yaeger @Mary Yaeger for permission to share the very useful gold gilding information in her email to me here: This is the original text I found on the John Neal Books web site. I've made some revisions in the method I've been using that has worked pretty well, especially with pat

Hi everyone, nice to e-meet you! I am new to the forum and also new to painting - I have been trying miniature painting for just under a year now, and was inspired by a class by Anahita Alavi at SOAS. My main interests are patterns and architecture, and elements that are more abstract. I like creati

I am pretty sure the answer is no, but I have only inked about two pictures so far, and I can't remember doing any burnishing before the color fill, but I thought I would ask anyway!

Dear Vaishali, Many thanks for your feedback on inking the composition! They were super helpful. I have filled in the colors in the composition. I am attaching an image of my flat coloring of the miniature below. I’ll see you in the class tomorrow, and I’ll be happy to receive your feedback on my co

Dear Vaishali, I hope you are doing well. Since I missed the last week’s lecture and demonstration, I am attaching a set of images that display my work in progress. When you get some time, may I request to me provide me with some feedback with regards to whether I am moving in the right direction?

https://youtu.be/C_Dn2OkwlQg

It's always instructive to see an ancient painting in progress, and unfinished. This one's by the famous Behzad (c. 1480) and depicts a poet being attacked by dogs. We learn that miniatures were built up in different areas at the same time - something I always try to encourage in my teaching - and y

Hello everyone! I wanted to share with you an exercise I made during my painting conservation training. During this class, we focused on frame conservation and gilding. As you can see on the pictures, the top bar displays the five different colours used as background for the gilding. Each bar undern

Hello everyone! I have finally decided to be brave and try making my own paints, from powdered pigments. I haven't tried yet to start from the mineral forms, that will be for next time! I did start with yellow ochre and terre verte; I mixed the pigments with a solution of gum arabic, that I added sl

Dear Vaishali, Many thanks for your feedback on my previous submissions! I have inked the outline of my composition . I am attaching seven images below, which show different stages of my inking. If it is possible, may I request you to review my inking and provide me with some feedback? Image 1.

Just tried my first experiment with natural dyes for paper preparation: beets and onion skin+turmeric. Here is the result: The beet was actually a beautifully even deep pink until I went to starch it, and then the color came off in streaks. I’m wondering if I should try submerging the paper in a

Hi all! I love miniature art, particularly Indian miniature art because I am Indian born and feel a deep connection to my roots. I have been reading about miniature art online (can't really find books on the subject- if you have any suggestions I would greatly appreciate them!) My dream is to just

Good morning everyone! 😊 I'm interested in Islamic decorated papers, and I was wondering if any of you had resources/reading recommendations on the subject? I'm looking for information on techniques, materials, etc. of marbled, gilded, toned, painted... Islamic papers. I'd love to give it a try

Hello all! I have pestered Vaishali quite a lot in the past about the ins and outs of making and selling fine art prints. If any of you find it helpful, I found this online course by an American artist all about the nitty gritty of preparing, creating and packaging fine art prints: https://www.laur

Working on burnishing here, and I keep running into a problem which I think is just a product of my own impatience: I can’t seem to get from a bunch of burnished lines to a fully burnished page. Here's a recent example: You can see there are still a number of unburnished areas on the page. I use

Hello all! I came across an artist (Mary Maguire) whose paintings include some miniature-style subjects, like the mughal-ish prince below. This artist sells "hand colored" prints, which intrigues but also confuses me. Here is the exact wording on the description of her hand-colored prints, including