PSTA Miniature Painting Class day 3

Picture 1

Picture 2

Class 3 was about painting on layers and layers of thin paint to build up colours, rather than drawing a line we change the colour subtly and then paint it thinly and slowly over and over again until we create a faint shadow that eventually becomes lines and different shades. You can see it with the fold of the dress that I am trying to attempt.

If there is shadow, it is not done with a blocked dark shade colour over once. Instead, it is about using a pale colour and paint it over again and again to create the final shade. This gives the paint more layers and depth.

PSTA Miniature Painting Class day 2

In our class today we were introduced to the colours, we also prepared them for application, as well as applying them on our wasabi paper.

1. We began our class drawing the circles with the squirrel brush. It is good to start the class with this meditative act and calm our mind into the painting class. We spent about 20 - 30mins to refresh our memories on how to use the squirrel brush, with the Chinese ink that has been thinned out with water.

2. We learnt many different colour pigments and their names such as cinnabar, indigo, malachite...lovely lovely names. We then learnt how to turn these pigments into usable paint colours by grinding the pigments on a sandblasted glass surface with a glass muller, mixed with water ( a couple of teaspoons) and gum arabic ( about 1/2 teaspoon) . Note that gum arabic is a medium to bind the colour to the painted surface, if too much is added the paint will eventually crack, but it too little is added the paint is runny and will rub off.  Best to test the mixed paint on a piece of paper and rub it with finger after the paint is dry to test whether there is sufficient gum arabic. We then spent a good hour just grinding and preparing paint.

3. We then learnt to mix the paint colours we needed for our painting, and we started to 'block' the colour - by filling in the basic colours of our painting composition. This exercise also took a while as we had to test out and mix until we could match the colours to our satisfaction. Note that for the background colours we used normal sable brush to fill up and block the colours. 

We will be adding details next week.

PSTA ( Prince's School of Traditional Arts) Miniature Indian painting Class 1 - Lady in yellow

I went to the wonderful exhibition 'Garden and Cosmos' at the British Museum the year before, and again saw it at the NSW Art Gallery and really loved it, so when I found out the class is being taught at the Prince's School of Traditional Arts, I decided to enrolled immediately.

The course I got enrolled in is a 4 day full day (Saturdays) course starting form 10am till 4pm in a comfortable pace. Our teacher Samantha is a very experienced and lovely lady who is truly knowledgable and passionate about her art, making it a real pleasure to learn.

In our first class, Sam gave us a brief introduction and showed us some of her works. We also got to look through a number of books, to choose work that we would like to replicate for the class in order to learn the skills. I chose a painting with a lady preparing a meal with a brilliant lemon yellow background.

We then got a prepared Wasali paper already stuck on the broad, ready to be used. Wasli paper is a specially prepared paper used for miniature painting. It has a smooth surface and can withstand being painted on a number of times.

1. First thing we did was to brundishing the paper to make the surface shinny and smooth. We each chose a smooth stone and use gently but firm pressure to systematically rub the surface of the paper horizontally and then vertically from one end to the other, until it is reasonably smoother and shinier than before.

2. Secondly Sam gave us a cup of strong tea to brush over the paper to give it some undertone. ( approx 5 teabag in one mug of cold water) We used it to brush over the wasabi paper surface, leave it to dry and then do it again, for about 4- 5 times. It could vary depending on the background colour you have for your chosen painting.

3. The chosen painting is photocopied, then we use pencil and tracing paper to trace over the key main lines of the painting, no details at this stage but to get the proportions right.

4. We then rubbed some ochre powder at the back of the image's pencil line with cotton wool.

5. Lastly we positioned the tracing paper over the Wasali paper and taped them down, and then traced the pencil outline again, this time onto the Wasali paper. At the end we all had a ochre powdered lines on the wasabi paper.

6. We then got introduced to the squirrel brush used specifically for Indian miniature painting. It has a nice curve and tapers off to a sharp point so can shade and draw on really minuscule details. To begin off we learn to draw small  delicate circles and practice using it again and again.

7. Once we feel we are comfortable with the brush we then use very pale brown ink to seal the ochre lines on the Wasali paper, as these are merely powdered lines etched into the paper and needs drawing over, otherwise they will fade further before our next class.