Indian Miniature Painting 1- Landscape

I have enrolled yet in another Indian miniature class this year, this time I am working on a piece that is mostly landscape and I look forward to the challenge. Although it is the same teacher and same  class, I believe you can always learn something new. This is especially true for a technique as old , complex and refined as that of miniature painting which has a long history of traditions and applications.

I have chosen a portion a picture that is rather complex and different to what I have done before. My teacher Samantha Buckley told me it is probably done by a master with a few helpers for a few months at least. A lot of initial ground work have been outlined previously in my two other classes from 2010 and 2014, but here they are again.

Class 1
1. Tea stain brush over the Wasli paper  to give the background a warmer and rich backing colours
2. use gum tape to tape down the wasli paper on a board
3. Burnish the paper so it becomes smooth - with a smooth stone, gently rub horizontally and vertically in a systematic manner.
4. On tracing paper trace the outline of the picture you are going to draw with pencil, matching the size of the Wasli paper you have - dont forget to leave the border around!
5. Dust red ochre powder on the back pf the tracing , and then trace the image onto the Wasli paper.
make sure the lines are visible.
6. Seal these powdery red ochre lines with walnut ink, ( very pale, very lightly, ) with your Indian squirrel brush - this we start in the next class after the introduction of the squirrel brush in the next class.