Miniature Painting demo & gallery visit

Our guide took us to a gallery full of paintings old and new done in the miniature painting technique. Many were authorized reproductions of some of the paintings that we’d seen in the Palace Museum. They were authorized because they are descendants of the original artists! We learned about the local rocks and semi-precious stones that are ground up to create light-fast pigments. The rock powder is mixed with powdered gum arabic (the sap from the acacia tree and the binder I associate with water colors) and water and further ground by hand for weeks. Brushes are made from camels’ eyelashes and the long hairs on squirrels’ tails!Read more