Service Description

Immerse yourself in the vivid colours, wondrous landscapes and beautiful water features in Persian Safavid and other Islamic miniature paintings. Explore Mughal and Chinese influences that synthesised along the Silk Road. Five courses will look at different elements - Earth, Air, Water, Fire and Ether. This third course, Water, will focus on lakes, rivers and seas in Islamic miniature paintings – beautiful washes, spiralling twists and water marbling. From gentle garden fountains to roaring waterfalls, from humble ponds to vast oceans, we will look at water in all its guises. We discover how to create beautiful underlying washes and the spiralling twists in water as well as have fun marbling paper to explore the beautiful wet pattern forms. We look at the historical marbled tradition as well as unique painted water in miniature painting and students will produce their own painted lakes, rivers, seas or oceans to use as paintings in their own right or as part of other miniatures. The watery element is also present in miniature paintings in the form of waterfalls set in a landscape, or as part of a beautiful garden fountain or water feature and students can also choose this option to make their painting. There is an opportunity to paint creatures of the water - fish as well as ships. We look at the Japanese book Ha Mon Shu, a pattern sourcebook of wave and ripple designs. Water is also suitable for pattern making so students are able to make their pieces into finished patterns or figurative miniatures depending on preference. We refer to the Chinese Mustard Seed Garden painting sourcebook like we do for the Rocks course to see how the element of Water is broadly similar in both traditions, sometimes based on a spiral, sometimes on a wave. This course is broadly Intermediate and involves a suminagashi marbling session - however it is equally suitable for beginners. Your experienced tutor will adapt and tailor her teaching to your abilities. No previous experience is necessary and all courses work equally well as standalone courses that can be taken individually. However, to get the most out of them and to gain a thorough grounding in miniature painting, it is recommended to take all 5 courses. Continuing students taking the cycle again may start a new painting or bring along works in progress to complete. The following courses will explore Fire (the Dragon, Phoenix and the Simurgh) and Ether: the Supernatural (Angels, Divs and Demons).