Service Description

Apprenticeship I’ve had the pleasure of gaining the uniquely deep learning while working in an artist’s studio alongside an artist as an apprentice assistant myself. I would like to pass on this opportunity with my own private studio. A virtual invitation to my studio practice online. Apprenticeships have a long history. Being an Apprentice is something really deep. It is a commitment and very meaningful. By allowing an apprentice to just ‘be’ there, absorbing via osmosis in the air or in the ether, the presence of art and the artist is a sort of silent transmission that is one of the deepest and oldest forms of teaching and learning. This is a rare opportunity to gain this kind of insight into the mechanisms of the artistic process. The Subject A chance to watch me not only paint live, but create live. Not recreate, but actually create from scratch. A chance to see the artistic process from its beginnings, and to gain insight, step-by-step, into the artistic mind and the manifestation of a creation coming alive from the inside out. I will create 2 long horizontal scrolls based on the 1001 Nights, in 2 different painting styles. The images will all flow into each other organically to make one large horizontal frieze that works as a complete painting and each session also works equally well as a standalone picture. The Styles The 2 painting ‘languages’ are, firstly, of course, Indo-Persian miniatures. Secondly, Chinese gongbi 工笔/工筆- ‘meticulous’ style painting. You’ll see me treating the same subject in miniatures (1st half an hour), and then in gongbi style (2nd half an hour). This is interesting in itself as a comparative study. For example, ‘a silver tree’ in miniature style. Then ‘a silver tree’ in gongbi style. The Approach The first few sessions will be artistic process-planning sessions and sketching and thinking. This is the private, inside stuff that the public don’t usually get to see and many artists don’t allow. I’ll have prepared images to draw, trace or transfer for each session thereafter, working steadily through the scrolls. A mixture of planning and ‘winging-it’ spontaneity. You do nothing but watch and ask and talk, like an apprentice. You don’t have to make anything at all. Open to all but please discuss with me first and email me. Wednesdays 8-9pm London time Recorded for catch-up if missed For full description, see forum: www.miniaturepaintingforum.com in Tuition section. Scroll down! There are 12 sessions (more later)