Miniature Paintings - A Sublime Art

The art, culture and lifestyle of ancient and medieval India is best reveled through miniature paintings. The penchant for religion, divinity and regal aristocracy is ostentatiously illustrated in these paintings. Though miniature in form, the paintings had an innate beauty and distinctiveness that made them stand out of the crowd.

Crafted by the regional artists the miniature paintings narrate the stories of the bygone dynasties. Purely a brush work, these vibrant handmade paintings were the outcome of some dazzling minerals and vegetable colors. Gold and silver powders, conch shell powders and tiny pieces of semi precious stones were used in a miniature painting to make for the extra glow. It is for this luminous capacity, meticulousness and the universal appeal the miniature paintings are very popular even today.

The themes of the this class of paintings were generally taken from the scenes of Indian epics and religious books like The Ramayana, The Mahabharata, The Bhagvata Purana, Git-gobinda, Surasagar, Rasamanjiri and more. Images from folk legends, classical music codes and royal court scenes were also beautifully illustrated in the paintings. Glass, fabric, marble, paper, silk, velvet, leather and ivory panels generally served as the canvas for the paintings. Miniature paintings gave birth to some noted school of paintings namely The Deccan Schools, The Rajput and the Mughal Schools.

The Rajput School of Miniature Painting imbibed inspiration from the Krishna legends. The emphasis was more on the man and woman relationship and paintings were aesthetic portrayal of their emotion, love and passion. The lovemaking scenes of Lord Krishna and Goddess Radha are some of the finest specimens of the paintings. The Mughal School of Miniature Painting had Persian influence on them. The painters focused mostly on court scenes, royal portraits, natural scenes and landscapes. The Deccan School of Miniature Painting derived a kind of hybrid painting form blending several styles of painting. The paintings manifested exuberant and bold themes influenced from Turkish and Persian paintings.

For comprehensive information on Miniature Paintings and related topics, please visit Ethnic Paintings.

Rajneesh Dubey is Content Coordinator for http://ethnicpaintings.com This website gives you comprehensive informations on painting history, development, trends, popular painting styles, great painters, famous paintings, painting galleries and museums, painting tips, painting classes. In other words, this website is a treat to painting freaks.

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Portrait Painting - Turning Family Photos Into Family Heirlooms

If you are a person who loves to capture memorable times with photographs, then a portrait painting may be something that you might want to consider. Portrait paining involves taking your favorite photographs and turning them into beautiful works of art. If you have family photographs, photos of your kids, your pets, or special celebratory occasions such as a wedding, then you can have these created into a beautiful oil portrait. The primary purpose of a portrait painting is to capture special moments in a very memorable way.

Professional artists working by free-hand, are able to turn any special photograph that you have, into a unique, special and beautiful portrait. These pictures are made to look life like and the detailing is great. The process of taking a photo and creating a portrait is actually quite easy. You choose your designated picture and give it to an art house that specializes in portrait painting and an artist will turn that picture into a gorgeous oil portrait. You will be allowed to take a look at the portrait, if you require any changes then these can be made until the portrait is just the way that you want it.

Oils paintings are used in some of the world's most beautiful paintings and demand highly skilled artistry to create them. Portrait painting also allows for a high level of detail. In fact, many individuals might even have a problem telling the difference between a real photograph and a painting. Oil paintings allow the heart of the subject to really shine through.

Because the skill level required to work with oil based paints is high, having one created is often very costly for the average person. However, there are various companies online that can create an oil portrait for you very affordably. Oil paintings make great gifts for family or friends.

Photographs allow for memorable moments to be frozen in time. Pictures are a great to collect and look through with your loved ones. They act as a time capsule in which your loved ones can look back on lovingly, and share memories.

Paintings, on the other hand, are able to be a passed down from generation to generation and displayed proudly in your or a loved ones' home. Portrait painting is a great way to turn a common photograph into an uncommon piece of art.

If you are interested in learning more about portrait painting you can find great information at GuaranteedPortraits.com.

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By Michelle Manning

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How To Teach Yourself How To Paint

Okay, so you want to paint and you have some artistic talent. You do not know how to begin pursuing your artistic painting dreams, but would love to see your paintings on canvas and making you money. The first thing you need to do to be a quality painter is to draw. You can go to your local bookstore or order some books online that can teach you how to draw like a professional. With much practice and a few dollars spent on quality pencils and drawing tablets, you can learn shading, perspective, vanishing points, angles etc that will help you in your painting.

You have mastered drawing well enough to become a painter. The reason you need to be able to draw well before putting paint to canvas is that if you draw well enough on a canvas, you can simply color in your drawings with paint, like you used to color in coloring books with crayons. Alright, so you are now ready to begin painting. Quality brushes and paints are important. There are some things you will need to buy. You need a few different size brushes, various acrylic paints, especially the primary colors from which you can mix and make all the other colors. A large tube of white is also important as is black, but you can make your own black by mixing red, green, blue, all together. Acrylic paints are the easiest paints to work with and that is why a beginning painter needs to master acrylics before learning watercolor or oils. Acrylic paints are easily mixed with water and you will need either a glass or a small bucket to hold water in for cleaning your brushes and keeping your acrylic paints wet because acrylic paints dry quickly. You will also need a pallet, but a paper plate with aluminum foil over it works fantastically.

All you need to do to paint your first painting is to draw on your canvas with your pencils whatever you want to paint, then color in your sketch with your acrylic paints. You can try mixing your paints together with water to acquire the desired color and thickness on your canvas. It is also a good idea, to do an under-painting, which is a painting below another layer of painting which you can apply with glaze or simply a lighter shade of acrylic. The under-painting will give your paintings more of a professional look. It is also good to outline your paintings either with the opposite color on the color wheel for extra artistic effect or to simply outline your paintings in a darker color such as black. That choice is up to you. You may also order acrylic painting books or buy them from your local bookstore. These books will give you the rest of the necessary information to be a good acrylic painter and once you have mastered acrylics you can do the same with watercolor and oils in the future. Also, always be on the lookout for local artists who are willing to share their expertise or conduct classes to teach you.

In conclusion, you can learn to paint well without spending much money on courses or a bachelor's degree. Learn to draw and learn to paint with acrylic paints and you will be well on your way toward achieving your artistic dreams. All you need to do to make money from your paintings is to place them on online art auctions. Then people can bid on your work and you can have some extra income, and who knows, if you are very talented, maybe it can be the only income you need.

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