Mughal Miniature Painting - A rich traditional art form : A workshop from Banna Creations !

 The Mughal period in Indian history had seen widespread cultural development, especially in the field of miniature paintings.  They form an important part of India’s Medieval history.  Mughal miniature artists combined their existing techniques with that of the Persian School of miniature paintings. Paintings typically depicted details of their everyday life as well as important events. This style of painting has also been used to illustrate events narrated in the “ Akbarnama”.

Mughal paintings of india date back to the period between the 16 th and 18 th century, when the Mughals ruled a large part of the country. The art of Mughal painting was introduced by the Mughal emperor Humayun.

Mughal miniature painting reached its peak during the reign of Akbar, and also flourished during Jahangir's rule, as well as Shah jahan's. Mughal painting is a particular style of south Asian painting and during this period continued to refine itself with elements of realism and naturalism coming to the fore. It was a unique blend of indian, persian and islamic styles. The painters focused mostly on court scenes, royal portraits, natural scenes and landscapes. Bright colors were used in their making. They exhibited more narrative content.

In Mughal miniatures colors were derived from natural materials. They were prepared by the artists themselves. Raw materials like vegetables, fruits, oil, soil, lime, indigo and lapis lazuli were used in the making. Even eggs, gold powder and silver foil were sometimes used. The initial sketch was made using burnt wood. 

Mughal miniature paintings are still being created today by a small number of artists in rajasthan concentrated mainly in Jaipur.

Banna Creations conducted an intense two day Mughal miniature painting workshop on the 15^th and 16^th of September. This workshop was conducted by Mohan kumar Prajapati who is a master artist himself. The artist Sri Mohan Kumar Prajapati is from Jaipur and has been practicing this art form for over 30 years.  He hails from a family of Moghul miniature artists and has learnt this art from from his father. He is also a State Awardee.

The workshop:

The aim of our workshop was to create an awareness of this form of miniature painting , showcase the intricacies of the art form and demonstrate the skill and techniques involved in creating these paintings.  The workshop had about 9 participants.

Day 1 of the workshop saw the artist talking about the art form and its history.  Miniature painting not only refers to the overall size of the painting but also the level of detail that goes into every aspect of the painting including angles and expressions on the faces of the painting subjects, the folds in their clothes, their ornaments etc including a delicate and detailed representation of their attire , design details etc. 

The workshop was planned as a combination of demonstration and teaching and the artist started the first session on Day 1 not only by giving everyone detailed information on the history of the art form but also by taking them through a step by step demonstration of how natural colours can be prepared and information on the squirrel hair brushes that are used ( for their fineness) , the kind of paper that was traditionally used in the old days to replacements in the present day. As is the case with all traditional art forms this one too has evolved over the years retaining most of the old and traditional techniques whilst including certain new materials, paints, designs etc.

It would be safe to say that while the basic line work in this art form is as detailed or simple as that of any other art form, the line work, fine detailing of every aspect of the painting is at the very core of creating these paintings. For the sake of simplicity and ease especially for the first time painters who had joined this workshop we chose three or four basic paintings for them to complete.  The first step ( and might I add the easiest one ) was to create the basic outline for each of the paintings. Given this was a miniature art form, the line work was also done using a thin and very fine pencil. No dark and thick lines allowed.  The next step was to use the squirrel hair brush ( Very thin, almost as thin as a couple of strands of hair put together ) and outline this basic image.  It is often said that the most important part of any painting is the creation of the face ( and therefore expression) and features of the subjects in the painting. This is what finally determines the quality and nature of the painting as well its overall impression. Every great artist will tell you that getting this aspect right typically takes years and years of practice and at most times imperfections continue to remain.  It was interesting for all participants to see and understand the technique of creating faces complete with the eyes, nose, mouth and expressions.

The latter half of Day 1 and First half f day 2 of this workshop saw participants continue to complete and refine outlines, Angles, outline designs, etc.  The next step in the process was to fill in the outlined figures in depicted colours.  Light colours completed first and left to dry and then the dark colours as necessary.  The next step – the most interesting and yet difficult one was to complete all the detailed design work in the paintings such as designs and colours of jewellery worn by the subjects in the paintings, Folds and angles of clothes worn by then as well as designs and minute detailing of the patterns on the clothes worn by them.

The workshop therefore showcased this art form as a whole as well as demonstrated the skill , time and effort that needs to be invested in creating one such painting.

The artist Mohan Prajapati also said that the time required to complete one painting of a reasonable level of intricacy is nothing less than 10 days to 2 weeks.  For most people this is a revelation given that what we typically see at exhibitions and sales are only finished paintings….

The artist was also quite candid about the fact that takers for this art form are diminishing Day by day. While this is an art form that he learnt from his father and is something that has been passed down through generations in his family, he said that there are few people wanting to learn in the younger generations.  This is not something that can be learnt quickly and sometimes it takes years to achieve high skill levels and create near perfect paintings. With Socio- economic changes that we see around us every single day,  while some people from younger generations are willing to learn they expect results almost immediately and lose interest quickly as results take time and years and years of focussed practice.

It is a sad and unfortunate fact that this art form in its traditional mould is slowly yet steadily moving towards extinction. ………