*please, click the photos above for a larger view, especially the detail on the right.

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yes, so we recently took a journey to what is coined 'the golden triangle' - Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur.  this is a very popular route to follow to get a taste of North India, and the trip was more than interesting.  it was crazy....  and along the roads of Jaipur, we heard in the wind that Jaipur is famous for producing miniature paintings, and not the kind you buy on the street, the kind that will absolutely blow your mind with tiny detail. 

i was fortunate enough to find a painting school with 60 artists working and learning from 8 master painters (Quber Arts).  while discussing paintings, one of the students agreed to give me a short lesson, and began showing me his brush skills by painting tiny letters on a grain of rice - David and Leela Visit India. -- in Tiny letters. 

The artists make their own brushes from squirrel hairs, which come to a perfect fine tip and are able to hold a large amount of paint.  they have a natural curl to them, and to get variation in the line, you just push ever so slightly.  the student showed me how he makes a straight line, how to draw leaves on a tree, and how they do  gradients for shading areas with tiny strokes using watered down paint.  really, it was amazing, and his brush skills were far beyond my own.  he said one thing that really stuck with me, and is very descriptive of the world of miniature painting in India -- he showed me a beautiful painting he worked on, complete except for the heads and hands of the two figures: and said, "my master will do the faces and hands, maybe in another 5 years i will be able to do faces." 

after the lesson, he tried to sell me some paintings and i bought a little elephant study by one of the students.  and then i asked the golden question:  'can you show me the most expensive master paintings you have?'
after promising to buy another painting ( i lied ) he went to get a key, to unlock some little door in the back room and came back with an old beat up cardboard portfolio with loose paintings inside.  then his eyes got all glazed over and he was talking very quietly, and explained to me that these paintings were done by R.K. Sharma who was once a student of his school.  these works are considered beyond Master level, and when he gently brought out the first painting and set it down before me, fragile and uncovered, i momentarily stopped breathing.  it was as if, a man painted a 10 foot wide painting, and then by magic, shrunk the painting down to about 1 foot wide.  the student brought out a special magnifying glass for me to use, which he set down Right On The Painting.  he told me this painting took 3 years to complete and then brought out 2 more paintings of the same size and detail.  

i could go on, and on,  and on and on about the detail, the brilliance of color, the strong confident brush strokes, and patterns, the gold paint, and the composition.  the painting was there, in front of my eyes, and yet, it was exhausting to look at.  every inch of the paper was covered in minute detail that just left me stunned and hoping that i wouldn't accidentally drool on the painting.   still to this day, i cannot believe how close i was to these paintings and i will never forget their shocking beauty. 

he then explained to me that these paintings are so highly valued, that they are not for sale.  period.  they are part of their private collection and they are used to show students an example of the highest skill level.  and i respect that. 

the photos here are of my friend, whose name i have forgotten, showing me how to shade the pants of a figure.  amazing.   enjoy.