The Portrait of a Royal Lady

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Modeled delightfully with a round face balanced by a broad forehead, and further, by a ‘bindi’ in its centre and a diamond-studded pendant above, deep thoughtful eyes with elegantly curving eyebrows, a sharp nose and cute tempting lips, receding chin and a well defined neck, and a patch of shade stretched over the chin and the neck giving them further projection, and sensuously cast breasts and belly, the young damsel, with the feast of her beauty and tempting charms laid, seems to await her love to reach her and enjoy it, though instead of him, a male peacock, incidentally or intentionally, has slipped into her chamber whether for taking back from the damsel its feather or for feeding upon what she has laid for her love’s enjoyment.

The portrait is superb in anatomical balance, proportions, and figural grace. Adorned elegantly in few ornaments, an elegant necklace and an auspicious gold chain characteristic to her marital status, a pendant on her forehead, a ring on her left hand finger, and a pair of ear-ornaments, besides her glass-bangles, obviously not over-adorned like a courtesan, and clad gracefully from toe to her head, though in expensive wears, ‘lehanga’ – a wide skirting lower wear, blouse, and ‘odhani’ – sash, all woven of rich silk and gold-thread, the portrayed figure represents a woman from society’s upper strata, characteristic to the late nineteenth century feudatory or other rich that had time to love as also love’s understanding. Quite skillfully, the portraitist has discovered most of his forms from the carpet below to the sky or void above, or wall-space behind, architecture, drapery, jar and goblet as also the tray carrying them and even the young lady’s costume, using various tints of maroon or its magenta-type components.

This description by Prof. P.C. Jain and Dr. Daljeet. Prof. Jain specializes on the aesthetics of literature and is the author of numerous books on Indian art and culture. Dr. Daljeet is the curator of the Miniature Painting Gallery, National Museum, New Delhi. They have both collaborated together on a number of books.

This description by Prof. P.C. Jain and Dr. Daljeet. Prof. Jain specializes on the aesthetics of literature and is the author of numerous books on Indian art and culture. Dr. Daljeet is the curator of the Miniature Painting Gallery, National Museum, New Delhi. They have both collaborated together on a number of books.

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Oil painting technique – India centric

Oil painting is the most interesting technique in art. Unlike other paintings or art forms, oil painting is a process in which colored pigments are painted on the canvas with a drying oil medium as a binder. This medium helps colors blend beautifully to create layers and also makes them appear rich and dense. Several varieties of oil are used in this painting such as sunflower oil, linseed oil, etc., and depending on the quality of the oil, a particular consistency of the paint is developed. With the use of an oil medium, the painting gets a natural sheen on the surface which appears extremely attractive. India is famous for its old tradition of making oil paintings. This art form was brought by Europeans in the 18th century and is now practiced by almost all well-known artists. Nirmal, a small tribal town in the state of Telangana is the center of traditional oil paintings in India where the local people practice it with dedication. Most Indian artists still use the traditional technique of oil painting.

Canvas of the required size is prepared

The artists use either a wood panel or canvas made from linen or cotton. Sometimes the canvas is stretched onto the wooden frame to form a solid base, or cardboard may be used. The canvas is coated with a layer of white paint or chalk mixed with animal glue. This mixture is then smoothed and dried to form a uniform, textured surface. The wooden panel is more expensive and heavier but its solidity is an advantage in making detailed paintings with ease.

Sketch is drawn on the canvas

Now the artist starts to draw the subject of the painting on the canvas using the actual charcoal or a charcoal pencil. Sometimes, he may sketch with thinned paint as well.

Oil paint is applied using paint brushes or palette knives

Now that the rough sketch is prepared, the artist is now ready to paint. Oil paint, a special paint that contains particles of pigments suspended in a drying oil (usually linseed oil), is again mixed with oil to make it thinner for applying it on the canvas. Proper consistency of the paint is maintained to avoid its breakage. The most important rule for the application of oil paint is “Fat over lean” in which the first layer of paint is thin and later, thicker layers are applied. This means that each additional layer of paint contains more oil. This results in getting a stable paint film. Traditionally, paint was applied using paint brushes but now the artists also use palette knives to create crisp strokes. To paint using this technique, the edge of the palette knife is used to create textured strokes that appear different from that of a paintbrush. Sometimes, oil paints are blended simply using fingers for getting the desired gradation.

Smaller oil paintings, with very fine detail, are relatively easier to paint than larger ones. The most attractive feature of these paintings is the natural shiny appearance that is obtained on the surface because of the use of oil paint. The blending of colors looks extremely realistic and this is the reason why oil paintings are loved by everyone throughout the world.