All That Glitters is Sometimes Gold

One of my hobbies is drawing and painting in Eastern traditional art styles and techniques. I use gold (typically at least 22.5 carats), natural pigments (opaque watercolor), and gouache as my primary mediums. There’s something elegant about Eastern traditional art - steeped in history, rich with culture, these are my roots. Follow along below, or on my art Instagram, @Qalamigraphy.

View fullsize Experimenting with a new style that I probably won’t do again but saw this very whimsy piece on Pinterest and wanted to see if I liked drawing it. Def sticking to traditional art but it’s fun to dabble in other styles just to flex the cre
View fullsize A few weeks ago I teased a WIP of a character from the Book of Kings on my stories. It was the Simurgh - a mythical bird in Persian mythology. Did this painting as a gift for someone who’s favorite mythical creature is the simurgh πŸ’–. Natural p
View fullsize Here’s a sneak peak at my latest work in progress. This is in the “Classical” tehzip style where there’s color motifs and a background color (obviously not on my WIP, but there will be), so the motifs need to be small. It&rsqu
View fullsize [SOLD] Chinese ink on tea stained paper of an elephant in the Kota style of Indian miniature painting. If you’re familiar with Rajput painting, you know it’s influenced from Mughal miniature art but with very different intentionality and
View fullsize Eid Mubarak! Hope you all had a fun (and safe) QuarantEid! Finished this Siyah Qalam piece yesterday! Chinese ink sticks and 22.9 carat gold on tea stained watercolor paper. I was going to add more khats, but got too nervous so the border will just h
View fullsize Finally burnished the 24k gold into the hemp papers I applied it to (one is dyed in indigo and the other in henna). This traditional method of gold flaking is called zarafshan and can be used as a way to create a decorative border in a miniature pain
View fullsize Here’s a work in progress of manuscript tehzip that I learned from @anitachowdry in London in week 3 of my art vacation. The finished piece will continue to look like a WIP as a reference for me but I’ll create a new one that I can comple
View fullsize In week 2 of my art vacation, I learned to make natural pigments! Outer circle from top - clockwise: malachite (light), lapis lazuli (most time consuming pigment to make, worth more than gold), cinnabar (hella toxic, hella mercury), malachite (light)
View fullsize [SOLD] Here’s my first finished traditional Mughal miniature piece! It’s natural pigments, gauche, and watercolor on traditional wasli paper. It was quite the process completing this! There were moments where I was frustrated but in the e
View fullsize This year’s international trip is in London where I’m spending 3 weeks learning traditional art. Week 1 was spent learning traditional Mughal Miniature. It was such an inspiring 5-day workshop and I’m excited to continue my practice
View fullsize I’m terrible at ink drawings πŸ™ˆ. Here’s an attempt at practicing perspective drawing using ink. And yes, this is a shoe I own - it’s from the pair of tan booties that I always wear.
View fullsize Here’s a #WIP of a Mamluk-style arabesque pattern I did earlier today - you can view a few progress photos to the right. I messed up at one point and the literal first thought that came to mind was, “shit, CMND-Z..where is it?” I wa
View fullsize Had a bone to pick. So I drew one. Charcoal on newsprint. Practicing perspective.
View fullsize Still life. Practicing perspective drawing. Graphite on paper.
View fullsize [NOT FOR SALE] Finally finished my first tehzip piece! It’s 22k gold on black. Sometimes, with work and life, it’s hard to make time for yourself. I’m going to try to dedicate at least 4hrs each weekend to practicing tehzip and doin
View fullsize What a true honor it’s been learning #tehzip illumination art in Istanbul. I can’t wait to continue this practice when I’m back in SF. Super excited to finish this #WIP when I’m back state-side. Medium: 22k gold on black card
View fullsize Completed half of the circle. I’ll complete the second half after a sunset walk along The Bosphorus. And tomorrow, I’m learning how to illuminate! Tehzip is an ancient illumination technique with gold. It was very popular in the ottoman a
View fullsize I’m traveling in Turkey right now and it is a Creative’s paradise. It’s truly a beautiful country with some of the most hospitable and warm welcoming people I’ve met. Seriously, our American southern hospitality doesn’t
View fullsize Had so much fun learning the fundamentals of tehzip and ottoman motifs!
View fullsize ‏عيد Ω…Ψ¨Ψ§Ψ±Ωƒ! .πŸ•‹πŸŒ™ . Not calligraphy, but I’m dabbling in Mughal and Ottoman style miniatures! Eid Mubarak! Hope you all had a wonderful Eid al-Adha! I celebrated by organizing a last minute dinner with a few friends at the best Afghan rest