Introduction
These are copies of four miniatures that are currently housed in The British Museum. Appearing originally in a green leather bound book, titled “The Habits of the Grand Signor’s Court”, the original folio is filled with 124 miniatures of the Ottoman court, and it dates to approximately 1620. The artist is unknown.
The first miniature that I reproduced shows a woman wearing a blue entari with red lining, over a white gomlek with wide sleeves. She is holding a flower, and has yellow slippers and a tall hat. The second shows a sergeant wearing a blue caftan and a turban with a red hat. The third shows a woman in a state of undress, likely a prostitute, pulling a red sash through her salwar. The fourth shows a man wearing an elaborate turban and holding a small fan in a green caftan.
Materials & Methods
The original piece is painted on paper, with ink and watercolor. I have chosen to use watercolor paper and gouache paints, with micron ink pens to recreate this piece since I am a beginner and wanted to use easy to find materials.
First I traced the image to create a line drawing of the piece. Then I re-traced the line drawing onto watercolor paper in pencil, and inked the design with micron pens. Next, I used gouache paints to complete the color portions and shading to match the original as closely as possible.