Making natural pigments and learning how to apply them to different media is an essential part of understanding traditional arts and crafts. Natural pigments are made from earths, minerals, plants and insects, some local to Saudi Arabia. Different media can be used such as gum arabic or egg tempera, depending on the surface to be decorated. Many houses in AlBalad display colourful hand painted wooden ceilings with rythmic patterns, and sometimes painted motifs are found on walls and stone too.
Painted panels; natural pigments with egg tempera on wood.
Paintings on stone; oxide color on stone.
Hanan Bucklain, Manar Kunid, Samaher Bashammakh, Ayman Al Mahawi, Najla Al Rashdi, Kawthar Alsayed