Ābrang, a Persian word meaning ‘watercolour’. Watercolour painters mix dried colour with water, and use a paintbrush to apply the watercolour paint to paper. In this style of painting, the powder or ground (sudā) pigments extracted from different plants or minerals are added to sticky matter such as gum arabic (ṣamgh), glue (sirīsh) and albumen. To prevent the pigment from drying too rapidly, glycerin and honey are sometimes added. The paint is kept either in the form of dried powder, solid ca…