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I found this breath-taking photograph.

It is photograph of ruins of haveli (big house, mansion), in Northern India, built pre-1947 (before India split into India and Pakistan).

Hasn't been lived in since 1947, and architecture like this is no longer built (not that I know of, at least)

Luckily we live in digital age where people post all sorts of photos from around the world

I wish to paint a photo of this as if the haveli is in it's original, pristine condition, without modern technology, i.e. see those power lines on the top left.

As if I took a time machine to early 1940s Northern India, sat in front of this haveli, and started painting this with my oil pastels.

Any ideas how to do this?

enter image description here

Artie Ladie
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    You might find paintings of this kind of building when in full use as well as photos of the time before 1947 (or even just after) which might even be in colour. If not this building, than others in the same era and area. – Willeke Apr 22 '18 at 07:05

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I can tell you with certainty that architecture like this does exist, is still being built and is pretty common in Europe, for example in Halle or Leipzig, Germany. You can also see examples of it in Normandy (France).

The technique of mortaring brick and coating it with cement or mud is pretty common. I imagine the biggest problem you will have is finding out the color used at the time. In order to keep buildings cool, the southern walls would usually have a light color - as white (a so-called lime wash) was easy to produce - I would go for that, unless someone with more experience in Indian architecture can add their knowledge...

Nothingismagick
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  • By the way, I just drove through the “Norman Alps” this morning, and saw many examples of this type of technique in some of the villages. – Nothingismagick Apr 16 '18 at 14:45
  • Beautiful ideas, simply beautiful. Yes, I'll have to find the original color (somehow I'm guessing earth reddish/orange, will have to see). And really thoughtful .... southern walls have light color (it does get hot in India, even the North) – Artie Ladie Apr 16 '18 at 16:28