As Misha Shahbazian’s extremely transparent watercolor paintings indicate, he is absolutely skilled in working with this fluid material. With a thorough understanding of fluid, uncontrollable watercolor, Shahbazian makes the most of this medium. Clear bright patches of paint turn into a form or a solid landscape in his work. We must note that it is extremely difficult to control paint on water-soaked paper. However, in his watercolor paintings, Shahbazian has demonstrated that he is in full control. Command over watercolor is exactly like an “instant” when a fine poem is conceived in the mind of a poet; an artwork is created and refined beauty, which is momentarily and fragile, comes into existence. Shahbazian’s work is mainly characterized by visual forms with perfect drawings created simply through a few patches of paint. Examples include patches of yellow, orange and ochre that shape the leaves of these solid trees, or patches of color that form bushes and architectural elements. Colors, setting, and sunshine on the landscape clearly convey the spiritual atmosphere of the Chahar Bagh School in Isfahan.
Since Misha Shahbazian and some other Armenian-Iranian watercolor painters are originally from Isfahan, they are known as the painters of “the Watercolor School of Isfahan” or “New Jolfa Painters”. Their works are characterized by landscape painting in positive space as well as recording local qualities of historic buildings of Iran. These Armenian-Iranian painters promoted watercolor painting in Iran through their works and teachings.
Shahbazian has recorded a large part of urban and rural landscapes of Iran in his work. He takes holy shrines and historic buildings of Iran as the subject of his paintings, as this example indicates. His diverse works include landscapes, monuments, portraits, and life across Iran.
