Young man in Da Nang turns lifeless grains of sand into works of art

Chàng trai trẻ Đà Nẵng biến hạt cát vô tri thành tác phẩm nghệ thuật — *Mr. Phan Quang Dung (36 years old, Son Tra district, Da Nang city) turns lifeless grains of sand into vivid works of art - Photo: THANH NGUYEN*

For Mr. Phan Quang Dung, sand painting is not simply an art product, but also a love and passion that has been with him for over 15 years.

Mr. Dung's sand painting process begins with choosing the frame and dividing the layout. Then, he meticulously uses a bamboo stick and a specialized spoon to arrange the colorful sand grains in the right position.

For Mr. Dung, the subtlety in the arrangement of sand grains is the factor that creates the success of each work. The completed paintings will be sealed for preservation, keeping the sand from being disturbed and affecting the details.

Mr. Dung’s works are very diverse, from poetic scenes such as Dragon Bridge, Han River Bridge… to portraits of high difficulty. Depending on the size and number of details, each sand painting takes Mr. Dung from 2 to 7 days to complete.

“Making sand paintings requires skill and high concentration. With portraits, it becomes much more difficult to breathe life into the characters. Just a small mistake that disrupts the colors can ruin the whole work,” Dung shared.

According to Mr. Dung, to be able to create unique paintings like today, he has practiced diligently for many years. Many times he almost had to give up his passion because creating a sand painting requires a lot of time, while the income is not enough to cover his living expenses.

In addition, not all types of sand can be used to make paintings. To get sand with different colors, Mr. Dung had to travel more than 500km to beaches and streams in Ninh Thuan and Binh Thuan provinces to find sand.

In recent years, Mr. Dung’s sand paintings have been invited to participate in many exhibitions and fairs organized by tourism agencies. His works are gradually being ordered by many people as souvenirs, birthday gifts, etc.

From then on, he also had a more stable source of income. A sand painting is sold by him for a few hundred thousand to a few million VND depending on the complexity and size.

Nowadays, many young people often come to Mr. Dung to experience and learn about this unique art of sand painting. Mr. Dung hopes that through guiding young people, the art of sand painting will become more and more known and developed.