Wandering around to learn the craft of turning a handful of lifeless sand into a million dollar item

In 2008, Mr. Phan Quang Dung (36 years old, residing in Tho Quang ward, Son Tra district, Da Nang city) became involved in the sand painting profession after accidentally seeing artists performing sand painting on television.

Because of his fascination with colorful paintings made from sand, Mr. Phan Quang Dung decided to pack up and go to Ho Chi Minh City to learn the craft.

The vivid Dragon Bridge painting is being completed by Mr. Dung (Photo: Viet Hang).

At first, everything was very difficult for Mr. Dung because he was not familiar with the work and the way of mixing colors. It took him 2 years of learning to be able to master the job and make a complete sand painting product.

Mr. Dung's works are very diverse, from poetic scenes such as Dragon Bridge, Han River Bridge... to portraits with high difficulty.

“Of all types of paintings, portraits and large works are the most difficult because these paintings require high precision and meticulousness in every detail. If something is off, sand must be poured out to fix it and start over,” Mr. Dung explained.

Mr. Dung uses many different types of sand colors to paint (Photo: Viet Hang).

According to Mr. Dung, currently, in Vietnam there are about 80 natural sand colors. To get sand with many different colors, Mr. Dung wandered around sand dunes in all regions such as Phan Thiet ( Binh Thuan ), Thua Thien Hue... to find.

After being brought back, the sand must be washed with clean water, dried, and then sieved until it is very fine before it can be used.

“Phan Thiet sand is characterized by having more than 40 colors, each sand hill will have its own color, from light to dark. I usually use naturally colored sand to make, only when the customer requests more colors will I use colored sand,” said Mr. Dung.

According to Mr. Dung, each painting will have different prices and completion times depending on the requirements and size. Sand painting prices range from 800,000 VND to 2 million VND/painting, depending on the level of sophistication and effort required to complete it.

Mr. Phan Quang Dung said that each small painting takes an average of 1 day to make, and some take a whole month to complete.

Each painting costs from 800,000 VND to 2 million VND (Photo: Viet Hang).

“With portraits, I often have to sketch first to achieve accuracy. In a frame, I arrange the sand from bottom to top according to the color and lines I had planned before until both sides are finished,” said Mr. Dung.

In order to inspire a love of art and create opportunities for many people to learn this unique profession, Mr. Dung accepted an invitation to teach at disability centers in Da Nang.

Viet Hang

Dantri.com.vn

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/lao-dong-viec-lam/rong-ruoi-tam-su-hoc-nghe-bien-nam-cat-vo-tri-thanh-mon-hang-tien-trieu-20241005203620428.htm