“Dip your finest brush in color. Keep your brush vertical — this is very important. Lower it gently onto the paper. Don’t apply pressure. You’ll see tiny yellow dots appear,” a teacher instructed students learning Korean traditional folk painting, while demonstrating how to add stamen and pistil to a peony painting during a class in Insa-dong, central Seoul, Jan. 6. Known as minhwa, Korean folk painting thrived during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). The works, often created by anonymous artists, depict animals, trees, flowers and everyday objects, and were traditionally painted with the hope of warding off bad luck and ushering in good fortune. The class is run by the Korea Minhwa Association, an organization dedicated to promoting minhwa in Korea and abroad. “There are many places where people can learn minhwa, but the classes offered by our association are the longest-running and among the most widely recognized in Korea,” said An Mi-gyung, the association’s vice president and class instructor. An said interest in minhwa has been steadily growing. “We receive many phon