[7] Gian Singh was under the influence of the Akali movement (lehar), and thus depicted khanda symbolism and kirpans in his mural work at the Golden Temple.

[7] He chose to paint using a deep, greyish-blue colour (known in Punjabi as surmai) instead of actual black, this reason cited is that he did so to "remain close to the real world".

[7] Most of his mural work within the Golden Temple shrine is located near the Har ki Pauri area but most of his wall paintings have been retouched in the years since.

[8] His commencement of novel motifs on the inner walls, ceiling, and arches of the windows of the first floor serve as valid, extant references of his work.

[7] He painted local, seasonal flowers in motif designs as part of the dehin (a variety of pattern category which is a medium of expression of the imaginative study of idealized forms[9]) within a mohrakashi (fresco).

[7] Fine detail was paid attention to even a single petal of a depicted floral design, as these flowers were artistic representations of both season and raga (traditional Indic musical measure, mode, or metre), and thus a systematic pattern is noted.

[7][8] Gian Singh also possessed talent in in-laid stone artwork, specifically pietra dura, which he implemented at various gurdwaras.

[7] His unique style of incorporating nature, giving a 3D effect to his works, and scribing gurbani verses on gach (plaster), is notable.

[8] Whilst prior artists would simply draw straight lines to create a required shape, Gian Singh improvised by adding more elaborate and finer aspects to bring realism to his artwork.

[8] The pigment colours needed for mural painting in those days were extracted from natural sources and during preparation, further ingredients were added to the concoction, such as leaves, stems, pulses, seeds (such as linseeds), amid others.

[10] Formerly, Sikh muralists painted bold designs but Gian Singh took inspiration from the natural world surrounding him which he had observed.

[7] Apart from being an artist, he was also a prolific writer and wrote many works of literature in Punjabi, Hindi, or Urdu on heritage art and local craft.

[7] In his final years, Gian Singh was in a destitute state and resorted to selling clay and wooden toys he painted himself to earn a livelihood.

[7] He also went to Pakistan (accompanied by his grandson Surinder Singh) to learn about block printing of paintings from the FW Company at Anarkali Bazaar in Lahore.

[6] Much of his artwork has been destroyed in subsequent decades by kar seva babas and their destructive renovations on Sikh heritage sites, which Gian Singh had expressed worry about before his passing.

[7] Much of the corpus of artwork produced by Gian Singh have been published in Sikh and Punjabi periodicals, such as Preet Lari, Ajit, Veer Bharat, Sher-e-Bharat and other publications.

[7] "He (Bhai Gian Singh Naqqash) focused all his attention and worked very hard like doing meditation and wonderful naqqashi created by him with his art are like attaining spiritual enlightenment."R.