Zandian’s painting style is in step with a global model of contemporary painting: expressiveness in design and colour, narrative attitude, a rejection of traditional standards of composition and design, juxtaposition of various picture planes and perspectives, and a refusal of idealizing the image. These are maintained through various styles and methods he experienced throughout his career, including a background in examining coffee-house painting, Safavid miniature, Russian realist painting, Odd Nerdrum’s apocalyptic scenes, and the artist’s experience of filmmaking.

various sources consist Zandian’s iconography: Photographs he makes as a routine, those he finds in old albums, the popular pictures in the books, boxes, and souvenirs, and scenes from the films he finds harmonized with the atmosphere he wishes to create. These are generally appearing without prior planning on the surface of the canvas, and the rest of the visual material is brought up by memory. In fact, the memory comes first, as the painter seeks the closest examples to what he has in memory from these visual materials.