Page 127 - Tibetan Thangka Painting Methodsand Mat, Jackson

The shading of water.

For the actual shading, the artist applied washes areas; U-shaped troughs received full-strength vermilion
of indigo in the dry-shading technique to each layer or with little or no gradation, while the tips of the flames
band of water. The shading began from the bottom edge, were painted red and gradually faded into the orange
that is to say from the sketched-in horizontal lines or undercoat. Along the inner edges of the flames (as
from the bottom point of the triangle. From that indicated in the sketch), the painter laid down strokes
starting point the shading gradually faded out as the of thin vermilion and gradually faded them out toward
artist worked upwards, and it normally extended across the outer edges. For the most effective contrast, this
about one-half the width of each zone. Although in shading ended just before the outer border was reached,
other styles of thangka painting a more detailed leaving a thin strip of pure orange along the outside
secondary sketch led to a rather more intricate shading edge.
of the water, in this style the shading itself was simple. Legdrup Gyatsho used a technique that was
Here shading was but one of many elements contributing basically the same, except that he sometimes began with
to the total effect, and the water did not attain a a yellow undercoat and painted the outer edges with
finished appearance until it had been completed by the minium. On top of this, he did some minor tinting with
drawing of waves on the surface with indigo, the out- red. But both artists finished the flames with red (i.e.
lining of the waves with white and the execution of lac-dye) outlining.
some final touches with gold paint.
Simplified Method
Flames The painting of a convoluted mass of flames was
more difficult to execute in a small area. Therefore
Of all the areas that required shading, the masses of simplified methods were devised for colouring the small
flames were perhaps the most convoluted and flames surrounding the lesser deities; they became
complicated. The task of shading them had to be corres- orange nimbuses with stylized flames in the outer areas.
pondingly more painstaking, since every convolution and This type of flame was also used in its own right as the
tongue of flame in the blazing mass had to be dealt with usual type of flaming nimbus around semi-wrathful
individually. The painter Wangdrak was fairly typical tantric yi-dams and similar deities. For flames in this
in the way he painted detailed areas of flames. First of style the basic undercoat was minium orange. Just
all he. applied a uniform undercoat of minium to the inside the outer edge the artist painted a strip of
\yhole area. He then applied washes of red to certain vermilion and toward the center made it gradually fade

THE SHADING OF PARTICULAR OBJECTS 123