Page 19 - Tibetan Thangka Painting Methodsand Mat, Jackson

Two
The Preparation of the Painting Surface

The painters of Tibet pursued their art in an orderly Also, many of the paints had little covering power. This
and systematic I way. When creating thangka scroll made corrections and late deviations from the design
paintings they proceeded through six clearly defined difficult to render successfully, especially if the painter
steps. The first step was the preparation of the painting wanted to paint with a light colour over dark. But
surface. Second came the establishment of a design on generally speaking, Tibetan painters avoided thes~
that surface by means of a sketch or transfer. The third problems. The artists would finalize a clear design
step involved laying down the initial coats of paint, and during the process of sketching (step two), before
that was followed by steps four and five: shading and applying a single drop of paint. The initial coats of
outlining. The sixth and last step consisted of several opaque paints could then be applied (step three) to
finishing touches. This book is essentially a detailed suitably distinct areas. To complete the painting,
description of just those six practical steps. In the however, something beyond opaque distemper paints
following chapters we will describe those techniques was needed. For achieving the final, detailed results the
(and the materials they entailed) in the same order that painter applied the techniques of shading and outlining
they occur during the actual painting of a thangka. (steps four and five}, both of which utilized colours of
a different sort: dyes and lakes.

Basic Painting Techniques
The Painting Surface: Support and Ground
Although Tibetan artists knew of more than one
painting medium, when painting thangkas they applied Tibetan painters, like the artists of many other
their basic coats of colour in distemper. Distemper countries, laid down their colours on a painting surface
paints consisted of powdered pigments mixed with a that consisted of two main layers: a support and a
binder of gelatin size (a dilute solution of hide glue).1 ground. At the core of the painting surface there was a
Such paints were fast-drying and water-soluble, and supporting material such as a cloth, a wooden panel or a
they dried to a matte finish. Other binders were also bare wall. This underlying material held or "carried"
known to Tibetan artists, including linseed oil and the subsequent layers of ground and paint, and it was
gluten from roasted wheat, but these did not have wide what is called the support of the painting. Although
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applications in either thangka or mural painting. With artists in Tibet painted on a variety of supports, for
very few exceptions, size or hide glue (spyin; ka spyin) the depiction of religious subjects the most common
was the binder. supports were walls and cloth. Without additional
Hide glue, moreover, could be employed in preparation, however, neither of these materials was
different ways. The most commonly used mixture of suitable for painting; therefore another layer, consisting
glue and pigment was the standard opaque distemper. of a "gesso" or a similar mixture, had to be applied
The technique that used such paints was called in over the support. Such a top layer, which completed
Tibetan rdzags tshan ("complete colour") or tshan chen the painting surface, was what is called the ground of
("great colour"). There was also a contrasting technique the painting.
that employed thinner, more transparent washes of No matter what the support, it was very important
paint. Called hang tshan ("faint colour"?) by some to prepare a proper ground over it. Any defects in
artists, the latter technique stoo.d in relation to the workmanship at this stage were apt to show up later
opaque distemper as watercolour to gouathe. 3 In the in the overlying layer as cracking, crumbling or peeling
past the hang tshan technique was sometimes used as a' paint. In the case of thangkas the preparation of a good
shortcut method in mural painting, but in the painting ground was even more important, since thangkas were
of thangkas it was normally employed only for colouring painted on a cloth support (ras gzhi). They were rolled
very small figures. up' for transportation or storage and then unrolled for
Distemper paints by their nature called for a display.
deliberate and almost businesslike procedure. To begin The preparation of a good painting surface was not
with, such paints worked best with a clear and well- very difficult. By following the procedures established
defined design. Distemper was suited to designs that within the artistic traditions even a beginner could
contained relatively large and distinct areas of colour, prepare a canvas that with proper handling could last for
and became more difficult to handle with designs that centuries. It seems, in fact, that most of the damage
had many small or convoluted areas of different colours. done to the old thangkas that survive was not caused

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