Page 20 - Tibetan Thangka Painting Methodsand Mat, Jackson

by defects or deficiencies in the ground, but by external had been constructed by carpenters out of seasoned
causes such as water or smoke, or by the surprisingly hardwood strips measuring approximately two· inches
rough treatment to which even exquisite masterpieces wide by one inch thick. The four pieces were often
were sometimes subjected. 4 joined by snugly fitted mortise and tenon joints. The
tenons projected from both ends of the shorter pieces
Cotton Cloth and fitted into mortises near the ends of the longer
strips. The ends of the two longer pieces usually exten-
The first item required for the making of a thangka was ded several inches past the point of junction with the
a suitable piece of fabric, and the most common cloth shorter strips. During painting the artist commonly
used by our main informants in Tibet was a plain-weave positioned the stretcher with one of the short sides
Indian muslin. Similar cotton fabrics from China were resting on his lap, and thus the projecting ends of the
also sometimes used, particularly in eastern parts of longer sides prevented the stretcher from shifting.
Tibet. In all of the cases that we observed in India and Wooden stretchers of this type did not need nailing and
Nepal, modern artists used a light-weight Indian cotton were renowned for their sturdiness, whereas those that
of fine but slightly open weave. Legdrup Gyatsho, one were made without interlocking joints soon became
of our main informants, stated that it was advantageous loose and wobbly.
to use finely woven cloths since these were less trouble
The Inner Frame
to coat with gesso. Cottons of coarser weave required
thicker coats of gesso to fill in their textured surface. Fastening the cloth to the stretcher usually involved
Nowadays the cotton fabric is available in quite wide two main steps. First, the painter stitched a sort of
dimensions. In Tibet, however, it was often necessary inner frame, which consisted of four supple twigs or
•to stitch together two pieces of cloth when preparing bamboo splints, to the four edges of the fabric. Second,
the support for larger paintings. he fastened this cloth with its light frame of twigs to the
Before the preparation of the cloth support, the heavier outer stretcher by.a series of loops of twine. The
cloth sometimes needed washing. This has become even use of an inner frame helped to distribute the tension
more important in recent years for painters who use evenly around the edges of the fabric during the priming
modern Indian cottons. The latter commonly contain of the cloth support, and to maintain that even tension
manufacturer's size, which affects the application of until the completion of the painting. Any bulging in
the primer and ground. After the sizing had been washed the fabric that developed during the preparation of the
out the cloth usually shrank a bit as it dried. Then, canvas due to uneven tension became a permanent
when completely dry, the painter could cut the cloth feature that could not be corrected after~ the coats of
to fit the wooden stretcher frame. size and gesso had dried.
In the past, scroll paintings were also executed To prepare the inner frame the artist first cut four
on other materials such as silk, linen and leather or skin. sticks of bamboo or twigs of some supple wood a few
In addition, one occasionally comes across paintings inches longer than the sides of the cotton cloth. These
made on block-printed silk or paper. But in modern sticks could be about one-quarter or three-eighths of an
thangka painting these support materials are relatively inch in thickness - thick enough to support tension but
rare. not so thick as to be inflexible.
Before fastening the sticks to the edges of the
The Stretcher
cloth, some artists began by scoring all four edges of
The painting surface of the thangka was made from a the cloth with a large needle, dragging the tip of the
cotton cloth by stretching it in a wooden stretcher frame needle in a line about three-quarters of an inch within
(rkyang shing) and then coating it with a layer of white the borders. This established a crease along which the
paint for the ground. Many painters prepared this artist could then easily fold back a thin strip on each
"canvas" (ras gzhi) themselves, but it was also common edge. He next placed the first stick outside the cloth,
for them to leave this task to their assistants or students. alongside one of the creased and folded edges, and
Tibetan painters used stretchers of various sewed the stick to the cloth with a series of evenly
dimensions, but the most common type for a single spaced overhand stitches about half an .inch to one
thangka was rectangular and approximately two by inch apart, using a large needle and some strong thread.
three feet. To fit within this outer wooden stretcher When the artist reached the corner of the cloth
the cloth was cut approximately thirty inches long by (which was also near the end of the stick), he placed the.
twenty inches wide. s The cloth was so much smaller next stick over the preceding one at a right angle,
than the stretcher because the fabric was not attached parallel to the next side of the cloth, and wrapped a few
directly to the stretcher, but had to be tied within it loops of the heavy thread around the intersection of
by a looping string. When the cloth was fastened, the the two sticks. After that he continued to stitch on as
cloth and stretcher looked something like a miniature before, until reaching the next corner. There he repeated
trampoline. Not surprisingly, since the wooden the procedure with the next stick, placing the third
stretchers were one of the artist's necessities, a painter stick underneath the second. Continuing in this way,
often insisted that they be made according to his precise when he reached the last corner he securely tied and
specifications. Some of the better stretchers that we saw knotted the thread.

16 THE PREPARAnON OF THE PAINTED SURFACE