Page 52 - Tibetan Thangka Painting Methodsand Mat, Jackson

The Sketch define its area the artist needed merely to draw the
figure so that it filled most of the foreground. Thangkas
Once the painting surface had been determined and its. with more than one figure generally required, as we have
central axis established, the painter began the actual seen, the allocation of greater or smaller areas to the
work of sketching. When the painting was a simple and various figures depending on the hierarchy of import-
commonplace composition, such as a single Buddha or ance within that particular composition.
Tara or the three deities of longevity (tshe lha rnam The artist Wangdrak first divided up his painting
gsum), an artist might already possess a completed surface by drawing larger or smaller egg-shaped ovals
drawing. In that case no sketch (skya ris) as such would where the deities were to be located. By describing a
be needed since he could transfer the design to the large oval in the center astride the vertical axis he
canvas by other means. But when he had no ready-made established the area of the main figure, including its seat
drawing or block-print of the required subject he had to and nimbus or surrounding flames. Then, to fill in the
sketch a new compositio~. At this point, if the patron rest of the area to the best advantage, he drew smaller
had not been specific about the placement of the main ovals for the lesser figures surrounding the main deity.
figures, the artist had to decide this himself, either He almost invariably arranged the deities of the
relying on his own knowledge or in consultation with "retinue" in a symmetrical design centered on the main
a more learned person. On the other hand, if the con- image. Finally, after the places of all the deities had
figuration of the deities had been exactly dictated to been established, he indicated the horizon and the
him, he could proceed to sketch a new composition general layout of the landscape with a few brief lines.
within those limits.

o o

Completed drawing of Vajrasattva by Legdrup Gyatsho
for use by his students.

Preliminary Division of Space

In a complex thangka the artist began the composition
following principles that are by now familiar. He first
determined the area that the main figure, together with
its body nimbus and seat, would occupy in the fore-
ground. This figure was usually placed in the middle of
the painting area, exactly centered on the vertical axis.
The exact position of the central figure relative to the
horizontal axis, however, was not fixed. It could be
placed higher or lower depending on the other elements Examples of the preliminary division of space. Three
in the overall composition. In the case of the simplest scales of measurement are used here for the figures.
thangkas the central figure was the only figure, and to Note how the flames are shaped to fill out empty spaces.

48 SKETCHING AND THE THEORY OF ICONOMETRY