Page 141 - Tibetan Thangka Painting Methodsand Mat, Jackson

The painter Wangdrak almost invariably used this blots and irregularities. Finally, he had to apply the
style of outer lining for painting the clouds surrounding outlining brush strokes smootWy, while gradually
two of the four great guardians of the directions. The altering the thickness of the line through increasing or
technique was a finishing step that he applied only after decreasing the pressure on the brush tip. Usually the
the interiors of the clouds had been painted and shaded. best procedure was to work with a smooth downwards
Wangdrak painted these clouds in a connected series that sweep of the brush. However, on objects with sharp
formed a nimbus-like strip surrounding the figure, and as points or tips such as flames and leaves, it was best to
usual he coloured the interiors of the clouds in an begin the outlining stroke at the point of the object,
alternating sequence of blue and green. whatever its orientation, and then work away from it.
The special outlining technique itself began with When outlining a leaf, for example, a painter could begin
the artist's application of a continuous strip of medium the outlining stroke at the tip of the leaf. Then, slowly
blue paint all the way around the outer edge of the back- increasing the thickness of the line, he would continue
ground clouds. Then on the inside of this blue strip the the same stroke all of the way down one side of the leaf
artist put down a continuous strip of deep pink or to the stem. But to create a tiny curl at the tip of the
mauve, following the outer edges of the clouds. Finally, leaf some artists used a deft brush movement in the
he completed the border by applying a dark indigo opposite direction, towards the tip. Since such fine work
outline to the outer edge. This indigo outline, however, required the maximum control and accuracy, the artist
was painted as a series of rounded bumps, the bottom usually worked with his painting hand resting on the
ends of which penetrated through the strips of blue and surface of the canvas or supported on a thin wooden
pink all the way to the edge of the cloud. board.
Artists used to notice and appreciate skillful
Multicoloured Designs on Scarves tapering in the outlining of a thangka. Some lineages
also passed down traditional sayings about the qualities
One last type of linear detail was reserved for the of fine outlining. Wangyal of Dolpo, for example,
decoration of the white centers of special scarves draped remembered a saying of his teacher:
around figures such as Mahiikala, the great protector of
Vajrayiina Buddhism. In terms of their designs, these The waist [of an outlining stroke] , since it
decorations were basically the same as those used for is the "wealth" [of the stroke], must be wide.
the gold floral details in the border strips of brocades
The point [of the outlining stroke], since it
and robes. The only difference was that here the flower
is a "virtue", must be sharp.2
designs were executed in blue and red over a white
background, while the leafy stems that wound back and
(Here there is a play on the word yon tan, "virtue",
forth in these designs were painted green.
which also means wisdom, the mental quality that is
cultivated through study. This, like intelligence, should
be "sharp.") One of the older painters observed to us
Outlining Techniques
that many of the younger generation of Tibetan artists
do not seem to cultivate much tapering in their out-
Excellence in outlining was something that every novice
cultivated, and something that every master had to have lining. As he pointed out, many artists now concentrate
on producing very fine outlines, painting brush strokes
achieved. In outlining, excellence meant not only
fineness and accuracy, but also the ability to impart that are too thin to allow much gradation in width.
successfully a fluid tapering to the whole length of the
outline. Such smooth gradations in the thickness of the
outline gave a subtle illusion of depth or volume to an
object that otherwise would have looked much flatter.
The artist could also turn the tapering outlines to his
Notes
advantage by using them to even out slight irregularities
in the outer edges of the forms being outlined. 1. The term zhu rams referred to a mixture of
To achieve the optimum smoothness and taper in zhu mkhan dye and indigo (rams). Wangdrak said
his lines, the first thing an artist needed was a good that for the best zhu rams, the light variety of
outlining brush (bead pir). The brush had to be thin, its indigo called he rams should be used.
tip had to possess a perfect point, and the hairs had to
2. The saying in Tibetan was:
be of sufficient length to hold enough dye for long,
continuous strokes. Secondly the artist had to keep his
sked pa longs spyod yin pas sbom dgos/
outlining dye fluid and well stirred. Often we observed
rtse mo yon tan yin pas sno dgos/
Wangdrak stop his work to stir the small pot of colour
from which he was taking his outlining dye. Also, before
Such sayings are a valuable part of the artistic
applying each stroke, an artist rubbed the brush tip heritage of Tibet. One hopes that older artists, as
against his hand or against the edge of the colour pot or well as the younger ones who received traditional
canvas to remove any excess dye. This helped prevent training, will record them and pass them on.

NOTES CHAPTER II 137