Description

Tibetan Thangka Painting
Methods and Materials
David Jackson and Janice Jackson
This study is the first detailed description of the techniques and principles of the sacred art of Tibetan scroll painting, and is the distillation of the authors' research carried out over a period of ten years, during which they made five journeys to Nepal and India and learned from some twenty traditional painters.

In the first chapters the authors place the thangka or sacred scroll painting within its cultural context by explaining its significance according to the doctrines and practices of Tibetan Buddhism. They also describe the Tibetan painters and their training, beliefs, and traditions. IN the subsequent chapters they relate step-by-step the techniques by which a thangka is made, from the preparation of the canvas to the final application of the sacred syllables behind each completed figure. A whole chapter is devoted to a detailed description of the pigments, and another to how they are mixed and applied. In addition, the continuity of the tradition is highlighted in places by the translation of relevant passages from earlier written sources. The theories underlying the painting method are elaborated, and different chapters introduce the reader to the basic principles of composition, color and figural proportions.

A wealth of line drawings and photographs illustrate in detail the main steps in technique and the book concludes with an appendix by Robert Beer of the principle symbols and motifs found in Tibetan painting.