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Detail
of large thangka painting 
'The
White Tara'
gouache on cotton, Nepal 
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Alain
Rouveure Paintings Thangka
are primarily religious paintings that are hand-executed
on finely woven cloth.They
were made to be hung in temples
and private chapels above family altars.
The
technique for Thangka painting dates back to 1100AD
and is still in practice
today. The
support for the Thangka (a fine cloth of cotton) has to be
stretched over
a wooden frame.Traditionally, before it can be
painted on, the cloth has to
be sized' and prepared with a 'gesso'.
In Nepal and Tibet it is a mixture
of hide glue made by slowly
boiling yak or buffalo skins for several days
to extract
a clarified jelly/glue which is then mixed with white earth or
chalk.
This gesso is of several layers each meticulously burnished
with
a polishing stone. Originally,
as in Europe at the time, artists used natural pigments
and minerals for their
colours like lapis lazuli for blues,
malachite for greens, vermilion reds,
oxidised led for white,
arsenic for yellows. All were finely ground into powder
that would be mixed with water and clarified hide glue
into a useable paint.
Today's artists mainly use modern gouaches, although gold is still traditionally
used. A
Master will then draw the figures precisely using a pencil
or black soot.
The fine lines follow very strict and rigid rules.
The iconography is precise
and so are the proportions.
Relationships between figures and spaces are set
as are the
physical relationships between neck, shoulders, navel,
length
of arms etc… The
eyes of the main figure in the Thangka are the last details
to be painted
in, thus giving life to
the subject.
©Alain
Rouveure 2005
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About
our paintings Buddhism
has no gods and
goddesses as such. The
images
that are represented in statue or
painting forms are there to be
welcomed and /or worshiped
as the various possibilities and
facets of
human potentials and the attainment of these potentials - compassion, wisdom etc...
including enlightenment. The
attainment of enlightenment
denotes the transition of anyone to
the state
of Buddha-hood during a
lifetime. This transition marks an end
to the
series of reincarnations that
were required to reach this stage of
self-knowledge
and life purpose.
Master
Raju Tamang at work
in his studio All
the Thangkas paintings we
have in the galleries, contemporary
or old,
are original hand painted
works of art and are unique. We
would also remind you that ethics are extremely important to us …
...no
child labour
no
use harmful chemicals
no environmentally
damaging synthetic dyes
no
looting of temples
in search of antiques... are
involved in production processes. |
