Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
an to apprentice in much the same way that monastic communities maintained lineages of
teaching.
If you are interested in actually creating, not just understanding Tibetan art, look for the
master work on the subject,
Tibetan Thangka Painting: Methods & Materials
by David P
Jackson and Janice A Jackson.
Thangkas
Religious paintings mounted on brocade and rolled up between two sticks are called
thangkas. Their eminent portability was essential in a land of nomads, as mendicant
preachers and doctors often used them as a visual learning aid. Not so portable are the
huge thangkas known as
gheku
or
koku,
the size of large buildings, that are unfurled every
year during festivals.
The production of a thangka is an act of devotion and the process is carefully formal-
ised. Linen (or now more commonly cotton) is stretched on a wooden frame, stiffened
with glue and coated with a mix of chalk and lime called
gesso
. Iconography is bound by
strict mathematical measurements. A grid is drawn onto the thangka before outlines are
sketched in charcoal, starting with the main central deity and moving outwards.
Colours are added one at a time, starting with the background and ending with shading.
Pigments were traditionally natural: blue from lapis, red from cinnabar and yellow from
sulphur. Most thangkas are burnished with at least a little gold. The last part of the thangka
to be painted is the eyes, which are filled in during a special 'opening the eyes' ceremony.
Finally a brocade backing of three colours and a protective 'curtain' are added, the latter to
protect the thangka.
Best Monastery Murals
Shalu, near Shigatse
Gongkar Chöde, Yarlung Valley
Thöling, Zanda
