Surrealism

Dali's persistence of time.

Surrealism was developed by the 20th-century literary and artistic movement. The surrealist movement of visual art and literature, flourished in Europe between World Wars I and II. Surrealism grew principally out of the earlier Dada movement, which before World War I produced works of anti-art that deliberately defied reason; but Surrealism emphasis was not on negation but on positive expression. The movement represented a reaction against what its members saw as the destruction wrought by the "rationalism" that had guided European culture and politics in the past and had culminated in the horrors of World War I. According to the major spokesman of the movement, the poet and critic André Breton, who published "The Surrealist Manifesto" in 1924, Surrealism was a means of reuniting conscious and unconscious realms of experience so completely, that the world of dream and fantasy would be joined to the everyday rational world in "an absolute reality, a surreality." Drawing heavily on theories adapted from Sigmund Freud, Breton saw the unconscious as the wellspring of the imagination. He defined genius in terms of accessibility to this normally untapped realm, which, he believed, could be attained by poets and painters alike. This movement continues to flourish at all ends of the earth. Continued thought processes and investigations into the mind produce today some of the best art ever seen.

Artists used spontaneous techniques based on the “free association” concept, also called automatism, in which conscious control was surrendered to the unconscious mind. . The Surrealist movement can be divided into two groups of differing expressive methods, Automatism or “Absolute” Surrealism and Veristic Surrealism. While Automatism was focused on expressing subconscious ideas, Veristic Surrealists wanted to represent a connection between abstract and real material forms. In other words, Verists transformed objects from the real world in their paintings, while Automatists derived their imagery purely from spontaneous thought.

Surrealism paved the way for later movements such as Abstract Expressionism and the Magic Realism. Surrealism offered an alternative to geometric abstraction and kept expressive content alive in the 20th century.

Some of the surrealistic artists are

Dali, Salvador- had the opportunity to visit his museum

Enrst, Max

Turnbull, William

Nash, Paul

and many more.

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The fundamentals of painting - landscapes

Let's imagine your canvas is in a rectangular shape;


Composition
Trace an imaginary vertical line a third of the way across the painting (on the left or right hand side). Here you position your main subject. Remember, it's this subject that must be highlighted. The painting must also be constructed on the basis of geometrical forms - this gives it structure.

Perspective
The horizon, seen from the point where your painting is in front of you, is a visible line if you're attempting a sea painting, otherwise an imaginary line.
Everything that is above : is as any horizontal line, coming together at their vanishing point on the horizon.
Everything below : likewise, the horizontal lines come together at the horizon.
Vertical lines : easy, they stay vertical (which is what cameras have such trouble with, owing to the curved structure of their lenses)
The vanishing point : The point where horizontal lines join. For example, the rails of a railroad converge at a certain point on the horizon line.

Changing values
In nature, looking at a landscape that to your eye has a foreground, a middleground and various more distant planes, like a range of mountains in the distance, you'll see the air becomes less clear with distance. If you're in the water, looking ahead of you, the phenomenom is even more apparent. A goldfish, for example, as your eye sees it, loses its color the further away it is from you, until it turns completely black.
Foregrounds : Can be portrayed with the greatest clarity,
Middlegrounds : Becoming more blurry,
More distant planes : gray-blues, colors are rendered more opaque due to dust or mist in the atmosphere.
Recommendation : This doesn't stop you, when painting a stormy mountain scene, for example, from depicting a ray of sunlight lighting up a village below. On the contrary, this is the element of the painting you should highlight.

Colors

The primary colors, blue, yellow and red, are the base colors, from which you create all the colors of your palette. You will also need black and white, to create gray. Observations : Black and white together give a slightly bluish gray. Black, yellow and white, will give a greenish-gray. Green and a touch of red produce a dull green. Secondary colors are obtained by mixing the primary colors according to the following diagram :

Depending on whether your mix is heavier in blue than yellow, you'll have a stronger or lighter green. The best way is to experiment with very small quantities and to judge the results for yourself.

For oil painting :
Turpentine helps to obtain umber colors (and also to clean your brushes). Linseed oil is good when you want to apply paint more thickly and to highlight luminosity.

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Thangka Painting

Abstract

The concept of Original Artistic Intent is difficult to apply to Tibetan thangkas. Thangkas are composite objects produced by painters and tailors with differing intents, skills and training. Iconographic specifications, regional and doctrinal differences in style, changes in form from harsh treatment and altered mountings all complicate the issue.

Introduction

A thangka is a complicated, composite three-dimensional object consisting of: a picture panel which is painted or embroidered, a textile mounting; and one or more of the following: a silk cover, leather corners, wooden dowels at the top and bottom and metal or wooden decorative knobs on the bottom dowel.

Can you say that there was an artist who had a prevailing artistic vision over the entire composition? Rarely. Is the thangka which you are examining in your laboratory today in its original form? Probably not.

Intent

What is the purpose of a thangka, what use was it originally intended for? Thangkas are intended to serve as a record of, and guide for contemplative experience. For example, you might be instructed by your teacher to imagine yourself as a specific figure in a specific setting. You could use a thangka as a reference for the details of posture, attitude, colour, clothing. etc., of a figure located in a field, or in a palace, possibly surrounded by many other figures of meditation teachers, your family, etc..

In this way, thangkas are intended to convey iconographic information in a pictorial manner. A text of the same meditation would supply similar details in written descriptive form.

Does the concept of artistic intent apply to thangkas? Only rarely do thangkas express the personal vision or creativity of the painter, and for that reason thangka painters have generally remained anonymous as have the tailors who made their mountings. This anonymity can be found in many other cultures.

There are, however, exceptions to this anonymity. Rarely, eminent teachers will create a thangka to express their own insight and experience. This type of thangka comes from a traditionally trained meditation master and artist who creates a new arrangement of forms to convey his insight so that his students may benefit from it. Other exceptions exist where master painters have signed their work somewhere in the composition.

The vast majority of anonymously created thangkas, however, have taken shape as a scientific arrangement of content, colour and proportion, all of which follow a prescribed set of rules. These rules, however, differ by denomination, geographical region and style. The Conservator is left with the responsibility of caring for religious objects that usually carry neither the names of the artists, nor information about their technique, date or provenance. But we do know that the intent of the artist was to convey iconographic information.

There is a vast amount of iconographic information provided in thangkas, some of it literally spelled out for you. If you look closely, many thangkas spell identification of figures and scenes in formal and delicately rendered scripts. In damaged sections of thangkas where paint layers are missing, letters which indicate the master painter's choice of colour are sometimes visible. These letters were not intended to be part of the final composition and should not be confused with the former. But given the breadth and variety of the iconography of Indian and Tibetan Buddhism, it is virtually impossible to extrapolate the information that would be required to fill in figures that are missing or to complete the sacred objects that the figures hold in their hands. Where inpainting is required, the definition and clarification of artistic intent is a complex issue.

Since even indigenous Tibetan scholars trained in the iconographic details of Buddhist deities generally would not presume to know the iconography associated with every deity, it is unlikely that most Conservators could guess the identity and details of unfamiliar figures. In this case, speculation as to the artist's intent tends to be a particularly unrewarding strategy.

In the twenty five years during which I have been working with thangkas, I have chosen never to guess, calculate or presume to identify missing iconographic facts. To do so would, in my experience, contravene both the ethics that are required of professional Conservators and the integrity of the objects that have been entrusted to us. Even a subtle change in colour alters the message of an icon.

For example, a particular shade of the colour green indicates effective activity, while a white often indicates peacefulness and unassailable compassion. It is significant therefore if the same form of a feminine figure is rendered in green or white.

Is the colour you see before you the colour which the artist intended for you to see? Sometimes water damage (yak-hide glue is susceptible to water damage) washes away several fine layers of pigment on final paint layers or shading layers. This damage exposes either underdrawing or flat colours which the artist never wanted you to see. Although some details may be present, unless the artist has also left a notation as to the specific colour (sometimes revealed by paint loss), an error would be made if the Conservator were to reconstruct something in an inappropriate colour.

Often, a combination of water-damage, greasy butter lamp soot and smoky incense grit permanently alters the original colours. Evidence of this is often seen at the edges where a mounting has protected the original colours.

In Tents - How Tradition Contributed To Damage

Damage was particularly likely given the tendency of Tibetans to travel long distances in harsh conditions. Thangkas were important articles of the tent culture of nomadic monastic groups in medieval Tibet. It was not unusual for a group of scholars, yogins and priests to travel by yak to distant regions, set up tents, unroll the thangkas and serve the local people by teaching before moving on to another area.

This was good for the people but intense for the thangkas! Rolling and unrolling was, and still is, unavoidably damaging for thangkas. Rough handling and damp walls damaged both the paintings and their mountings, in medieval Tibet and today as well. I have studied the handling of thangkas today in existing traditional monastic settings. I was invited by the Abbot of a major monastery on the Tibetan border to work with the monks on proper care and handling of their thangkas. During the year, according to religious holidays of the lunar cycle, specific thangkas are removed from storage, unrolled, hung up in damp and smoky shrine halls, and then taken down, stacked for rerolling and placed back in storage. Storage consisted of airless tin trunks designed to protect thangkas from rodents. The trunks smelled of bacteriological activity.

The monks in this monastery value their thangkas. But rolling and unrolling combined with rough handling and poor storage constantly damages their treasured thangkas.

Intense

Now if you are feeling that the subtleties of colour and iconography are overwhelming, we can continue on to style and technique! If you feel that the original artists were working by a set of rules to which you have little access, let us reinforce that tense feeling by looking at the range of traditional styles and painting techniques which the original artists were guided by. Then we will continue on to discuss the mountings which were made by tailors who worked by a completely different set of guidelines.

Paintings

Basic painting technique differs with regional style, training of the artist and the funding available to purchase gold, expensive pigments and so on. Also with the number of students or assistants the master painter employed.

Did the artist contour areas of iconographic and non-iconographic detail (such as sky or grass) with wet shading, dry shading or a combination of the two techniques? The Conservator would have to study thangka painting technique to understand. A good way to recognise these techniques is by learning to paint thangkas or by studying incomplete thangka paintings.

Did the artist apply many fine layers of paint one upon the other, or one heavy layer? Regional styles differ in the technique of paint application.

If the paint layers are lost and damaged, can the Conservator judge the artist's intent from the surrounding areas? Should the Conservator tone in lost areas of non-iconographic detail? Private collectors and dealers, for example, often request a Conservator to inpaint all damaged areas.

Although some of these questions are standard conservation issues, they are further complicated when religious and iconographic message must be respected and maintained.

Mountings

Thangkas are not only paintings. Their textile mountings are very important. When dealing with the mountings, a new set of questions arises. Did the artist of the painting have any control over the style and proportions of the mountings which surround the painting? Was the original choice of mountings that of the patron or that of the tailor? Is the tailor to be considered in a discussion of artist's intent? Was the painting created in one part of Tibet and framed in another part of Tibet, China or Northern India? Did the silk come from China or the Middle East along active trade routes? Is the mounting done in a different style, technique and aesthetic from those of the painting?

Is the silk brocade mounting currently part of this thangka in fact the original mounting for this picture panel, or could it be the third or fourth replacement? The answer to this last question can often be found on the edges of the support where several row of stitch holes can indicate that the mounting has been changed.

Does the mounting obscure significant sections of the painting? Tailors have been known to sew mountings with a window so small that it covers important iconographic and aesthetically relevant sections of the painting composition. The form of the mounting therefore may alter the artist's intent by obscuring details significant to the iconography and aesthetics of the painting.

Summary

The conservation treatment of a thangka is a complex process that reflects the complexity of the original composite object. All of the issues raised above must be evaluated in deciding on the appropriate treatment for a specific thangka.

For example, a Conservator must look carefully for any exposed colour notations and not confuse them with iconographic lettering on the final paint layers. A Conservator must evaluate what regional and stylistic techniques were used in producing the painting and mounting and also look for damage from past handling. And finally, the Conservator must examine the current mounting to determine its relation to the painting and document whether it covers significant sections of the painting.

In summary, thangkas are complicated composite objects which are designed to communicate iconographic ideas in a beautiful and practical form. A thangka in your laboratory or collection may be the production of many painters and tailors with differing intents, and differing skills and training. The textile mounting may have a completely different style, date and region of origin from those of the painting.

Pure, single artistic intent is lost through a combination of iconographic specifications, regional and doctrinal differences in style, changes in form subsequent to the original creation and many years of harsh treatment.

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Gond Tribal Painting

Gond tribal paintings are the tribal folk art painting of India. Gond paintings are extremely popular among most tribes in Madhya Pradesh. Gond paintings are well-honed as an art among the Gond tribe of Mandala and are specially the wall paintings of Bundelkhand, Gondwana, Nimar and Malwa. The Gond paintings are the living expressions of the people of the tribal village that are deeply linked with their day to day lives.

Gond paintings are painted by the tribal people on the walls of their house. Gond tribal paintings are not just mere decorations, but also the instant expressions of their religious sentiments and devotions. They make ground and wall their canvas and use limestone or charcoal as medium to make various decorative paintings. Themes of the Gond paintings- tribal folk art painting- are based on the local festivals like Karwa Chauth, Deepawali, Ahoi Ashtami, Nag Panchmi, Sanjhi etc. Horses, elephants, tigers, birds, gods, men and objects of daily life are painted in bright and multicolored hues. Tribal Gond paintings are done by the tribal women of the village using simple homemade colors.

Such is the popularity of the tribal Gond paintings that in the Gondwana region, the Gond and the Pardhan tribes have organized and impressed the audiences at exhibitions in Japan, France, Australia and other countries.

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Origin of Warli Painting

Nestled at the foot of the Western Ghat Range in Maharashtra, India, is the settlement of an ancient tribe known as the Warlis. These tribal people, who survive on forest produce and worship nature, have carved an international niche for themselves by virtue of their artistry. What originated as a domestic ritual of ceremonial beautification is now revered as a folk art of immense value. The name of the clan has given the name to the art form and today we know it as the Warli Paintings. Artist and scholars believe the painting style to have originated sometime during the tenth century AD, but considering its simple yet vivid expression in form and figures, this school of painting might even be regarded as following a tradition that originated some time in the Neolithic period between 2,500 BC and 3,000 BC.

The noble civilizing mission of the educated society was yet to reach the clay huts and thatched roofs of the Warlis. Thus, painting figures and diagrams was the only way for these non-lettered people to transmit their hereditary knowledge, folklore and good wishes. Women were the main repositories of this heritage. While the `suvasins' (married women, not widowed) did the paintings, the 'Dhavaleris' (the married female priests) sang traditional songs. The walls were first given a thorough wash with wet cow dung. On this red mud was smeared. This gave the walls a brownish finish. Women used bamboo twigs and thin rice paste to draw designs. These paintings were perishable and they were repeatedly erased and replaced by new paintings during different rituals. Warli paintings express everyday life using extremely basic object forms and just one colour - white - on an austere mud base. The painting style is close to pre-historic cave paintings. It breaks the barrier of three-dimensional rendering and the objects seldom overlap. The appeal of these monochrome compositions with rudimentary object forms lies in their lack of pretentiousness in conveying the profound. The core philosophy and social history of a tribal society are conveyed through these paintings in all their humble renderings. Each painting is usually an entire scene that contains various elements of nature including people, animals, trees, hills etc. To Tibetans, the art of thangka is apocalyptical. There is room for the individual painter's creativity only in case of the details of the landscape, the color and shape of the cloud, of rocks and flowers, etc. But what actually illuminates the artifact is its visionary quality. The mystical thangkas are supposed to be the records of visions in all its sensuous details. The Tibetan artist, being concerned primarily with life, death and the life to come, finds it his duty to embody the vision of the life yet to come and thus assist others in their journey towards Nirvana.

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Madhubani Paintings

Madhubani paintings, (also referred to as Mithila Art as it flourishes in the Mithila region of Bihar), are characterized by line drawings based on mythological themes, in bright colours and decorative borders. They are so called because they originated in and around a large agricultural town in Bihar, Madhubani or 'Forest of Honey'.

Originally, Madhubani Paintings were executed on freshly plastered mud walls, on religious occasions or weddings. Each painting was a prayer and an accompaniment to meditation. Well executed paintings were believed to be inhabited by the deities depicted in them. The colors used in these paintings were made from natural dyes. Today, Madhubani Paintings are made on silk, handmade paper, cloth, canvas etc for commercial purposes. The use of chemical dyes and paints have resulted in brighter multicolored paintings.

Madhubani art came to the notice of the rest of the country in the 1960s. Bihar had been hit by a terrible drought and the government decided to promote Madhubani Paintings to create an alternative non agricultural source of earning. The All-India Handicrafts Board encouraged the artists of Madhubani to paint on Handmade paper instead of on walls. Since then, painting has become a primary source of income for scores of families.

Madhubani paintings are mostly made by Hindu village women who traditionally passed on this skill from mother to daughter.

There is a caste hierarchy involved in the making of Madhubani paintings. The Brahmins, people of the highest caste, can depict images of Gods and Goddesses and use all kinds of bright colours such as red, yellow, blue and lemon. The second in the hierarchy are the Kayasthas, who are also allowed to paint religious themes and motifs, but may use only red and black colors. The lowest caste, called the Dusadhs, are not permitted to make religious paintings. Their style of painting called the Godhna or Tattoo art usually depicts flora and fauna in repetitive motifs.

Even today, most of the Madhubani artists' work remains anonymous. Few women like to mark their paintings with their names, and are quite reluctant to consider themselves individual producers of "works of art".

Madhubani paintings usually revolve around mythological themes (Hindu deities such as Krishna, Rama, Siva, Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Sun, Moon and Tulasi) and socio-cultural themes (court scenes, wedding scenes, social happenings). The subjects most commonly depicted include sun, moon, birds, fish, and bidh-bidhata (a male and a female bird facing each other), patia (mat woven from mothi), nag-nagin (entwined male and female cobras), pan ka ghar (leaf house) and naina jogin (Goddess with magical powers). Flowers, birds, animals and geometrical designs are interspersed throughout the painting.

One trait that diffrentiates Madhubani Paintings from warli painting and other forms of Indian folk art is that they have no empty spaces – the artist covers every inch of his canvas with motifs. Like Warli Paintings, Madhubani paintings also they look two-dimensional or flat.

Traditionally Madhubani paintings were always made with natural dyes. Black was obtained by mixing soot with cow dung; yellow from turmeric or pollen or lime and the milk of banyan leaves; blue from indigo; red from the kusam flower juice or red sandalwood; green from the leaves of the wood apple tree; white from rice powder; orange from palasha flowers.

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Kalamkari Paintings

Kalamkari is a traditional Indian craft predominantly related to cotton fabric. In this craft, fabric is patterned through the medium of dye rather than loom. Ochre is one of the few colors which cotton would take on easily. But for other colors the fabric is to be initially treated with mordant that facilitated the absorption of the desired hue. Mordant can be easily applied either with block or with a brush or pen like instrument on a pre woven fabric.

The use of the kalam (pen) on the cloth lent the term kalamkari to this art form. This art was used for decorative or functional hangings in domestic and monumental structures as wrapping and covering material, or in costume.

There are five key areas in Krishna district in South India where the craft is practiced however there are several departures from the earlier practices. Mordant is uniformly printed with the block. Indigo dying has been virtually relinquished and the application of wax resist by kalam is also absent from the procedure. Mordant for outlining in black remains the same.

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Phad paintings

Phad painting is an ancient form of folk painting that is basically a large painting on Khadi which depicts the heroic deeds of a heroic figure, the daily life of painters and peasants, rural life, animals and birds, flora and fauna. It originated in the western India (RAJASTHAN)The smaller version of the phada is known as phadakye. This form of folk art painting makes use of natural earthen colors mixed with gum, water and indigo to get the required colors. Phad paintings are one of the most sought after folk art paintings in the Indian art and cultural context known for their vibrant and enchanting colors and features. Phad painting is a type of scroll painting. These paintings are created using the rainbow of bright colors and subtle colors. The main themes of the Phad paintings depict the deities and their legends and the stories of erstwhile maharajas. These paintings are magnificent and its outlines are drawn in block and filled with colors. The outlines of the paintings are first drawn in block and later filled with colors. The paintings depicting exploits of local deities are often carried from place to place and are accompanied by traditional singers, who narrate the theme depicted on the scrolls. The phad paintings are carried from place to place and accompany traditional singers who narrate the theme of the painting. These paintings depict the lives of local heroes in folk style. The stories of Pabuji Ramdevji and Dev Narainji are sung by bhopas around the villages. For Phad painting, vibrant raw colors are used. Some of the unique features of Phad paintings are the bold lines and a two dimensional treatment of figures with the entire composition arranged in sections.

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Artist's Paint Brushes Buying Guide

Painting is a skill much like any other; it requires special tools to accomplish the job correctly. Essentially, paint brushes are an extension of the hand, so choosing one is very much a matter of personal taste. No doubt that when faced with a hundred different paint brushes, they all start to look the same. However, there are two key aspects to look at in particular: the shape and the materials used to construct the brush. The materials are of most importance since they make a big difference in price, quality, and performance.

Natural vs. Synthetic Brushes

The major difference that divides synthetics from natural brushes is that synthetics are made from polyester, a man made product often referred to as Taklon, and natural brushes are made from animal hair. There are pros and cons to using both types.

• Synthetics -- Cheaper. For use with acrylics and watercolors .
• Synthetics are not good for use with oil paints since cleaning them requires cleaning with turpentine, which will destroy them.
• They don't depend on a fluctuating market, rising or falling animal populations, or other environmental factors that might affect animal fur and the cost of it. Synthetics pose no moral dilemma for vegans or vegetarians either.
• Because synthetics are less porous than natural hair, they are more versatile for using with different mediums and on different surfaces.
• Built to be strong and durable.

• Natural -- Best for use with oils and watercolors.
• Natural brushes don't hold up well to acrylics since the chemicals eat away at the natural oils in the bristles.
• Many brushes contain blends of two or more of the different types of hairs mentioned below.
• Soft bristles -- Kolinsky sable (highest quality), badger, ox/sabeline, squirrel, goat, and pony.
• Camel -- This is often a blend of other natural hairs, not hair from a camel. The best ones utilize the natural tip of the hair, not one that has been previously cut. For example, a camel brush made primarily of pony hair will most likely be using hair from the mane, which receives multiple cuts to yield more brushes. This is the lowest quality of natural brushes.
• Hard bristles -- Boar, hog, or pig.

Brush Shapes

Round Makes pointed, thin lines at the tip or wide strokes when pressed down. Use for details, pointed lines, washes, and fills. Choose a pointed round for more ability to paint details.	Flat Depending on the size, flats (aka shaders) can be used for big washes, blocks, and fills or fine lines when angled on its side. Good for all types of mediums.	Filbert Ideal for creating soft lines with little or no edge. Good for blending as well. On their sides' they can create finer lines, just like a flat brush. Not the best for watercolors.	Rigger Basically, these are very long round, pointed brushes used for detailing and outlining with fine, long, continuous lines. Also used for lettering. Good with all paint types.	Bright These are essentially flats, but shorter, stiffer, and not particularly good for watercolors. Excellent for short strokes. Also called a chisel blender.

Fan Fan brushes are very versatile. They can blend, be used dry, or they can be loaded heavy with paint to create texture. Not for watercolors.	Angled Great for most things, except oil painting. Similar to a flat brush, and can create details, tight shading, or more general blocks of color.	Mop Usually made with natural hair, making them excellent for watercolor, washes, and blending. They also mop up extra water on the canvas.	Spotter Spotters are short bristled brushes with a fine point. They are ideal for adding details and lines.	Hake These are exclusively used for doing watercolors and they often have natural hairs, best for absorbing water.

Sizing

Besides the shape of the brush, you'll also want to choose the appropriate size. This is largely determined by the size of the canvas that you are working on, as well as the amount of detail that you are working with. Sizing, which has no overall industry standard, is measured roughly like so:

• Smallest Brushes (Liners) -- 10/0 | 7/0 | 6/0 | 5/0 | 4/0
• Small Brushes (Liners) -- 000 | 00 | 0 | 1-5
• Medium Brushes -- 6-14
• Large Brushes -- 15-20
• Largest Brushes -- 21-30

What do the numbers really mean? To get an idea of the sizes of these brushes, know that a size 12 is equal to a 12mm wide head. Therefore, a size 6 would be a 6 mm head, a size 1, a 1mm head, and so on. Numbers smaller than 1, such as 10/0 mean that the brush is 10 units less than a mm.

Ferrules

This is the metallic band that wraps around the head and the handle of the brush. It can be made of various materials, including seamless copper and nickel, and spot-welded, nickel-plated steel. The latter is rust resistant.

Cleaning and Usage Tips

• Usage -- Be aware that you need to have different brushes for each type of painting you plan to undergo since the bristles are designed differently for each type of paint. Keep your acrylic brushes separate from the oil brushes, and keep the watercolors separate from those. Otherwise, if you mix them, it will compromise the longevity of the brush bristles.
• Never leave brushes standing in water, except for rinsing and washing, since it will deform the bristles.
• Don't press or push the bristles so that they spread on the canvas; it will destroy the head's shape.
• Over time, a paint brush head will naturally become worn down and it may become stained.
• Cleaning -- After painting, it is extremely important that you wash your brushes as soon as possible.
• First wipe them off with a cloth or paper towel. Then rinse them. Acrylics should be rinsed in lukewarm (NEVER hot since it will cause the bristles to fall out and it will strip the natural oils from the bristles) and oils will need turpentine or another solvent.
• Once the majority of the paint has been removed, wipe the brushes down again and wash them with a gentle bar soap, working the bristles gently in the palm of your hand. Rinse the brushes with water until the water runs clear.
• Shake off excess water and wrap in a towel or paper towel to reshape the head and to let dry.
• Storage -- Always store brushes upright so that the head does not become damaged.

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Origin of Tanjore Painting

The unique and colourful world of Thanjavur paintings – This school of paintings originated in Thanjavur during the reign of the Marathas in the 16th century. It existed from 17th to 19th Century, and had a limited output. Today, this tradition is kept alive by a few hundred dedicated artists mostly based in Tamil Nadu, India.

What is Thanjavur Painting?

Thanjavur paintings basically signify paintings created using a style and technique, which originated in Thanjavur during the Maratha period in the 16th century. A typical Thanjavur painting would consist of one main figure, a deity, with a well-rounded body & almond shaped eyes. This figure would be housed in an enclosure created by means of an arch, curtains etc. The painting would be made by the gilded and gem-set technique - a technique where gold leaves & sparkling stones are used to highlight certain aspects of the painting like ornaments, dresses etc.

The painting would be bright and colourful and breathtakingly beautiful. The impact in a darken room is that of a glowing presence. While most of the paintings would depict the Child Krishna and his various pranks, paintings of other deities were also created. Over a period of time changes have occurred in the stylization - for example, the figures are no longer round. Presiding deities of various famous temples are also being depicted in the paintings. The technique is now more in use than the style.

Tanjore Painting is a peculiar, ancient, miniature type of painting named after the place Thanjavur (called Tanjore in English) in Tamil Nadu, a Southern state of INDIA. Thanjavur district is famous for various arts and crafts in which paintings are ranked high among the other arts like Thanjavur Toys, Thanjavur Plates, etc. Its origin dates back to the Nayak & the Maratha period in the 16th century.

The Maratha rule of Thanjavur lasted for about 2 centuries from the late 16th century. The Thanjavur school of painting evolved in a period full of political chaos in South India. Thanjavur Paintings flourished under the patronage of the Nayak & Maratha princes in the 16th to the 18th centuries. The art was practiced by two main communities namely - the Rajus in Tanjore and Trichy(a city near Tanjore) and Naidus in Madurai(a city ruled by Pandiyas) The artists (Rajus & Naidus) who are originally Telugu speaking people from "Rayalseema" region, moved to Tamil Nadu in the wake of the Nayaks rule of Madurai & Tanjore. The paintings were rooted in tradition and innovation was limited. The art was sacred to those master craftsmen who choose to be anonymous and humble.

Paintings were done on materials like wood, glass, mica, exotic media such as ivory, murals and manuscripts. Most of the paintings were of Hindu deities & saints. Other courtly and secular portraits were also created.

The early paintings were embedded with real Diamonds, Rubies and other precious stones. Later, use of semi-precious and artificial stones gained popularity. There are some examples of this art in the "Saraswathi Mahal Library", in Tanjore, set up & developed by King - Serfoji II This monarch, who reigned from 1798 to 1832, to whom we owe the "Ganesha shrine" in the "Tanjore Big Temple", played an important part in the history of the art of his times.

How Thanjavur(Tanjore) Paintings are made ?

Thanjavur Paintings are made on canvasses. The Canvas for a Thanjavur painting is usually a plank of wood (originally wood of the Jackfruit tree was used, now it's plywood) over which a layer of cloth is pasted with arabic gum. The cloth is then evenly coated with a paste of limestone and a binding medium and let to dry.

The canvas is now ready for painting. The artist then draws a detailed sketch of the painting on the canvas. A paste, made of limestone and a binding medium, is used to create 3D effect in embellishing and ornamenting the theme using a brush.

Gold leaves and gems of varied hues are used in selected areas like pillars, arches, thrones, dresses, etc. The shine and glean of the gold leaves used by the Thanjavur style paintings lasts forever. Finally, colours are applied on the sketch. In the past, artists used natural colours like vegetable dyes, whereas the present day artists use chemical paints which enhance the sharpness and provide better shade contrasts.

The old Tanjore artists restricted their scope to divine figures and used to mix their natural colours. The modern ones have, of course, no need to do so.

For outlines dark brown is usually used. Red is favoured for the background. Scholars say that a red background is the distinctive mark of Tanjore paintings, but green is also sometimes used. Lord Vishnu, appropriately enough, is coloured blue, and Lord Nataraja chalk white. Yellow is used for the Goddesses. The sky, of course, is blue, but black is employed only on occasions. There are conventions in regard to the use of embossing and bejewelling. But these do not appear to be followed very strictly these days, often individual preference settles the matter.

The portrayals of the figures in the paintings are breathtakingly brilliant. Almost all the figures have round bodies and almond-shaped eyes, which is unique to Tanjore Painting. The traditional Thanjavur artists have a flair for ornamenting the figures with jewellery and ornate dresses. Thanjavur paintings are notable for their adornment in the form of glass pieces embedded in parts of them.

Framing

The frames(teak wood) used for Thanjavur paintings are of two types.
1. The wooden type wherein plain type of wood is used.
2. The Chettinad type which are more ornamental with designs. Instead of breakable glass, "Transparent acrylic sheets" are used to avoid breakage during transit.

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Being an artist

You get a phone call. You take down a number. You start drawing and decorating the number. You might even give a 3-D effect to it. You know what you are doing? You are doodling. Doodling may not be sketching but it brings out the creativity in you. That makes you an artist. Does this mean everyone is an artist? Why not?

You may not have figured out the artist in you or you may have already found out the niche in you. You are probably a wanna be artist. All you have to do is acknowledge it. A person who is good is making delicious dishes is a food artist. A person who is good at writing is a word artist (writer). A person who is good at making music is a music artist (musician). But all this is from the seed of creativity. Can you think of someone who is highly creative, a baby? Of course, they are the most creative of us all. To them everything they come across is an adventure. They try to perceive them through touch, taste and spending time with them (carrying them around with them). And if you sit back and think why they are more creative, the answer is they don’t care about what others will say. And that is what makes a good artist. Being a little eccentric is not bad. Everybody is. It is how good you mask it that makes the difference. But the fun thing about being an artist is he doesn’t have to care about masking his eccentricity. Break all the rules. Give the child inside you a chance.

If you get stuck on an idea, then sleep on it, literally. When you get up, you will find yourself with great answers. One other place to get ideas is your shower. Create a special place for your work even if it is just a corner of a room. That will make you feel special.

But many aspiring artists may have an opinion different from this. Some of the supporting statements are

· You will not get discovered as easily as the success stories put it.

· You will never find a gallery that will understand your work and feel passionately for it like you do.

· You will not be able to make a living by selling your work.

· No matter how original you think your work is, it would have been done earlier by someone.

· You can never price your work they way you value them.

· The people around you look at you like a failure for spending your life’s worth for this.

I can’t argue with that. That is the reality check. But I can give you one thing for sure; an artist lives his dreams and sees happiness in his work. So love your work. You will be an artist ‘at work’.

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