Jain Miniature Paintings from Western India c10.51

c10.51

In the second stage, the painter very carefully distinguishes the details of various figures. The colour with which the outline is done is called liktī or ābrang, a mixture of the lampblack and carmine. After this, he draws the correct outline. At this stage, the painting is covered with a thin coating of the zinc-white which serves the double purpose of covering the corrected lines and filling the tissues and pores of the paper, making it smooth and impervious to the effect of liquid colours. The outlines are slightly visible through this opaque coating, and with their help the final drawing (*siyāh qalam*) is made. When this process is over, the reverse is burnished by turning the drawing on a plate glass or well polished marble slab with an agate burnisher which imparts an even and mellowed glaze to the surface. After this, the painter begins applying different colours to the drawing. After every colour coating, the painting is reversed and burnished. The process is repeated several times. If the colours overlap one another, the artist redraws the outline. Thick colour coatings are never applied, as they are prone to flake. Thin colour coatings impart to the painting an enamel-like effect. While repeating the light coatings, it is necessary that one coating is perfectly dry before the next one is applied.