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Jain Miniature Paintings from Western India c9.s10: Brushes, Pencils, Styles

Jain Miniature Paintings from Western India c9.s10

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Brushes, Pencils, Styles

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Nothing has survived to show what kind of brushes, pencils, styles, etc., were used in Western Indian painting. There are, however, medieval Sanskrit texts which give us more or less accurate descriptions of these accessories.

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*Style*.—According to the *Mānasollāsa*⁶², a brush handle, measuring the small finger in length with the tip measuring two angulas, was made of bamboo. To the tip of this handle, a copper nail (*śaṅku*), measuring two barley grains, one *yava* of its length being visible and the rest struck inside the handle, was fixed. This style was known as *tindu* and, though the uses of this contraption are not enumerated, it was probably used for scratching the design on palm-leaf before it was smeared with the lampblack as is seen in manuscripts from South India.

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⁶² *Mānasollāsa*, II, 1, 14.

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*Pencil*.—*Salākā* or red pencil for drawing is mentioned in the *Prasanna Rāghava*,⁶³ a Sanskrit drama. The following formula is prescribed by the *Silparatna*⁶⁴ for making such kind of pencil which is designated as *kiṭṭalekhanī* :—

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⁶³ [142-143]

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⁶⁴ *Chitralakṣaṇa*, ss. 35-37.

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At first some cowdung and old powdered slag were to be mixed and pounded to a thick paste with equal amount of water in a stone-mill. Now the paste was ready to be

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moulded into the shape of a pencil. It was wick-shaped and was made in different sizes of two, three or four inches. It was used in drawing the first sketches of men, birds, animals, deities, flowers, etc.⁶⁵ There was an advantage in the use of pencil, as whenever the lines went astray they could be wiped with a piece of clean cloth and the fresh lines redrawn correctly.⁶⁶

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⁶⁵ *Chitralakṣaṇa*, ss. 37—39.

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⁶⁶ *Ib.*, s. 40.

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In the *Mānasollāsa*67, this pencil is designated as *vartikā* and the following formula for its manufacture is given. "Lampblack is pounded with boiled rice from which water has been drained. Then from this paste, pencils (*vartikā*) were moulded in the shape of new shoots."

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*Brushes*.—Brushes are one of the most important accessories for painting. They were of various thickness and thinness used for the different purposes of filling colours, outlining, shading, etc. Bhoja, in the *Samarāṅgaṇa Sūtradhāra*68, gives a detailed description of the various kinds of brushes which he calls *kūrcha*, a word now used in a derogatory sense for the brushes used for white-washing and kindred purposes. Bhoja divides brushes into five categories, i.e., *kūrcha*, *hastakūrcha*, *bhāsakūrcha*, *chalakūrcha*, and *lepanakūrcha*. In this classification of the brushes, the first was shaped like a new shoot of the banyan, the third, like the needle-point. and the fourth, like a new shoot of the *udumbara* tree. The brushes were made from the soft hair obtained from ears of bullocks and asses and the fibres of the bark of certain trees. In the opinion of Bhoja, however, the best brushes were manufactured from fibres. It is doubtful, however, whether fibre brushes were used to draw fine lines in Western Indian miniatures. In the wall-paintings, however, where such fineness was not required, fibre brushes could be used for at least filling the surface with flat colour washes.

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In the *Mānasollāsa*69, brushes are said to have been made from the soft hair obtained from the ears of a calf, tied to the tips of the brush-handles and strengthened with the application of melted shellac. To this kind of brush, the *Mānasollāsa*70 gives the name of *lekhanī* divided into three classes,—fine (*sūkshma*), medium (*madhya*) and thick (*sthūla*).⁷¹ Thick brushes were used for applying flat colour washes (*sthūlayā lepanam kāryam*) with oblique strokes (*tiryagāhitāyatayā*). Held straight or sideways, the medium brush was used for drawing, and the fine brush was used for fine and delicate brush strokes.

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⁷¹ *Ib.*, s. 147.

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The description of brushes in the *Śilparatna*72 is also of interest. As in the *Mānasollāsa*, the brushes are divided into three categories, thick, medium, and thin, and their length is prescribed as six barley corns. The brush holder seems to have been octagonal or round, and the brush tip, projecting from it, measured half *aṅgula*. For a thick brush, the hair from a calf's ear or the underside of a goat was used, but, for a fine pointed brush the fine hair from the muskrat's tail, fastened to the tip of the handle with thread or wax, was used. Nine brushes, three each of fine medium and thick qualities, are prescribed for every colour, though for yellow the use of only thick brush is ordained.

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⁶⁷ *Mānasollāsa*, II, 1, 14
68. *Samarāṅgaṇa Sūtradhāra*, Vol. II, p. 259, ss. 12—19.

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⁶⁹ *Mānasollāsa*, II, 1, 145—148.

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⁷⁰ *Ib.*, s. 146.

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⁷² *Chitralakṣaṇa*, ss. 53—58.

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Fig. 165

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Fig. 166

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Fig. 167

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Fig. 168

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In the Mughal period, the selection of brushes was made very carefully. If the brush was hard and did not clot when dipped in water, it could not be used in drawing sweeping curves, an essential feature of Mughal painting. The following method is followed by a few painters, still working in the Mughal style.

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In making the selection of suitable hair for the manufacture of brushes, the painter keeps two prerequisites in view; firstly, only that hair should be used that clots when dipped in water, and, secondly, it should not be extra soft or hard. The hair of Persian cat, she-buffalo, goat, and squirrel, satisfies the above-mentioned conditions, and, therefore, used for making brushes. The favourite brushes of the Mughal painters are made from the hair of a squirrel's tail, because it is easily obtainable and makes an excellent brush. It should, however, be kept in mind that, while selecting the hair of a squirrel, its tip should be black; the hair with a white point does not clot properly and hence is useless for the purpose of brush-making. It is necessary, therefore, to select young squirrels whose downy hair serves the purpose very well. Wetting the tail of a squirrel, the hair is gathered and cut with a sharp instrument in the shape of a barley corn. Next, the hair is passed through feather quills cleansed from inside and wetted from one end and taken out from the other. Generally, the quills obtained from the feathers of a pigeon serve the purpose well, though for thicker brushes peacock feather quills are used. Finally handles are attached. Brushes of various degrees of fineness, equivalent to 00, 0, 1, 2 and 5 of the modern brushes for water-colour painting, are made.

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Different kinds of brushes are used for the purpose of outlining, colouring, stippling and finishing. For painting pearls and dotting, a brush with a roundish point is used. For painting hair, a very fine brush, with only a few hair, is employed. If the point of an ordinary brush is extra sharp, then it is removed with a pen knife.

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A painter is expected to observe certain rules, which, if properly observed while wielding the brush, impart beauty to lines and colours. Thus, it is expected of a good painter that he wields his brush with light but steady hand. If he uses his brush very firmly, the painting may be technically perfect, but is devoid of that lyrical feeling which is the very life-breath of Mughal art. There should not be breaks in strokes. In using the brush, the following defects should also be avoided: (1) The brush should not be used roughly. (2) It should not be shaken off indiscriminately, as the colour sticking to the brush is sure to fall on the painting. (3) There should not be any break or weakness in drawing.

Linked texts (4)