Vastu-shastra (Vol. I: Hindu Science of Architecture; Vol. II: Hindu Canons of Iconography and Painting) v2.c77.118

v2.c77.118

One of the principal elements in the production of pictures is what we have called it Vartanā, the display of light and shade along with the equally important element, the Rekhā, the delineation and articulation of form. Both these elements are very much dependent for their fuller representation upon a set of three other accessories in the pictorial art. They are technically called Kṣaya and Vṛddhi—decrease and increase,—the science of fore-shortening, the fundamental norm in painting without which neither delineation and articulation of form nor the display of light and shade can be fully represented. Equally important is the law of proportion, the Pramāṇa, also. Dr. Kramrisch remarks (cf. the V. D. Translation—Introduction, page 14) “Fore-shortening (Kṣaya and Vṛddhi) and proportion (pramāṇa) constitute with regard to single figures, the working of observation and tradition. The law of Kṣaya and Vṛddhi was as intensely studied by the ancient Indian painter as was perspective by the early Italian masters. Pramāṇa, on the other hand, was the standardized canon, valid for the upright standing figure and to be modified by every bent and turn”.