Vastu-shastra (Vol. I: Hindu Science of Architecture; Vol. II: Hindu Canons of Iconography and Painting) v2.c77.86

v2.c77.86

“The texts on painting like the Citrasūtra in the Viṣṇudharmottara, the chapters on painting in the Abhilaṣitārthacintāmaṇi and the Śivatatvaratnākara and the Citralakṣaṇa chapter of the Śilparatna, etc. give a list of the various tints got by mixing primary colours. It is remarkable that Bāṇa has set at naught the limited colour variety of these texts and given out in his catalogue of innumerable tints that deep and close study of nature which had enabled him to grasp the extreme subtlety of difference between tint and tint. In spite of the limited number of colours stated the texts on painting are not unacquainted with subtle differences in the same colour. The Śilparatna gives three gradations of red—Sindūra for light red, Gairika (mountain-born) red (mineral chalks) for a middle tint and Lākṣā (lac) juice for a deep colour. The Abhilaṣitārthacintāmaṇi and the Śivatattvaratnākara tell us that vermilion is for reddish brown, and red lac or sap, red sanders and mountain-born chalks are for crimson tint. They echo Bāṇa's statements. White and black give the grey of smoke; blue and white the colour of the pigeon similar to the Rājāvarta and the hemp-flower. Red mountain chalk and conch powder give a peculiar pale red (Dhūmracchāya). Darada (vermilion) mixed with white gives the pale red of the red-lily while Alaktaka (red lac or sap) combined with white gives the colour of the sun’s horses. The difference is very slight here. Pure indigo (Nīlī) of the colour of the blue lily gives a green tint when mixed with yellow pigment. Red lac with lamp-black gives a dark brown and with blue the colour of the Jambū fruit. The tints got by mixing primary colours—like smoke grey, pigeon colour, the different varieties of red, brown, green and the colour of the Jambū fruit are clearly given by Bāṇa. The variegated hue to which he refers is given by the Śilparatna as a convenient colour for artists; but according to Śrīkumāra it is got by mixing red, black and yellow in equal proportions Red and yellow give the colour of Bakula flowers which Bāṇa describes as Dhusara (tawny). This is the same as flame colour. There are also other varieties of red given in the Śilparatna. The green of the parrot's wing described by Bāṇa as not dissimilar from that of the plantain leaf is got by a mixture of Haritala (yellow) and blue; and the purple of the Jambū fruit so cleverly described by the parrot in the Kādambarī is the result of the union of red lac and blue. The yellowish white of the inner petals of the Ketaki flower noted by Bāṇa is the type of white got by mixing Haritāla and conch-powder as laid down in the Abhilaṣitārthacintamaṇi. The rosy colour of the pigeon’s leg in the Kādambarī is the ‘Gaura’ type of rosy white in the Śilparatna, which is the same as the Saurāśvasadṛśaprabha (colour of the sun's horses) of the Abhilaṣitārthacintāmaṇi and the Śivatattvaratnākara, though the ‘Gaura’ of these books is slightly different from that of the Śilparatna being got by mixing red and yellow instead of red and white. The piṅgala type of yellow, that Bāṇa states as the colour of honey, is not the result of a mixture of white and yellow in the proportion of one is to two that the Śilparatna gives. It is a tawny colour—more red than yellow—something like Piñjara which is defined by the Haimakośa as Pītarakta. Bāṇa gives the Piñjara type of reddish brown as the colour of ripe paddy fields a really true observation; and this colour is lighter than that of honey which has a greater proportion of red. This might be the same as the Atirakta of the Śilparatna with yellow and red in the proportion of one is to two. The variegated colour of deer, tigers, peacocks, tittiries, etc., as given by Bāṇa is quite in accordance with the rule of the Abhilaṣitārthacintāmaṇi and the Śivatattvaratnākara that holds the use of different colours for the effect of the animals absolutely necessary. It might be two colours or three or more."