In Vishnudharmottara Purana, chapter 41, verses 9-12, the goal of painting is mentioned as follows – ‘The lines (Rekha), Shades (Vartana), Decoration ( Bhusana), and the color (the Varna) should be known as decorative. The master praises the Linework, the intelligent person praises lights and shades, Women like the display of ornaments, and the rest of the people like the richness of colors.
Considering that, great care should be taken in the work of painting, so that it may capture the minds of all persons.’
Lessons for modern artist
Vishnudharmottara Purana teaches modern art students, that To create a good painting, artist must put his efforts in these four areas – The lines (Rekha), Shades (Vartana), Decoration ( Bhusana), and the color (the Varna).
The Lines – Any artwork starts with the drawing basic shapes. Then by merging basic shapes, complex shapes are created. The lines can be thick or thin , straight or curvy. There can be variation of widths for the stroke. Depending on the lines, viewer gets idea about quality of the drawing.
Above painting is two thousand years old, situated at Kailsh temple at Ellora in India. Even if it is very ancient, still linework is so finely done, that it appears as if it is done today.
2. Shades – Shading is done to show effect of light on the surface. Effect of shading is required in painting, everything on the earth is illuminated by the Sun. Because of this, each and every thing on earth is having three areas – highlights, midtones and shadow. Highlights are the brightest part of the object, Shadow is the darkest part and midtones are the inbetween area of the two.
This is a painting of Tara who is wife of Boddhisattava Padmapani. This painting is situated at Ajanta in India. Here shading of the face can be observed. Ancient artist has shown darker areas under her crown and face is illuminated with brighter areas on her foreground, cheeks and nose. Same way shading is done for the crown. Shading makes the painting more appealing to the viewer and also it brings realism if it is done correctly. The experienced artist knows how to do subtle shading so the transitions of the colors are smooth. In case of Ajanta paintings, shadings are subtle and transitions are smooth.
3. Bhushana ( Decoration ) – In case of painting of Tara (above painting) , Her crown and ornaments are there to decorate the painting in general. In every ajanta painting, there are such elements added by artists, that bring aesthetic to the design It can be golden flowers, shapes of tree branches, ornaments, crowns or any other element.
In above painting, A king is shown wearing various types of ornaments. Addition to that, Artist has shown some ornaments hanging over the King. This arrangement is considered as Bhushana ( Decoration) as per Vishnudharmottara Purana.
4) Colors – In Modern world, Colors play important role to showcase emotion in the design. Red signal tells everybody to stop, Green signal tells to start the journey. In case of painting, color combinations can bring feeling of harmony to the viewer. After all the purpose of the painting is to bring peace and happiness to the viewer. To serve this purpose, right color combinations must be selected by an artist. What is wrong color combination? For example, Water of sea is purple and sky is green. That will bring confusion in the minds of the viewer. What is this painting all about? Hence Vishnudharmottara purana gives emphasis on selecting right colors for the painting.
Above painting is ceiling of one of the ajanta monastery. Here Artists has used bright colors for painting stripes and dark colors for the background. Red and green are opposite colors which are used in this area. The green is bright blue green. There is yet another color combination is used here. Blue and orange are opposite colors used in this area. light orange is used for stripes and for background dark blue is used. So it is very important to select right color combinations to bring harmony in the painting.
5) Emotions – So Vishnudharmottara Purana gives emphasis on exceling at all four aspects of painting mentioned above. It also tells that, a painting must arouse emotion in the minds of all persons. Mind of the viewer must be filled with the thoughts of the painting. It also means that there has to be clarity in the message. Only then a right emotion can be aroused. Eg. Mother is carrying a child and child is laughing. Here Bonding of both is portrayed.A viewer feels the love in the mind. On the other hand, if some abstract figures are drawn with the some colors on it, it may confuse the viewer. If a viewer doesnt understand what a particular painting is about, then it is a failture of an artist to convey his message clearly.
In natyashastra, The feelings of Rati is mentioned. It means getting the loved one or object of pleasure. That time a person feels Rati. In above painting, King and queen are feeling Rati . It is clear as they looked into each other eyes and very close to each other. Such emotion of love is projected at high level in this painting . Compared to these couple, other people in the paintings are shown thoughtful and calm. This is the skill of an artist to show right Bhava or sentiment. Such sentiment depends upon the situation and persons in the story. A good artist knows how to evoke right emotion in the painting. Ajanta paintings are the best examples of such presentation of sentiments.
Paintings at Ajanta inspire people to learn about the high moral values of Buddhism. Ajanta paintings captured the minds of all for many centuries, from people around the world and it continues to impress young minds today.
