6. Materials for Colours Used in Painting

Selection of proper material for the creation of colours is important in Painting.

In the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, [the following] materials are seen to be used to make colours^[1] , viz.,

1. kanaka i.e., gold^[2] ,
2. rajata i.e., silver^[3] ,
3. tāmra i.e., copper^[4] ,
4. abhrakaṃ [abhraka] i.e., mica^[5] ,
5. rājavanta,
6. sindūra or hiṅgulaka i.e., vermilion,^[6]
7. trapu i.e., tin^[7] ,
8. haritāla i.e., orpiment^[8] ,
9. sudhā i.e., lime,
10. lākṣā i.e., lac^[9] ,
11. nīla i.e., indigo^[10] etc.

It is illustrated in this book that a picture of red lotus should be beautifully painted with white lac and coated with lac and resin.^[11]

The colours have two categories viz.,

1. primary or natural and
2. mixed or artificial.

The Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa shows light on both of these two.

a) Primary Colours:

In the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, five colours are regarded as the primary ones^[12] , viz.,

1. śveta i.e., white^[13] ,
2. pīta i.e., yellow^[14] ,
3. colour of vilomata i.e., the emblic myrobalan^[15] ,
4. kṛṣṇa i.e., black^[16] and
5. nīla i.e., dark blue^[17] .

But according to the Nāṭyaśāstra, black, yellow, blue and red are the original colours.^[18]

b) Mixed Colours:

Mixing of colours is a great technique used by the artists to make numerous shades of colours. According to the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, a painter can create hundreds or thousands of colours by amalgamating the primary colours.^[19] As for example- palāśa i.e., the green colour^[20] is created with the mixture of blue and yellow. The Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa says that the quantity of yellow colour should be more than that of the blue.^[21] Moreover, many shades of a particular colour also can be created by increasing or decreasing the quantity of the white part in the mixture.^[22] Thus, different shades of green could be made. For example—dūrvā i.e., panic grass^[23] , kapittha i.e., wood apple^[24] and mudga i.e a kind of kidney bean^[25] —all of which are basically green in colour but shows their colour in light and dark shades of green.^[26] The colour of nilotpala i.e., the blue lotus^[27] and māṣa i.e., bean^[28] can be created when blue is amalgamated with light whitish yellow in more, less or in equal.^[29] So, it can be said that, appropriate selection, proportion and distribution of colours are very necessary to get different shades of colours. The idea of which has been pointed out in the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

raṅgadravyāṇi kanakaṃ rajataṃ tāmrameva ca/ abhrakaṃ rājavantaṃ ca sindūraṃ trapureva ca// haritālaṃ sudhā lākṣā tathā hiṅgulakaṃ nṛpa/ nīlaṃ ca manujaśreṣṭha tathānye santyanekaśaḥ// Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, 3.40.25-26

[2]:

Arthur A. Macdonell, A Sanskrit English Dictionary, p.62

[3]:

V.S Apte, The student’s Sanskrit English Dictionary, p.462

[4]:

Arthur A. Macdonell, A Sanskrit English Dictionary, p.108

[5]:

V.S Apte, The student’s Sanskrit English Dictionary, p.44

[6]:

Ibid., p.640

[7]:

V.S Apte, The student’s Sanskrit English Dictionary, p.240

[8]:

Ibid., p.636

[9]:

Ibid., p.479

[10]:

Ibid., p.302

[11]:

lākṣayā śvetayā yuktā lākṣārodhrapinaddhayā/ raktā raktotpalaśyāmā cchavirbhavati śobhanā/ Ibid., 3.40.23-24

[12]:

mūlaraṅgāḥ smṛtāḥ pañca śvetaḥ pīto vilomataḥ/ kṛṣṇo nīlaśca rājendra śataśontarataḥ smṛtāḥ// Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, 3.40.16

[13]:

Arthur A. Macdonell, A Sanskrit English Dictionary, p.323

[14]:

Ibid., p.163

[15]:

V.S Apte, The student’s Sanskrit English Dictionary, p.520

[16]:

Ibid., p.161

[17]:

Arthur A. Macdonell, A Sanskrit English Dictionary, p.146

[18]:

sito nīlaśca pītaśca caturtho rakta eva ca/ ete svabhāvajā varṇā……………// Nāṭyaśāstra, 23.73

[19]:

svabuddhyā kārayedraṅgāñśataśo’tha sahasraśaḥ/ Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, 3.40.17

[20]:

V.S Apte, The student’s Sanskrit English Dictionary, p.327

[21]:

nīlapītavyatikṛtiḥ palāśa iti śasyate/ Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, 3.40.18

[22]:

ekādhikaṃ ca bhavati cchavīnāmanurūpataḥ/ svetādhiko vā nyūno vā samāṃśaśceti sa tridhā// Ibid., 3.40.19

[23]:

V.S Apte, The student’s Sanskrit English Dictionary, p.257

[24]:

Ibid., p.132

[25]:

Ibid., p.442

[26]:

tena dūrvākurā………kapitthaharitaḥ śubhāḥ/ mudgaśyāmaprakṛtayaḥ kartavyāśchavayo nṛpaḥ/ Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, 3.40.20-21

[27]:

V.S Apte, The student’s Sanskrit English Dictionary, p.302

[28]:

Ibid., p.438

[29]:

nīla pāṇḍurasampṛkto viraṅgaḥ so’pyanekadhā/ anyonyābhyadhikaṃ nyūnaṃ samāṃśavaśakalpanā/ tena nīlotpalanibhā māṣasacchāyasuprabhā/ Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, 3.40.21-22