History of Tanjore Painting:

Tanjore painting is nearly four hundred years old.The invasion of the maratha rule in southindia (1600- 1800 ad), with its head quarters in tanjore, marks the of age of the distinctive style of "tanjore painting". The royal maratha aritsts combines the existing mural style with the amazing details, rich texture and elegance of  the mughal miniature, creating thus , what is known today as tanjore painting. This essentially consists of a fairly small painting done on handmade paper, uusually depicting gods, sometimes royal portriats. Then they were characterised  by exsquisite workmanship, and all details like jewellry and clothing were  picked out with pure gold leaf.

As it increased in popularity, tanjore painting found its way into the hearts and homes of the devout and the wealthy and the paintings were  lavished with gold and precious stones like emeralds, rubies etc. The british rule in india(1800- 1947 ad), brought  into tanjore painting a small measure of western concept of three dimensionality ( which is different from the orient).

Today tanjore painting is eagerly collected not only by the the devout but  art lovers, both of the modern and traditional.

Techniques in Tanjore Painting:

Materials Required:

• Plywood, in required dimensions.
• Cotton cloth.
• Neem gum.
• Iron Oxide
• Chalk Powder
• Precious or semi-precious stones.
• 24 carat Gold Foil
• Watercolor,distemper,sand paper and gel pens.

Steps in Tanjore Painting:

• Stick cotton cloth to the plywood.
• Mix Neemgum, Iron oxide and chalk powder.Apply 6 to 10 coatings of this mixture to the plywood.
• Sketch the outlines roughly and stick stones as required.
• Mix Neemgum, Chalkpowder and fevicol.Pour these mixture on the stones.
• Let it dry for atleast 5 hours or even a day.
• Wash these surfaces with sponge cloth to relieve stones.
• Stick gold foil to the required places.
• Apply distemper.
• Scratch with sand paper only in the painted area to make a smooth surface.
• Draw other details and apply watercolor.
• Use gel pens to highlight the gold foil areas.

More information on Tajore Paintings at Wikipedia

Tips for Beginners:

• In Acrylic,if you have to leave your palette for more than a few moments, try covering the paint with a lightly dampened paper towel. If the separation is for more than 20 minutes, seal the palette in an airtight container, with the dampened paper towel over the paint. Some artists use atomizers to mist the palette during their painting process.
• For blending in gouache medium,use arabic gum instead of water.
• In order to create gradual tints always add hue to white and for gradual shades always add black to the hue.
• Washes are diluted colors that are applied over a given area. They are usually applied on dry paper for better control. They can be the same value and color or they can change for control blending.
• For flat washes in watercolor, load the brush with color, then tilt the support board slightly and make a horizontal stroke. Quickly reload the brush and make another stroke below and slightly overlapping the first stroke. The color should flow downward evenly. Repeat this procedure and the result will be overall wash of color.
• Gouache and Acrylic dry darker.So always choose a lighter value while painting or use test strips.
• In Pastel, use Q-tips to blend colors in sand paper if your skin is too soft.