Burnishing Gold on Thangka

I ended up sitting down to work on my White Tara Thangka and worked for 5 hours flat out and forgot to take breaks. So my hand and wrist needed some rest and I'm back on the job today. But here are some photos of my progress.

When you buy the gold in India it isn't gold leaf as you might expect and the application process is very different. It comes in little gold droplets, then you slowly mix with water to create a paste in a smooth round container (ideally made of stone). Then you add a bit of glue as binder and adhesive, then more water till the mixture looks right. Then the mixture is heated slowly and carefully till it's ready, after that it can usually be reactivated (within reason) by adding a few drops of water and mixing it, but it is best not to allow it to dry out. Then it is applied like paint, with a brush. It's a slow and painstaking process, painting with gold is a unique experience because you're very mindful of how precious and expensive the material is. It has to be mixed and applied correctly or it will flake off when the thangka is rolled up, or when you attempt to burnish or "shine" it.

That where this part of the process comes in. When gold is applied like paint it is dull and has a lackluster appearance at first, like yellow ocher. It has to be burnished or shined to get it to its full brilliance and effect.

So as painstaking and wrist cramping as detailed painting with it was, you have to do it all over again to get the full effect.

The most effective tool for this is, oddly enough, an empty ballpoint pen. Because without ink it's basically a minuscule ball burnisher.

You need a light but sure touch to get the job done right and too much pressure can cause the gold to flake off the painting.

You'll never have a greater appreciation for how truly soft this metal is until you've done this and seen how the lightest touch can make it glow and the slightest error can completely screw it up.

But shining the gold is completely addictive and rewarding, I didn't stop at 5 hours because I was tired and my wrist was killing me, I stopped because I ran out of gold I could shine.

There's more to be done, like her jewelry and the giant pure gold aura (I'm excited about that), but there's inking to be done and a design transfer before I can get back to shining.

So here are some more photos taken throughout the process

In the above photo it's easy to see the difference shining the gold makes, the central bunch of leaves/fruit has been shined whereas the bunches of leaves/fruit off the the left have not.

In the above photo the gold brocade detailing on the dark blue section of her robes has been shined on the left but not yet on the right

So the lotus throne is looking much better now!

Stay tuned for more updates soon!