The Broken Line

Recently, I was shown a small work on paper, which could have been a miniature painting, only that it was not. It was a wonderfully painted ...

Recently, I was shown a small work on paper, which could have been a miniature painting, only that it was not. It was a wonderfully painted portrait of a woman, bejewelled and reflective, identical to a large, well-known oil on canvas by Ravi Varma and I had this problem of deciding whether it was an original or not. The painter had not used oils but water-based colours. His application of paint was opaque and the surface of the woman8217;s figure had been painted with tiny strokes, many lines smashed into smithereens, many broken lines.

There are various ways of painting with water-based paints. The result is that the definition of the medium and method changes. Delicate washes of colour on pale or white paper has been the favourite of English watercolourists. The paper shimmers through the thin layers of paint. There are, of course, areas where paint is more densely applied.

Fourteenth century Italian painters developed the technique of egg tempera, which involved the mixing of egg, water and pigment. Shading and modulations of colour are not always possible with water-based paints as they dry fast. Painters therefore resort to hatching, which is a series of lines of varying length and thickness, depending on the requirement of the image. The Italians call the process 8216;tratteggio8217;, where the use of fine lines brings out the light and shade effect, chiaroscuro. They also call it 8216;rigatini8217;, a pattern of fine lines. Indian painters did not know the use of oil paints until the Europeans brought the technique to India in the 18th century. Generally, traditional painters also used gum tempera. The gum is an extract from the acacia tree. Indian art treatises refer to 8216;raikhika8217; or hatching, 8216;patra8217; or cross-hatching and 8216;binduja8217;, dotting or stippling.

There is universality to many aesthetic concepts. Our painters, too, worked with hatching when they wanted to create the illusion of depth, volume or light and shade. The murals in Kerala temples are exquisite examples. Black lines8212;curved, straight, thick and thin, painted over green, yellow or red, or different permutations of these colours, create volume and realism. They also give the semblance of an extended colour range, when in effect, the palette is limited.

One of the procedures utilised in restoration is 8216;inpainting8217; or 8216;retouching8217;. A loss of original paint in a particular area is filled in with a matching colour. At times, the loss can be in an area where the details are lost, with no way of knowing what was originally there. Restorers do not invent details from imagination but instead use tratteggio, fine lines of colour in order to give the illusion of completeness. Hatching requires great discipline, patience and an eye for detail. It is not for someone who enjoys spontaneity or wishes to paint quickly. Ravi Varma, who generally painted with oils, completed an average-sized painting in two or three weeks. Watercolour was not a technique he favoured, even though there are several paintings in existence. But these have all been painted in broad washes of colour in the manner of the English watercolourists and not in the traditional tempera method using hatching.

If there is such a painting of Ravi Varma in existence, I hope someone will let me know.