18th century of Thanjavoor under martha rule

During the 18th century under martha rule Thanjavoor in Tamil Nadu evolved a new style of painting that fused element from the idioms of the earlier nayaka and vijayanagara dynasties with deccan aesthetics and marginal european influence. This style now known as the Tanjore Style,involve painting on a board, the chubby figures of krishna and other hindu deities, with a slight indications of shading by means of graded tones near the outlines and highlighting the details of clothing and ornaments by raised work in stucco covered with gold leaf, semi precious stones and pearls. The artists became the most popular form of art among the aristrocrats through the ninteenth and twenteeth centuries.
The creation of the painting
The creation of this painting involves a lots of dedication and several stages of meticulous work of art. The first step involves creating a base. The base is made up of a cloth pasted over a wooden or a plywood base. Then a paste of chalk powder or a zinc oxide mixed with some water soluble adhesive is applied on the board.To create a smoother board a mild adhesive can be used. After this begins the image making process. A preliminary sketch of god is made on the board. After the drawing is made decoration of the jewellery and the apparel is done with semi precious stones. Semi relief work is done with a paste of chalk powder and arabic gum . Laces or threads are used to decorate the jewellery. On top of this, the gold foil is pasted. Finally dyes are used to add vibrant colors to the figures in the paintings. A beautiful frame is then seleced to accentuate the beauty of the painting.