Thanguan 2

Jiwan surprised me on our first working day when he said he would like me to draw a set of 35 Buddhas on a wall space about 2.5 meters high and 2 meters wide.

.

Our workspace: Jiwan to the left of the window, me to the right

.

I was expecting to paint simple things, like vines of flowers along the borders of the walls. I wasn't expecting to compose such a large piece of work. But as I've had lots of practice drawing Buddhas, it wasn't such a huge departure. All I had to do was draw larger than I've been accustomed.

the central figure, first drawn

Once I completed the central figure, Dechen and Phuntsok arrived and the three of us together completed the other 34 smaller Buddhas, using a stenciling technique to quickly reproduce identical images. Once the Buddhas were completed, we then added in a similar fashion the seats and then using hand-made compasses the sun and moon.

stenciling in charcoal dust

pencilling over the charcoal

Jiwan, meanwhile, was composing a painting of Guru Rimpoche and his 26 disciples.

In the same amount of time, he completed 27 different figures while the three of us completed only two originals and 33 copies.

(almost) completed 35 Buddhas

Jiwan's Guru Rinpoche & 26 Disciples (minus one, I believe)

#