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Rasa School of Fine Arts

Rasa Institute of Analytics · Chennai

Drawing and painting, from a first line to a finished panel

The Rasa School of Fine Arts teaches Thanjavur painting from basic to advanced, and six other studio courses: acrylic, pen and ink, pencil shading, graphite drawing, watercolour and oil. You work in the room, with the material in your hand. Batches run at Purasawalkam and Saligramam. Call +91 98843 63200.

Learners from about 10 years of age may join the studio courses. A parent or guardian enrols anyone under 18. Hand-painted Thanjavur work sits here. AI in Thanjavur Art is a separate course for documentation and study aids. It does not replace this studio.

Basic to advanced · hand work

Thanjavur Painting

A studio path in Thanjavur (Tanjore) painting, from a first board and a simple figure to a finished panel with relief, gold and colour. The work is done by hand. AI in Thanjavur Art is a separate course for documentation and study aids.

  • What a Thanjavur panel is: a devotional picture on a prepared board, with raised ornament, gold and stones or beads
  • Board, cloth and ground, and how a drawing is transferred
  • Figure layout, attributes and a border that belongs to the tradition
  • Gesso relief, gold foil, and a first setting of stones on a study panel
  • Colour in flat areas, then a finished panel reviewed in the studio
  • Handling, a material note, and framing a completed study

Basic

  • History of the tradition in plain language, and the tools on the table
  • Prepare a small board and transfer a supplied drawing
  • A simple figure in pencil, then flat colour

Intermediate

  • Jewellery and ornament in low relief
  • Gold foil on a sealed ground, and how to keep it from lifting
  • A study border and a first stone or bead setting

Advanced

  • One complete panel: figure, attributes, border, gold and finish
  • A short log of materials and the corrections made after review
  • Framing and care. This is not a licence to sell sacred images as machine-made work

Enquire about Thanjavur Painting

Water-based colour on canvas

Acrylic Painting

Acrylic is pigment held in a synthetic binder. It thins with water, brushes wash in water, and the paint dries quickly. After it dries, the film resists water. A finished canvas can be rolled and stored with less fear of the cracking that a hard oil film can suffer in transit.

  • How acrylic differs from oil: water instead of solvent, a faster dry, and a tougher dry film
  • Supports, grounds, brushes and a stay-wet palette
  • Opaque passages and thin glazes, and why you plan the dry time
  • A still life or a simple landscape carried to a finished study
  • Varnish only after the film is fully dry, and only when the instructor asks for it

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Ink with a pen or a brush

Pen Drawing

Every class uses ink. You put it down with a pen or a brush. Ink stays put, it can describe many kinds of mark, and a drawing in line reproduces cleanly. The course runs from a first controlled line to work that can be framed.

  • Nibs, fine-liners and a brush, and how pressure changes the line
  • Contour, hatching, cross-hatching and stipple
  • Planning a drawing that will not be erased
  • One finished drawing each student can frame
  • Two small drawings made with the class

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Tone, form and space

Pencil Shading

Shading builds a sense of space and form. It serves both graphite and colour pencil. Darker grades such as B and 2B carry the shadows. Hard grades such as H and 2H stay too pale for the darkest tones.

  • How the pencil moves, how to measure, and freehand construction
  • Landscape, portrait, figure, devotional subjects, and animals or birds
  • Hatching, cross-hatching and half-tone
  • Studies in charcoal pencil, marker pencil, and pencil on textured paper
  • A value scale before any finished picture

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Graphite, grade by grade

Pencil Drawing

The classes use graphite, the grey material in a pencil, often called lead. Grades run from hard to soft. HB sits in the middle and is the familiar number 2 pencil. B pencils are softer and darker, from B up to 9B.

  • What the letters on a pencil mean, and which grade to pick up
  • Line, edge, pressure and a clean point
  • Construction of simple objects, then a still life
  • When to move to a softer pencil, and when a harder one keeps a detail light
  • A finished graphite drawing with a full range of tone

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Washes and light on paper

Watercolour Painting

Watercolour is a demanding medium with a clear reward: transparent washes and luminous colour. The paint looks simple. It becomes manageable when the washes, the paper and the timing are practised in order. Learners from about 10 years of age may join. A parent or guardian enrols anyone under 18.

  • Paper, stretching, and why the white of the paper is a colour
  • Flat wash, graded wash, wet-on-wet and wet-on-dry
  • A limited palette and mixing without mud
  • Edges: lost, found, and left alone
  • A small finished sheet, with the studies that led to it

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Fat over lean, in a ventilated room

Oil Painting

Oil paint leaves the tube thick. The first layers are made leaner with a small amount of white spirit or turpentine. Later layers take a painting medium such as linseed oil. The rule is fat over lean: a more flexible layer over a leaner one, so the film is less likely to crack. Buy a few colours you will use, and buy brushes on their own. A set that bundles weak paint with poor brushes wastes the first weeks.

  • A short set of round, flat and filbert brushes, in more than one size, with hog bristle for the heavier paint
  • Easel, apron and a drop cloth before any paint is opened
  • Lean underpainting, then a richer layer
  • White spirit or turpentine only in a ventilated room, kept off the skin, and never in a drinking cup
  • Solvent rags laid flat to dry or kept in a closed metal bin, because oily rags can heat up
  • A still life carried from a thin start to a finished passage

Enquire about Oil Painting

Explore related RIA programmes

School of Fine Arts
Thanjavur Painting
Acrylic Painting
Pen Drawing
Pencil Shading
Pencil Drawing
Watercolour Painting
Oil Painting
AI in Thanjavur Art

Ready to start a studio course?

Enquire for Thanjavur painting or another studio course at Purasawalkam or Saligramam. Call +91 98843 63200.

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Across every course

Seminars, workshops and faculty development

The same formats sit on any RIA subject. Name the course and the room — a faculty programme, a seminar, a workshop, an internship, or help with a project.

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