IN a studio on the top floor of a three-story Tibetan-style house in Lhasa, capital of Southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, Phuntsok Tobgye and his apprentices are busy working on a thangka painting measuring more than 10 meters in length and nearly three meters in width.

The painting, featuring mainly warm green tones, depicts Tibet’s breathtaking scenic beauty and many famous attractions like Potala Palace. “Do not grind the thangka pigments too hard, otherwise its color will lighten,” Phuntsok Tobgye instructed his apprentices while holding a coloring bowl.

Phuntsok Tobgye, 49, hails from Tsedong Village in the city of Xigaze and is one of the inheritors of Tsedong Thangka. It is a branch of the Miantang painting, the most influential school of Tibetan thangka painting since the 15th century, which was included in the national intangible cultural heritage list in 2006.

With the unremitting efforts of thangka painters like Phuntsok Tobgye, the intangible heritage skills have been passed to younger generations, with their works reaching a bigger audience.

Tsedong Village has a tradition of painting thangka. When he was a child, Phuntsok Tobgye developed an interest in thangka paintings hung in the homes of the villagers. He started sketching the landscape of his hometown and portraying the stories told by his parents. After primary school, he began to learn thangka painting.

In the beginning, his master asked him to draw on a white powder-covered blackboard on his lap. His drawing hand was not allowed to touch the board to avoid messing up the white powder.

“Sometimes, I practiced with the same pose for more than 10 hours a day,” he recalled, adding that rigorous training helped him acquire the essential skills.

At 18, he came to Lhasa, where he learned from other thangka masters, helped repair the murals in the Potala Palace, and got in touch with different thangka styles.

“I had always longed to see the murals in the Potala Palace. The restoration project made my dream come true,” Phuntsok Tobgye said.

As he continued to learn and practice, his works began to be displayed at various exhibitions, including one in Beijing and one in Vancouver, Canada. His solo thangka exhibition held in Lhasa in June 2015 attracted nearly 1,000 visitors on its opening day and his works gained popularity among art collectors.

Sonam Wangden, Phuntsok Tobgye’s son, is learning thangka painting from his father with other apprentices. The 24-year-old said his father is constantly busy on the canvas.

Not only Phuntsok Tobgye’s son but many of his relatives paint thangkas. Phuntsok Tobgye is proud. “I am getting older, but such traditional skills will live on in the hands of the young.”

(Xinhua)