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Traditional Kamasan Style |
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Before the 1920's and 1930's Balinese painting was limited to religious applications, calendars and Wayung Kulit: leather shadow puppet theatre. The subject matter of the paintings were charactarized by serialized stories about religion or classical Hindu-Bhuddist culture. The main use of painting was as adornment for temples and collections by local rulers. The paintings illustrated many scenes of a story on a single, large canvas, giving the pieces a crowded and busy texture, but telling a story from beginning to end.
This classical, or Kamasan painting style, named for the village where it originated, utilized muted colors and strong outlines, with figures painted either in profile or three-quarters view. Materials used were derived from mineral and vegtable sources, using ground animal bone for whites, soot additives for grey tones, clay and ground stone for colors. Brushes were handmade from bamboo, and canvases were usually tree bark, wood, or locally produced cloth treated with paste and burnished with a shell. |
