There are many reasons to learn the art of Thangka, the obvious being that you are a practicing Buddhist and want to increase your knowledge and wisdom.

However, learning Thangka is not just limited to Buddhists, many people from all walks of life can benefit from the the skill.

All good Thangka painters should study other forms of art to try to understand how feelings, thoughts and emotions are expressed in different mediums and cultures.  Likewise, practicing aritsts or art students will get immense benefit from studying a form of art that has spent millenia exploring the most profound thoughts of the mind and expressing this into colours, forms and shapes.

Although often conceived as formal and dogmatic, the true essence of Thangka is the complete opposite, and allows freedom to explore the mind in truly meaningful ways and then represent it upon a canvas.

The grid system, which all Thangkas are based on, may seem to the uninitiated as stifling and restrictive, but actually it's this very rigid structure that enables the true essence of the mind to be channeled outwards.

Drawing a set of Buddha's eyes may seem like a simple task, yet drawing a pair of Buddha's that capture the wisdom of all the Buddha's and your understanding of that wisdom can take a lifetime of work.

This practice of creating congruence between the mind and the outter image is what Master painters all over the world have perfected, regardless of their lineage or style.  It is this quality that makes the study of Thangka so beneficial for all artists.