Carmen Mensink is an internationally renowned painter of thangkas, the traditional Tibetan scroll paintings of Buddhas and mandalas. For this special retreat she will travel oversees to teach you how to draw or paint a Buddha, by using the ancient grid-proportions of her lineage as a helpful tool.

 Carmen’s personal approach and guidance makes this retreat suitable for students on all levels.

Beginner thangka students -even those with no drawing experience whatsoever!- will first learn to draw the Face of the Buddha before moving onto a complete Buddha, choosing from The Buddha (Buddha Shakyamuni) or Medicine Buddha (the Buddha of Healing). More advanced students (who have already taken classes with Carmen onsite or online) may focus on Green Tara (The Mother of all Buddhas) as the subject for this course.

During this retreat, all steps of a thangka drawing and painting will be covered.

After you have drawn your Buddha (with an optional landscape) you will learn to use different colored pencil techniques to work out your drawing. You are also very welcome to work with other materials that you like, e.g. watercolor, ink, pastel.

Your drawing can also be worked out with the special thangka painting techniques, but this is more advisable for advanced students as it takes a very long time to create a traditional thangka.

This is ‘not just your regular art class’ as Carmen’s students always say. In addition to the art sessions there will be guided meditations as well as lectures/presentations on tradition of thangka painting, symbolism of Buddhas, meaning of mantras, and much more.

Because of her inspired approach, Carmen knows how to bring out the best in you,and you will return home with your own beautiful Buddha drawing or painting.

If you want to create meaningful art in a meditative setting, and a joyful experience that lasts much longer than the course itself, this is the retreat for you!