The application of colour to the thangka canvas involved two main steps first, filling in the areas of different base colours, and second, the subsequent shading and outlining of those areas. To these steps there corresponded the two essentially different types of paint in the Tibetan palette Mineral pigments (rdo tshon and sa tshon) and The organic dyes or lakes (tshos) The mineral pigments had to be mixed with a binder before being applied as paints. .