The making of... The Snow Lion

The Snow Lion (གངས་སེང་གེ།) brings the gift of strength. Its armour is detailed and impenetrable, its roar embodies the sound of courage and truth. It does not fly up the mountain, but its feet do not touch the ground. The Snow Lion’s appearance mimics the snowy glaciers and landscape around it, and when required, it will produce healing milk from its paws.

ILLUSTRATION IN PROGRESS

This design is based around ancient Tibetan thangkas.

The mythical Snow Lion is wearing traditional Tibetan armour and headwear, decorated in the national stones of coral and turquoise. A strip of patterned fabric coils around the creature, and an ornate crown crests the design.

Beneath the Snow Lion rests a stylised platform representing lotus petals, holding a Tibetan tea set and carved bone prayer beads. An arc of flames frames the centre of the design, a technique often used in ancient Buddhist art to show that something is sacred.

The background of this design contains a snowy Tibetan landscape, flaming temples and bone trumpets. The Tibetan script within the design reads ‘tashi delek’, an auspicious greeting meaning ‘good luck and good health’.