There are very few examples of early Karma Gardri paintings and those that do exist belong the Karma Kagyu Sertreng Lineage sets.
The late Karma Gardri painting style begins in the 17th century with Situ Panchen Chokyi Jungne and extends up to the present time. There are original Karma Gardri painting sets depicting the Karma Kagyu lineage of teachers dating from the 16th through 17th centuries. The later Karma Gardri style paintings also continue to depict the same Karma Kagyu Lineage even copying the earlier format and composition of those paintings. During the time of Situ other lineage subject sets related to the Karma Kagyu are also created such as the Dagpo Kagyu and Kadam lineages. Sets of Bodhisattva figures also begin to appear at this time in a similar but not exactly the same style as the later Karma Gardri. Late Karma Gardri is both a copying of the earlier compositions as well as a movement of minimalism