How much can you do with a line? I have been playing around with Madhubani-inspired borders lately, and this started as a very simple experiment. [Jump to the Free Printable Sheet, if in a hurry :)] I wondered: how much beauty can a few lines add to a basic shape? So I took some familiar…
A first attempt at Tikuli art I have always been drawn to the bright colours and folkish look of Tikuli art. But strangely enough, I had never tried painting in this style. My first encounter with Tikuli art goes back to the 1990s, when I lived in Patna. I remember buying a small painting in…
Sometimes an artwork begins with a grand idea. And sometimes, it begins with a pile of postcard-sized cardstock sitting on the table and a few Postcrossing addresses waiting to be sent. This one began with the latter and Madhubani birds on my mind. I had a few postcards to send out for my Postcrossing addresses….
My first large Pattachitra painting for Rath Yatra Every year, the streets of Puri come alive for one of India’s grandest festivals, the Rath Yatra, when Lord Jagannath, along with his siblings Balabhadra and Subhadra, leaves the temple to bless devotees from beautifully decorated wooden chariots. This year, the journey found its way onto my…
A year between two Warli paintings Last Ashada Ekadashi, I drew Lord Vitthala in Warli art almost on an impulse. The artwork was shared on Instagram and automatically found its way to Pinterest. I never imagined that this simple drawing would quietly become one of the most-loved pieces on RevArtTales. Months later, it continues to…
My Warli Dashavatar series is one of the artworks that quietly become part of my life. Not because it is perfect, or because it was planned to be displayed forever, but because it carries a story that we, as a family never want to pack away. Why Warli? It all began with the very first…
On an April evening, I painted this digital madhubani peacock on my iPad. I was being part of a collaboration on Instagram to post a peacock in Madhubani for the day and I was travelling. No papers, no pens. But I had my work iPad with me. A late-night art fulfullied the day’s commitment. I…
Have you ever started a blank page and frozen when it came to Madhubani borders? I have. And it happens almost every time I make an art. Madhubani or Mithila art is known for bright colours and bold double lines. But when I sit with paper and pen, leave alone paint & brush, the first…
My hand remembered before I sat down to draw these Madhubani borders. A few weeks ago I picked up my favourite black pen. No plan. But triangles came out forst on my mind. Then some some flowers. Then some lines. I started. These were the borders I saw on the walls of Patna in Bihar,…