Simple Madhubani Borders: Imperfect Lines Too Make Perfect Art
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 straight line feels impossible. The curves wobble. The texture of the paper fights my pen. Nothing look “perfect.”
So, I stopped trying to be perfect. And started practising borders, whenever I had a little time on my hand.
Here are Simple borders
These borders you see here are simple leaves + basic patterns. No gods, no fish or other motifs. Just lines, curves and practice.
Drawing on handmade paper IS tough initially. Especially the curves. The rough texture doesn’t give me those clean, print-type shapes. I used to hate my pen slipping at every curve.
Then I remembered: Folk art and Madhubani are not about straight lines are perfect shapes. They are freehand. A wobbly leaf made by your hand has more life than a perfect one made with assisted tools.
So it is fine. The lines are supposede to wobble. That’s how we know a human made it.
Why am I sharing borders today?
I am practising a new idea. I am planning to create a set of frames with no art inside. No art. Just borders.
Maybe, I will place a piece of fabric in the centre later. Or just paint a solid colour. Or leave it empty.
I don’t know yet. And that’s the point of today’s practice,
I think we don’t always need a masterpiece. Sometimes we just need to move our hand and make something simple, just like what I did today.
Now your turn.
What would you put inside these borders? A photo? A quote? A piece of fabric? Leave it blank?
Tell me in the comments. I am looking for suggestions for the frames with the borders!
Free Practice Sheet
Want to try these borders without fear? I scanned this page for you as a PDF.
Download: SimpleMadhubaniBorders.pdf
P.S. My Art Desk
I drew these with a 0.3mm fineliners on a handmade paper A5 sketchbook. Handmade paper makes the line slip a bit – and that’s okay. If you are starting out, this is the fineliner pen and the sketchbook. This fineliner doesn’t bleed and handles rough paper well. But, any fineliner or marker pen works. Art starts with what is in your hand, not what is in your cart 🙂
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