Indian Warli Paintings










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WARLI PAINTINGS




Warli Paintings are very much an ancient Indian folk art traditional painting. Indian paintings have always been in the forefront for their superior creative and imaginative skills. The Warli art form has basically derived its name through a tribe in Maharashtra by the same name. Historians believe that the Warli tradition traces back to as far as the Neolithic period from 2,500 BC to 3,000 BC. It has traveled across borders and territories and landed today with a major international market.

The Warli paintings especially depict the harvest season with social customs such as weddings and births. The Warli houses are also being referred for the pattern of decoration and designs. These paintings have a special characteristic which represents the humble life of the Warli tribe. The use of colour is often white against earthen colors.

Interestingly, the geometric designs are being the dominant patterns in Warli paintings and dots and crooked lines make up the units of their composition. Warli art is generally know for its monochromatic depictions that express the folk life of socio-religious customs, imaginations and beliefs.

The technique to working on Warli art is as follows:
Choose a design for the painting to start.
Draw the required design on to the trace paper which is used for the Warli art. Then copy the design onto the cloth or paper using a carbon sheet.
If it is a cloth, then use metallic colors and let it dry well. Iron on the reverse side of the cloth. If it is paper, then use poster colors.
Draw outlines using white colour and leave it to dry for 24 hours.

Contemporary Warli paintings have however been branched out of the usual colors and have started using vibrant as well as rustic colors. Marriage is one of the most important themes in Warli art. Their marriage, gods, palghat, birds, trees, men and women dancing in circles, various celebrations, etc are popular Warli depictions. Flora and fauna, musicians, agriculture, etc are some other paintings that are generic of Warli art. The modern Warli art comprises of abstract as well as more regular representation of objects such as bicycles, transistors, etc in corners of the paintings.

Warli art uses some of the common colours and ingredients like henna, indigo, ochre, black, earthy mud and brick red. Warli paintings on paper have become a popular medium of art and are available across India.

The small paintings are done on cloth pieces and paper but they look best as wall frames such as the Murals. Indian painting experts have considered Warli art to be one of the most aesthetically appealing forms of art.