Design Resource
Documentation of Warli Art
Traditional Folk Art
by
Process
Warli art is traditionally done on mud walls of huts. These paintings are of cultural and religious importance in their lifestyle. Traditionally these paintings are made on events of social and cultural importance such as marriage, harvesting session, sowing session, and other social gatherings. Paintings were done with bamboo sticks used as brush with rice pest mixed with natural gum as color. First a canvas is prepared by applying a layer of mud or cowdung, ones it is dried it is ready to paint with bamboo brush. Only two colors are used in this process, white is made up of rice flour and reddish brown from red soil called Geru.
New Trends:
As commercial value of warli art increased and it is recognised across the world, process of warli art changed to make it in the form of saleable paintings. Now artists are using poster or acrylic paints on handmade-paper canvas. Still for backgrounds of paintings artists are using geru (red soil), cow dung or charcoal with adhesive like fevicol to create color and texture of mud wall on canvas. Small paintings are done on handmade paper using pen brush or simple ballpens.