Design Resource
Fabric Painting - Yadgiri, Karnataka
Fabric Art
by
Prof. Bibhudutta Baraland Srikanth B.
Introduction
The practice of painting started in prehistoric times when humans painted on rocks and cave walls, where the oldest known work being 40,000 years old. According to researchers, Neanderthals are the pioneers of painting art, who mostly depicted animals in their work. They believed sketching of animal figures help invocate the animal soul making the hunting process easy. Though it is the result of a basic need for expression, innate to human beings, the practice could transmit useful information as well since the outset. Here the representation of humans in cave paintings was rare. India records its earliest form of painting in rocks from prehistoric times, in which Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka and Ajanta Caves in Maharashtra are the most elaborate forms. While Bhimbetka dates back to 5500 B.C, Ajanta came into existence in the 2nd Century BCE, and both bears rock-cut monuments, paintings, and sculptures considered to be precious masterpieces among universal pictorial records as well as Buddhist art. The country also accommodates several other kinds of paintings in India like Madhubani painting, Rajput painting, Mughal painting, Tanjore painting, etc., each with their unique style of execution.
Paintings are regarded for their elements of colour, tone, and rhythm. While colour stands for its observable psychological effects, tone and rhythm are the essences to please the observer. The modern transformation of paintings rests on styles like Modernism, Impressionism, abstract styles, photorealism, surrealism, etc. Similarly, the paintings are also identified based on the medium that the colour is suspended or applied on, like walls, paper, canvas, fabric, wood, glass, clay, leaf, copper, and many more. Oil pastel, acrylic, watercolour, ink fresco, gouache, encaustic, enamel, spray paint, etc. are the type of colours used widely for painting purposes. While bringing light to a type called fabric paintings, humans have been using fabric as a medium for painting for thousands of years, basically since people started experimenting with their clothing materials. Originally, dyes were made with natural pigments mixed with water and oil used to decorate skin, jewelry, and clothing. The dried painting can then be worn, are also used at Garment textiles. Sometimes tools other than brushes are used to apply paint to fabric, like sponges, rollers, and stamps, etc. In India Kalamkari is an ancient style of hand painting done on cotton or silk fabric with a tamarind pen, using natural pigments mixed with water and oil. The word Kalamkari is derived from a Persian word where ‘Kalam’ means pen and ‘Kari’ for craftsmanship. One such kind of painting is practiced at the Tirumala Garment Training Center, situated at Yadgiri, a town from the Indian State of Karnataka. The center provides training and employment to several women from their area, making them independent to earn a living. Artisans here not only deal with fabric painting orders but are also involved in some other craftworks like soft toy making, weaving, hand embroidery, etc.
