theme look and style

Hello,­

I hope you all liked my blog so far and I thank you all for being such a great audience, so without further ado let’s talk about the theme look and style of kalamkari.

So, in earlier times where, folk singers used to travel from one village to another narrating stories of Ramayana, Mahabharata to the village people. In course of time narrating stories slowly transformed into painting, giving way to a new art form called Kalamkari. This ancient style of hand painting on textiles using a kalamkari pen is primarily done in Srikalahasti and has come a long way. Different motifs like flowers, peacock, and paisleys were usually done on kalamkari sarees. Basic inspiration was from historical architecture, forts and temples. Presently wall panels, dupattas (stole), sarees and wall hangings are made. Kalamkari artists have absolute freedom for individual expression while painting; no two products are the same unless it is customer’s request. 

One of kind qualities of kalamkari painting is all about the vibrant colors used and no shading is done. 
Intricate detailing is given to each product. Different stories and scenes of Hindu mythology are revealed as a series in dupattas and sarees. Kalamkari can be done on any material unlike olden days where only cotton was used. Silk, Tussar, Chiffon, Georgette are some of the different materials where kalamkari painting can be done. Running designs are currently popular in Srikalahasti as people ask for new varieties in products so kalamkari artists have evolved from time to meet the customer’s demands. However Kalamkari has been present for many generations and the ancient technique of vegetable dyes are used, the craft totally depends upon natural vegetable dyes and nearby riverbanks. Kalamkari is a labor intensive work as a simple patterned sarees can take up to 20 days to complete and is washed 4 different times. Weather conditions matters a lot in kalamkari as rain water can ruin the outlines in the fabric where as high temperatures can make the colors spread.

The borders of the murals and textiles of Srikalahasti have stylistic similarities. describes the composition of the borders found at Srikalahasti— “The external border displays a lotus, or a ‘cartwheel’ design, followed by a thin band, another most popular motif used in kalamkari is the “TREE OF LIFE” this art requires a lot of sunlight as these paintings can only be dried only under the sunlight. The designs of the richly executed drapery of the figures have stylistic similarities with the textiles of Machilipatnam. Furthermore, the designs of creepers and diamond shaped lattices with floral motifs and Persian motifs can only be achieved with block prints. Woven textiles, which are comparatively more expensive than block-printed ones, are also identifiable in some cases, especially in the costumes of the royalty depicted in the paintings.

The color pattern used in kalamkari is unique and follows different themes. This is one of the main features of srikalahasti style of kalamkari art. Women figure are always depicted using yellow color, gods in blue and demons in red and green .the the backgrounds are generally red motif of lotus the most common theme followed in kalamkari is religion exhibiting  magnificent painting of sun chariot famous deities and scenes from great epics- Ramayana Mahabharata and great Indian mythological classics.Bed covers, curtains and other home furnishing are mostly designed using the machilipatnam style of kalamkari art with more of the Parisian motifs, creepers and flora using subtle Persian colors

This is what I know and researched about theme look and style of kalamkari. Next I’ll be talking about developing association and case study of a designer who used kalamkari in his/hers designs.