Monday, February 07, 2011

MURAL PAINTING OF KERALA

I finally got my Kerala mural style painting framed.

Here it is.

Painted using acrylic and water colours, the size is more or less the same as the original murals that adorn the outer walls of the sanctum sanctorium of the Padmanabaswamy temple in Trivandrum.

These temple murals were painted using natural dyes and only 5 colours.

This is my first attempt at the temple mural style painting on canvas.



The yellow has come out too gaudy

The picture below focuses on the borders



It is a time-consuming, extremely satisfying almost meditative process.
If you work at it for 3-4 hrs a day, you can complete it in maybe 25-30 days.
I'll blog the step - by - step process when I start my next piece

12 comments:

  1. Beautiful!! Is it a long process?

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  2. Thank you Deepa Yes. It is a time-consuming, extremely satisfying process

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  3. Hi there! I really love your Kutchwork tutorial, and I would like to write a post on my blog to let people know about your tutorial. Is it OK if I use a few of your pictures in my post so that people have an idea of what your tutorial is about?

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  4. Hi Hannah,
    I like your blog too and the info you provide. You may use the pictures in my posts.

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  5. woww excellent Bhavanaji.The costume and ornaments are done in detail.Whats the size of the painting?What are the colours used?and why both water colours and acrylic? Are there special techniques to paint a mural ?as I see dots?Can you explain in brief.Hope to see more of your creations

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  6. Hi Ambika,
    Thank you.
    This is my first picture - naturally, there are a lot of mistakes.

    Unfortunately, I am not an artist who can correct mistakes in basic sketches. How I wish I could so it! Notice the shin and feet of Lord Shiva - the proportion is all wrong and physically impossible.

    The original paintings in the Padmanabaswamy Temple Trivandrum are done in five natural colours.

    Here, I have used, red, green, yellow, brown and black.

    I am not very sure why both acrylic and water colours are used. Just an educated guess - water colours are quite dull and not very durable whereas acrylic colours dry very fast so correcting errors is very difficult. The combination allows corrections plus has the gloss of acrylic colours.
    Yes there are special techniques - you are right about the dots. It needs a lot of practice (time and patience too). If you look closely, you will find a lot of inconsistencies - but the overall picture looks good.
    I am planning to blog each step of my next picture.

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  7. Hi Bhavani
    I like your name. This word evokes power and energy.
    Liked your painting, beautifully done.

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  8. Supper.,kurachukoodi traditional akkamayrunnu.,

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  9. I was in Trivandrum for just 3 years. I spent just the last 6 months on mural painting.
    Every time I visit Trivandrum in the future, I plan to go to the temple with pencil and paper so I can learn the nuances of the murals there.

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  10. thats beautiful!!waiting to seeur blog on your next mural

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