KALAMKARI Andhra Pradesh Day 3, Dec 2020 The art of craft: Deciphering the design principles in Indian folk art
CEPT University Winter school 2020 Course faculty: Nisha Vikram, Udit Parekh
INTRODUCTION TO CRAFT - Craft history - Key stories - Craft process - Environment - Traditional design principles used - Contemporary design ideas and framework
History Dates back 3000 years Originated as a simple not-sosophisticated technique of printing on fabric using vegetable dyes Evolved over time Reached its zenith during the Golconda Sultanate rule in 16th century AD, hence the Persian influence High quality cotton was widely grown here Revived again by the British during the 18th century AD Srikalahasti and Machilipatnam clusters
Environment
Kalamkari requires 3 key factors Local availability of cotton A reliable river. Swarnamukhi in this case Easy availability of raw materials Srikalahasti is a temple town, aiding in keeping alive this tradition Machilipatnam is a port, aiding in exports of this craft
Key stories Traditional Stories from epics Geetaupadesham Stories from Ramayana Local deities Contemporary Tree of life Floral motifs Chintz (from the Machilipatnam cluster)
Craft Process Colours Vegetable dyes Tamarind seed powder (binder) Application Bamboo pen (Kalam) for fine lines Cloth tipped bamboo for colouring Canvas Cotton is used predominantly Technique Cloth is prepared using a mix of myrobalam and buffalo milk Outlines are drawn first with black (rusted iron, jaggery and tamarind seed powder) Red colour- application of alum, washed and then boiled in alizarin and other vegetable root powders Other colours Extra reading http://www.dsource.in/resource/kalamkaripainting/making-process
Traditional Design Principles
Symmetrical & radial balance are inherent Black colour is applied first as it is the darkest colour Large areas in a single colour (other than white) is not feasible In image 1, the green area is not uniform As a solution, details like the dots in red area in image 2 are to break up the coloured areas
Traditional Design Principles
Ornamentation also acts as dividers to reduce the area of dyeing, in order to achieve a more even tone
Traditional Design Principles
Use of white outlines Used in delineating between 2 colours and act as a border Since white is a non-colour, it is a way to optimize on the use of colour
Traditional Design Principles
Use of double lines The thickness of the black line is fairly constant Hence double lines are used to add heft to the composition and focus on key elements
DETAILED CRAFT STUDY - Deciphering the craft Motifs, patterns, colour palette, scale and proportion - Studying key craft elements Nature, architecture, animals, birds, humans - Studying compositional layout Storyboarding format Design principles used
Motifs and patterns
Decorative motifs they generally used for ornaments, fillers, corners, junctions etc. It evolves with the change of the artwork scale and size of the artboard.
Borders
Borders are a very important element of kalamkari They just don’t just frame the artwork but also work as partitions & draw focus to viewer’s eyes They are ornamented with floral patterns or simple lines and arrows Sometime they also use multiple lines covering the area. They are very similar to the filler details and jewelry
The corners and junction details
junction details
Characters-overall
Main characters are mostly Gods/Goddesses All characters are in the same scale and proportion
Man & Woman No major difference in terms of anatomy for the male figure and female figure Female figures have nose pin and long hairstyles Male figures have moustaches In male figures, only warriors have moustaches. Gods don’t have facial hairs often
Main difference between male figure and female figure is the clothing. Females have a blouse on
Man & Woman
Clothes & jewellery
Facial expressions
Animals & Birds
Nature
Tree of life
Placement of elements in the tree The change in branch structure to accommodate the peacock
Layout
Architecture Architecture elements like pillars, arches, brackets, curtains are used are add-ons and not as a main element
Since Gods and Goddesses are the central figures, the seating postures and the corresponding elements are well structured Perspective is added in a subtle way through varying border thicknesses
Architecture
The region was under the reign of the Nayak dynasty for a considerable period of time These placements are similar across crafts in the region such as Mysore and Tanjore paintings
Similarities
Mysore painting
Tanjore painting
Additional details
Sense of perspective
APPLICATIONS How to apply your learnings to real-life projects - Project 1: Tree of life at Bangalore - Project 2: Kalamkari chapter, Craft book
Project 1: Tree of life at Bangalore SPACE Wall behind a staircase Can be viewed in parts at various levels Holes for light in the wall, random placement
Plan suggested a good depth Overall composition is clearly visible Overall aesthetics was that of a traditional household with focus on local crafts
Design Kalamkari was chosen based on the overall aesthetics The holes had to be dealt with, so we used them as middle points for the flowers and bird faces Based on the depth of the space, the overall composition was made as a tree of life The individual elements were also highly detailed because they would be viewed at close-up in every stage
Site photograpghs
Process
Overall composition is important Scale and proportion is critical keeping in mind the difference between the scale done by the artisan vs the scale required for the space
Process
Key feature: Placement of peacock Angling the branches Use of double lines in individual elements Scaling up using the concept of double lines
Additional details
Colour samples
Project 2: Kalamkari chapter, Craft book
CLIENT BRIEF This project is focused on representing craft using illustrator’s narrative but keeping the feel and the techniques of the craft.
Use of filler details from the craft. Scale varied to adapt to real-life
The scales on the body vs scales on the wings and contrast and lwhite space.
Also keeping mind the detailing level of the other elements in the artwork how to balance out things with each other.
The details of lotus plants with double lines
The filler details of the craft is used in the flower on which the guitarist is sitting. Also how the detail of ornaments has been modified with the malas and flowers as ornament.
Treatment of the water where wavy lines are not continuous but in groups with the distance between
The colours in the composition is not following the craft palette but it follows the technique how they apply colour over black lines
More Examples
(http://www.indian-heritage.org/artcraft/designs/kalmkari.html) (36-Days-Of-Type-(Kalamkari-Letter-Design)) Kalamkari-Reimagining-traditional-art https://siddharthadas.com/portfolio/tree-of-life/
EXERCISE- DAY 3 Make a movie poster of your choice using Kalamkari Size: A4