Let’s Make Art – Warli Painting For Kids

As a child my parents often took us sisters to craft and cultural events. My experiences at those events inspired me deeply and it would be right to say that it shaped me in some way. Even today when I indulge myself in DIYs and craft projects it is because of my memories of artisans creating something wonderful by their bare hands.

Of course as a parent, I would want to pass on this gift to Little B. I want her to appreciate folk art and craft; and in a way connect her to our traditions, what it really means to be an Indian.

I was elated when I found out about Sampoorn Santhe, a craft festival organised at the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath in Bengaluru. I have wanted to take Little B to such an event for so long and this seemed like a perfect opportunity.

Sampoorn Santhe art and craft festival was overwhelming – there was pottery, paintings, sculptures and fabrics from all over India. Little B loved getting lost among the terracotta, Madhubani, pattus, Dhokra and Kanchivaram. However, it was Warli folk painting that she loved the most. The white triangles on red paper fascinated her and she stared at them for a long time.

And that is what inspired this project. We tried our hands on Warli drawing and tried making Warli painting the way people from Warlis tribe made it.

Warli Drawing for Kids

We started by taking a look at some Warli paintings over the internet. We wanted to explore what all Warlis drew in their painting and how did they draw them. You can find some of these reference paintings here, here and here.

So this is what we figured out and drew –

Warli Painting for Kids

Next day, we started with a red paper for our Warli painting.

Warlis used a mixture of rice paste with water and gum as their color and chewed bamboo stick as their brush. So we also made a paste of wheat flour and water. And we got a couple of sticks (not bamboo) and chewed them from one end and made a brush for ourselves.

Little B tried painting Warli in the original style –

Yeah, she enjoyed it! She remained obsessed with Warli for the next few days. She even made Warli out of her Lego –

I understand there is much more to Warli than triangles and circles. However, it is enough for a 4-year-old to get started.

Glimpses from Sampoorn Santhe –

This pattachitra painting of an expecting mother owl is my favorite –