KALAMKARI

PAINTING…
By : Aashna Shamani
What is Kalamkari Painting ? Who invented Kalamkari ?
Kalamkari literally translates into “pen craft”
PITCHUKA VEERA SUBBAIAH, the founder of
with 'kalam' meaning pen and 'kari' meaning
Kalamkari in Pedana.
art. It is among the most beautiful traditional
He first started it in early 1970s in Polavaram
Indian art forms and involves block printing
with his partners. But the partnership fell
or hand printing, typically done on pieces of
through very soon and he came back to his
cotton fabrics.
hometown Pedana and started the first
Kalamkari firm in 1972, that made and sold
When was Kalamkari started ? hand block-printed Kalamkari commercially.
The Kalamkari art dates back to 3000
B.C. in Iran during the Sasani era. In
ancient times, musicians, painters, and
folk singers narrated their Hindu
mythology tales by painting on a large
canvas using organic colors from plants.

Pitchuka Veera Subbaiah

Which city is famous Kalamkari Art ?
MACHILIPATNAM, along with being a
famous port city in British India and being a
thriving trade center is also famous for the
beautiful and earthy Kalamkari textiles and
paintings.
Which state in India is famous for the craft of
Kalamkari ?
Kalamkari painting is a type of Indian folk textile art
which involves free hand drawing and painting or
block printing on cloth, mostly on cotton. The art
flourished mainly in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

How is the Kalamkari Painting Done ?

Kalamkari is an ancient style of hand
painting done on cotton or silk fabric with a
tamarind pen, using natural dyes. This art
involves 23 tedious steps of dyeing,
bleaching, hand painting, block printing,
starching, cleaning and more.

Kalamkari Done on a Fabric.

What are the features of Kalamkari Painting ?
It is among the most beautiful traditional Indian art
forms and involves block printing or hand printing,
typically done on pieces of cotton fabrics. The unique
feature of the Kalamkari art is that it makes use of
only natural colors or vegetable dyes.
Which colours are used in Kalamkari Painting ?
The colours used in Kalamkari are exquisite earthy
tones of reds, blues, greens, yellows and browns.
Women are depicted in shades of yellow, gods in
blue and demons in red and green.

This art involves 23 tedious steps of dyeing,

bleaching, hand painting, block printing, starching,
cleaning and more. Motifs drawn in Kalamkari spans
from flowers, peacock, paisleys to divine characters
of Hindu epics like Mahabharata and Ramayana.
Nowadays, this art is primarily done to create
Kalamkari sarees.
My Kalamkari Painting :

Material Used :
CANVAS
Acrylic Paints
Black Sketch Pen