Warli-Painting designs

I have collected theses designs from the internet.Please feel free to use them for your art works.

Warli Art

400 yrs old Tribal Art Form Warli art originated in Thane Dist. of maharashtra, western part of India, in a village also know by the name Warli. It is situated near Dhanau.

Predominately white color is used on a red earthen background.
This art is a 2 dimensional, with no perspective or proportion. Warli painting is simple and linear with the maximum use of triangular shapes. As the universal energy YIN/YANG; concept having the upward facing triangle representing the Male and the downward facing triangle representing the Woman.

The trademark of Warli paintings is the use of other geometric designs such as circles, squares, dots and crooked lines are used to depict human figures, animal figures, houses, crops etc. It also represent fertility as the tribal belief revolve around the cycle of Birth and Death. No wedding takes place without the drawing of "mother Goddess" in the front portion of the Bride's house. Usually the paintings are done by married women.

The Warli paintings essentially depict the basic principals of life which are main theme or basis of any tribe.

For the Warlis, life is an eternal circle. At all occasions – birth, marriage, and death they draw circles, symbol of Mother Goddess. Death is not the end for them; rather it is a new beginning. Which is why circles best represent the art of Warli, which has neither an end nor a beginning.

Warli art is known for its monochromatic depictions that express the folk life of socio-religious customs, imaginations and beliefs.Their major designs include the harvest season,celebration, wedding, rituals and births. The Warli houses also see a pattern in decoration and designs. The Warli art has a special characteristic of representing the humble life of the Warli tribe.

These are example of diversity in Indian art.

Warli Paintings are very different from other folk and tribal paintings in India. Their themes are not mythological, nor their colors as bright as the ones seen in Madhupani Paintings.

Stylistically, Warli Paintings can be recognized by the fact that they are painted on an austere mud base using one color, white, with occasional dots in red and yellow. The white pigment is a mixture of rice paste and water with gum as a binding agent. This sobriety is offset by the ebullience of their content. Traditionally, when painting the mud walls, the Warlis use a bamboo stick chewed at the end, to make it work like a paintbrush. Even now, when they paint on cloth, they use a narrow stick dipped in white rice flour paste.

Different varieties of trees are drawn in detail forming intricate decorative patterns. Birds, squirrels, monkeys, snakes and other animals are also depicted, frequently in action. Other elements in nature like streams and rocks are also featured. The 'Tree of Life' and the 'Tarpa' dance are significant images often seen in Warli art. The Tarpa is a trumpet like instrument and many Warli paintings will have a tarpa player surrounded by drummers and dancing men and women.

Originally, Warlis were hunters and so the motifs in their paintings were based on hunting. Today, most of the tribals have shifted to cultivation and work according to the monsoon, and the themes in their paintings.

Although the Warlis live very close to Mumbai, India’s largest metropolis, they shun all influences of modern urbanization. Even though many paint for commercial gain today, they have continued to adhere to old themes and motifs that can only be appreciated by those who know and understand Warli culture.

Warli paintings were never originally intended to be used for commercial gains. However, after they were discovered twenty five years ago, they became instantly popular, probably because they evoked the trumpets, drumbeats and songs of the Warli tribe through their simple motifs. Soon the tribals realized that the sale of their paintings made economic sense.

Today, Warli paintings on Handmade Paper(usually green or brown) and cloth have become very popular and are sold all over India.

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In Maharashtra, many of its tourism buses and offices are adorned with Warli paintings giving it a status of an official symbol. A lot of merchandise - T-shirts, coasters, linen come with Warli designs and motifs and do brisk sales through exhibitions and tourist outlets. Many schools in Maharashtra take workshops in Warli painting for children. You will find Warli paintings on walls of some five-star hotels in Mumbai, too.