NCERT Textbook: Painting (Living Craft Traditions of India) | Old & New NCERTs for IAS Preparation (Must Read) - UPSC PDF Download

 Page 1


All children love to paint. Through this activity they discover
the shapes and colours of the world around them. Men and
women, through the ages, found satisfaction in creating
multiple forms through colours and textures to tell their
own special stories. The human impulse to paint is related
to the need to communicate, express and make sense of
the world around.
The subject of painting is, in fact, the painting. It can
be the expression of a mood, a reality as seen by the artist,
a graphic interpretation of a philosophical idea, an
invocation of blessings from the gods, or just decoration
as part of a celebration. It can be done by an individual, a
group, or a community, using different grounds, colours,
adhesives and tools. In India, community painting reflects
the identity of a region or a particular culture and follows
common characteristics.
Why Snakes?
ìWhy do traditional paintings, particularly in Gondi and Mithila
art have so many artistic and respectful representations of
snakes?î
This was a question asked by a German visitor
at an art exhibition in Frankfurt.
ìSince there are usually many snakes in the
fields and in our village, we propitiated them
in this manner to prevent ourselves from being
bitten,î the artist from Mithila explained.
ìWestern society is aggressive and would
think only of attacking the snake, but in a
spiritual and non-violent society like India, this
was a beautiful way of living with nature,î
responded the German visitor.
She was so inspired, that she bought all the
snake paintings at the Indian stall at the
exhibition!
There is a marketing lesson to be learnt here.
PAINTING 9
Kalighat painting,
West Bengal
Mithila painting, Bihar
Page 2


All children love to paint. Through this activity they discover
the shapes and colours of the world around them. Men and
women, through the ages, found satisfaction in creating
multiple forms through colours and textures to tell their
own special stories. The human impulse to paint is related
to the need to communicate, express and make sense of
the world around.
The subject of painting is, in fact, the painting. It can
be the expression of a mood, a reality as seen by the artist,
a graphic interpretation of a philosophical idea, an
invocation of blessings from the gods, or just decoration
as part of a celebration. It can be done by an individual, a
group, or a community, using different grounds, colours,
adhesives and tools. In India, community painting reflects
the identity of a region or a particular culture and follows
common characteristics.
Why Snakes?
ìWhy do traditional paintings, particularly in Gondi and Mithila
art have so many artistic and respectful representations of
snakes?î
This was a question asked by a German visitor
at an art exhibition in Frankfurt.
ìSince there are usually many snakes in the
fields and in our village, we propitiated them
in this manner to prevent ourselves from being
bitten,î the artist from Mithila explained.
ìWestern society is aggressive and would
think only of attacking the snake, but in a
spiritual and non-violent society like India, this
was a beautiful way of living with nature,î
responded the German visitor.
She was so inspired, that she bought all the
snake paintings at the Indian stall at the
exhibition!
There is a marketing lesson to be learnt here.
PAINTING 9
Kalighat painting,
West Bengal
Mithila painting, Bihar
98 LIVING CRAFT TRADITIONS OF INDIA
What Is a Painting?
The following are the basic physical components of a
painting:
? ground on which the painting is done
? colours that make up the painting
? adhesive or glue
? tools to apply colours to the ground
Colours and images often represent meanings and concepts. Red and
yellow are auspicious. The Panchavarna murals are in five coloursó
red, yellow, green, black, blue. A fish depicts fertility. Find out how
colours from traditional paintings affect people.
Mordant is a fixing agent
used to fix colours on to
cotton cloth during the
process of printing,
painting or dyeing.
Ground on Which the Painting Is Done: Right through
history in India, rock faces and caves, walls of the home,
the floor, the threshold, a palm leaf, a piece of wood, cloth or
even the palm of a hand was used as a background to paint.
In English many terms for paintings refer to the ground.
Have you heard of canvas painting, fabric painting, glass
painting, wall painting also called ëmuralsí, or even face
painting? The ground determines what colours, adhesives,
and tools should be used. Wood has an oily surface therefore
water-based paints cannot be used.
In India we have many imaginative names for each type
of painted surface in all our languages.
Colours That Make Up the Painting: Colours for a painting
can be organic or inorganic depending on how they are
obtained or made.
The ground for painting can
be as varied as a wall (top
left), the floor (extreme left),
or even the body of an
elephant (left).
Page 3


All children love to paint. Through this activity they discover
the shapes and colours of the world around them. Men and
women, through the ages, found satisfaction in creating
multiple forms through colours and textures to tell their
own special stories. The human impulse to paint is related
to the need to communicate, express and make sense of
the world around.
The subject of painting is, in fact, the painting. It can
be the expression of a mood, a reality as seen by the artist,
a graphic interpretation of a philosophical idea, an
invocation of blessings from the gods, or just decoration
as part of a celebration. It can be done by an individual, a
group, or a community, using different grounds, colours,
adhesives and tools. In India, community painting reflects
the identity of a region or a particular culture and follows
common characteristics.
Why Snakes?
ìWhy do traditional paintings, particularly in Gondi and Mithila
art have so many artistic and respectful representations of
snakes?î
This was a question asked by a German visitor
at an art exhibition in Frankfurt.
ìSince there are usually many snakes in the
fields and in our village, we propitiated them
in this manner to prevent ourselves from being
bitten,î the artist from Mithila explained.
ìWestern society is aggressive and would
think only of attacking the snake, but in a
spiritual and non-violent society like India, this
was a beautiful way of living with nature,î
responded the German visitor.
She was so inspired, that she bought all the
snake paintings at the Indian stall at the
exhibition!
There is a marketing lesson to be learnt here.
PAINTING 9
Kalighat painting,
West Bengal
Mithila painting, Bihar
98 LIVING CRAFT TRADITIONS OF INDIA
What Is a Painting?
The following are the basic physical components of a
painting:
? ground on which the painting is done
? colours that make up the painting
? adhesive or glue
? tools to apply colours to the ground
Colours and images often represent meanings and concepts. Red and
yellow are auspicious. The Panchavarna murals are in five coloursó
red, yellow, green, black, blue. A fish depicts fertility. Find out how
colours from traditional paintings affect people.
Mordant is a fixing agent
used to fix colours on to
cotton cloth during the
process of printing,
painting or dyeing.
Ground on Which the Painting Is Done: Right through
history in India, rock faces and caves, walls of the home,
the floor, the threshold, a palm leaf, a piece of wood, cloth or
even the palm of a hand was used as a background to paint.
In English many terms for paintings refer to the ground.
Have you heard of canvas painting, fabric painting, glass
painting, wall painting also called ëmuralsí, or even face
painting? The ground determines what colours, adhesives,
and tools should be used. Wood has an oily surface therefore
water-based paints cannot be used.
In India we have many imaginative names for each type
of painted surface in all our languages.
Colours That Make Up the Painting: Colours for a painting
can be organic or inorganic depending on how they are
obtained or made.
The ground for painting can
be as varied as a wall (top
left), the floor (extreme left),
or even the body of an
elephant (left).
99 PAINTING
Organic Colours: Infinite colours provided by nature from
flowers, leaves, stones and even cow dung or soot collected
from inside a chimney fill the artistís palette. Common
colours for cloth in use even today are:
? indigo laboriously obtained from the indigo plant to create
many hues of blue
? madder red with powdered bark and leaves
? dried karaka flowers with powdered alum and water for
an ochre yellow
These are only the basic colours whereas each region uses
some special materials from its own area to add to this
common natural colour range.
Before chemical colours came to be produced industrially,
people sought to bring vibrancy into their lives by using
colours extracted from nature. Each region had its own
materials and mixtures which people used to create
aesthetic moods. Also, the instinctive urge to honour nature
and to capture it without destroying it inspired people to
search for colours in the natural world. Traditional wisdom
everywhere enabled people to experiment with available
natural resources.
Dyes: Natural dyes have been used since time immemorial to
add colours to cloth. It was India that first invented the
technique of printing or painting on cotton cloth by using a
fixing agent termed a ëmordantí. The most common type of
mordant used is myrobalam which is made from unripe karaka
fruit and mixed with fresh unboiled milk. The cloth is bleached
with sheep or cow dung dissolved in water before it is dyed.
Inorganic Colours: Inorganic or chemical colours such as
arcylic, emulsion etc. came into existence as a result of
industrialisation. They are commercially sold and since
they are easily available, they are widely used.
Respect for All That Is Natural
In Mithila painting of Bihar the artists are instructed to:
? use only fallen leaves and flowers
? not use edible material
? never take anything from a neighbourís garden
Page 4


All children love to paint. Through this activity they discover
the shapes and colours of the world around them. Men and
women, through the ages, found satisfaction in creating
multiple forms through colours and textures to tell their
own special stories. The human impulse to paint is related
to the need to communicate, express and make sense of
the world around.
The subject of painting is, in fact, the painting. It can
be the expression of a mood, a reality as seen by the artist,
a graphic interpretation of a philosophical idea, an
invocation of blessings from the gods, or just decoration
as part of a celebration. It can be done by an individual, a
group, or a community, using different grounds, colours,
adhesives and tools. In India, community painting reflects
the identity of a region or a particular culture and follows
common characteristics.
Why Snakes?
ìWhy do traditional paintings, particularly in Gondi and Mithila
art have so many artistic and respectful representations of
snakes?î
This was a question asked by a German visitor
at an art exhibition in Frankfurt.
ìSince there are usually many snakes in the
fields and in our village, we propitiated them
in this manner to prevent ourselves from being
bitten,î the artist from Mithila explained.
ìWestern society is aggressive and would
think only of attacking the snake, but in a
spiritual and non-violent society like India, this
was a beautiful way of living with nature,î
responded the German visitor.
She was so inspired, that she bought all the
snake paintings at the Indian stall at the
exhibition!
There is a marketing lesson to be learnt here.
PAINTING 9
Kalighat painting,
West Bengal
Mithila painting, Bihar
98 LIVING CRAFT TRADITIONS OF INDIA
What Is a Painting?
The following are the basic physical components of a
painting:
? ground on which the painting is done
? colours that make up the painting
? adhesive or glue
? tools to apply colours to the ground
Colours and images often represent meanings and concepts. Red and
yellow are auspicious. The Panchavarna murals are in five coloursó
red, yellow, green, black, blue. A fish depicts fertility. Find out how
colours from traditional paintings affect people.
Mordant is a fixing agent
used to fix colours on to
cotton cloth during the
process of printing,
painting or dyeing.
Ground on Which the Painting Is Done: Right through
history in India, rock faces and caves, walls of the home,
the floor, the threshold, a palm leaf, a piece of wood, cloth or
even the palm of a hand was used as a background to paint.
In English many terms for paintings refer to the ground.
Have you heard of canvas painting, fabric painting, glass
painting, wall painting also called ëmuralsí, or even face
painting? The ground determines what colours, adhesives,
and tools should be used. Wood has an oily surface therefore
water-based paints cannot be used.
In India we have many imaginative names for each type
of painted surface in all our languages.
Colours That Make Up the Painting: Colours for a painting
can be organic or inorganic depending on how they are
obtained or made.
The ground for painting can
be as varied as a wall (top
left), the floor (extreme left),
or even the body of an
elephant (left).
99 PAINTING
Organic Colours: Infinite colours provided by nature from
flowers, leaves, stones and even cow dung or soot collected
from inside a chimney fill the artistís palette. Common
colours for cloth in use even today are:
? indigo laboriously obtained from the indigo plant to create
many hues of blue
? madder red with powdered bark and leaves
? dried karaka flowers with powdered alum and water for
an ochre yellow
These are only the basic colours whereas each region uses
some special materials from its own area to add to this
common natural colour range.
Before chemical colours came to be produced industrially,
people sought to bring vibrancy into their lives by using
colours extracted from nature. Each region had its own
materials and mixtures which people used to create
aesthetic moods. Also, the instinctive urge to honour nature
and to capture it without destroying it inspired people to
search for colours in the natural world. Traditional wisdom
everywhere enabled people to experiment with available
natural resources.
Dyes: Natural dyes have been used since time immemorial to
add colours to cloth. It was India that first invented the
technique of printing or painting on cotton cloth by using a
fixing agent termed a ëmordantí. The most common type of
mordant used is myrobalam which is made from unripe karaka
fruit and mixed with fresh unboiled milk. The cloth is bleached
with sheep or cow dung dissolved in water before it is dyed.
Inorganic Colours: Inorganic or chemical colours such as
arcylic, emulsion etc. came into existence as a result of
industrialisation. They are commercially sold and since
they are easily available, they are widely used.
Respect for All That Is Natural
In Mithila painting of Bihar the artists are instructed to:
? use only fallen leaves and flowers
? not use edible material
? never take anything from a neighbourís garden
100 LIVING CRAFT TRADITIONS OF INDIA
Adhesive or Glue: A painting is said to be permanent if an
adhesive is used to fix it to the ground. For centuries, in
western countries (Europe), oil was used to fix colours and
the paintings were called oil paintings. When water is used
it is called water colour paintings.
Adhesive or glue fixes the
colour to the ground.
Resin extracted from trees is used
as an adhesive agent.
Tools to Apply Colours to the Ground: Painting is done
with a variety of implements or tools made from natural
materials such as:
? thin sticks stripped from long grasses
? brushes made of birdís feathers, squirrelís and catís hair
? bamboo slivers buried in the ground until they become
fibrous
Painter, Jharkhand
Page 5


All children love to paint. Through this activity they discover
the shapes and colours of the world around them. Men and
women, through the ages, found satisfaction in creating
multiple forms through colours and textures to tell their
own special stories. The human impulse to paint is related
to the need to communicate, express and make sense of
the world around.
The subject of painting is, in fact, the painting. It can
be the expression of a mood, a reality as seen by the artist,
a graphic interpretation of a philosophical idea, an
invocation of blessings from the gods, or just decoration
as part of a celebration. It can be done by an individual, a
group, or a community, using different grounds, colours,
adhesives and tools. In India, community painting reflects
the identity of a region or a particular culture and follows
common characteristics.
Why Snakes?
ìWhy do traditional paintings, particularly in Gondi and Mithila
art have so many artistic and respectful representations of
snakes?î
This was a question asked by a German visitor
at an art exhibition in Frankfurt.
ìSince there are usually many snakes in the
fields and in our village, we propitiated them
in this manner to prevent ourselves from being
bitten,î the artist from Mithila explained.
ìWestern society is aggressive and would
think only of attacking the snake, but in a
spiritual and non-violent society like India, this
was a beautiful way of living with nature,î
responded the German visitor.
She was so inspired, that she bought all the
snake paintings at the Indian stall at the
exhibition!
There is a marketing lesson to be learnt here.
PAINTING 9
Kalighat painting,
West Bengal
Mithila painting, Bihar
98 LIVING CRAFT TRADITIONS OF INDIA
What Is a Painting?
The following are the basic physical components of a
painting:
? ground on which the painting is done
? colours that make up the painting
? adhesive or glue
? tools to apply colours to the ground
Colours and images often represent meanings and concepts. Red and
yellow are auspicious. The Panchavarna murals are in five coloursó
red, yellow, green, black, blue. A fish depicts fertility. Find out how
colours from traditional paintings affect people.
Mordant is a fixing agent
used to fix colours on to
cotton cloth during the
process of printing,
painting or dyeing.
Ground on Which the Painting Is Done: Right through
history in India, rock faces and caves, walls of the home,
the floor, the threshold, a palm leaf, a piece of wood, cloth or
even the palm of a hand was used as a background to paint.
In English many terms for paintings refer to the ground.
Have you heard of canvas painting, fabric painting, glass
painting, wall painting also called ëmuralsí, or even face
painting? The ground determines what colours, adhesives,
and tools should be used. Wood has an oily surface therefore
water-based paints cannot be used.
In India we have many imaginative names for each type
of painted surface in all our languages.
Colours That Make Up the Painting: Colours for a painting
can be organic or inorganic depending on how they are
obtained or made.
The ground for painting can
be as varied as a wall (top
left), the floor (extreme left),
or even the body of an
elephant (left).
99 PAINTING
Organic Colours: Infinite colours provided by nature from
flowers, leaves, stones and even cow dung or soot collected
from inside a chimney fill the artistís palette. Common
colours for cloth in use even today are:
? indigo laboriously obtained from the indigo plant to create
many hues of blue
? madder red with powdered bark and leaves
? dried karaka flowers with powdered alum and water for
an ochre yellow
These are only the basic colours whereas each region uses
some special materials from its own area to add to this
common natural colour range.
Before chemical colours came to be produced industrially,
people sought to bring vibrancy into their lives by using
colours extracted from nature. Each region had its own
materials and mixtures which people used to create
aesthetic moods. Also, the instinctive urge to honour nature
and to capture it without destroying it inspired people to
search for colours in the natural world. Traditional wisdom
everywhere enabled people to experiment with available
natural resources.
Dyes: Natural dyes have been used since time immemorial to
add colours to cloth. It was India that first invented the
technique of printing or painting on cotton cloth by using a
fixing agent termed a ëmordantí. The most common type of
mordant used is myrobalam which is made from unripe karaka
fruit and mixed with fresh unboiled milk. The cloth is bleached
with sheep or cow dung dissolved in water before it is dyed.
Inorganic Colours: Inorganic or chemical colours such as
arcylic, emulsion etc. came into existence as a result of
industrialisation. They are commercially sold and since
they are easily available, they are widely used.
Respect for All That Is Natural
In Mithila painting of Bihar the artists are instructed to:
? use only fallen leaves and flowers
? not use edible material
? never take anything from a neighbourís garden
100 LIVING CRAFT TRADITIONS OF INDIA
Adhesive or Glue: A painting is said to be permanent if an
adhesive is used to fix it to the ground. For centuries, in
western countries (Europe), oil was used to fix colours and
the paintings were called oil paintings. When water is used
it is called water colour paintings.
Adhesive or glue fixes the
colour to the ground.
Resin extracted from trees is used
as an adhesive agent.
Tools to Apply Colours to the Ground: Painting is done
with a variety of implements or tools made from natural
materials such as:
? thin sticks stripped from long grasses
? brushes made of birdís feathers, squirrelís and catís hair
? bamboo slivers buried in the ground until they become
fibrous
Painter, Jharkhand
101 PAINTING
Did you know...
? Royal families engaged artists to create painted
books or manuscripts to illustrate poems and
stories. Great libraries of hand-written and hand-
painted books were collected by rulers and kings.
Often royalty had their own portraits made to adorn
their palaces, and illustrate their diaries, like the
Akbarnama and Jahangirnama. To paint delicate
strands of hair and details of flowers in Mughal
manuscript paintings, the artist used brushes with
a single tail hair of a squirrel.
? Miniature artists in Jaipur can paint your portrait as
if in a Mughal miniature setting? Can you create such
a painting yourself through cut-outs, artwork or by
learning from an artist?
Textures are obtained by using combs, toothbrush and
leaves. The effect of a spray of colour is made by blowing
coloured organic liquids through a blower.
One Painting for Each Day: In India we have many
impermanent forms of painting like rangoli and alpana that
are created on the floor and at the entrance to the home.
Coloured powders are used to colour the rangoli on the ground
without an adhesive or glue as the art work is not meant to
be permanent but done each day. There are special designs
for festivals, to celebrate the birth of a child, or a marriage.
Kolam: the floor painting
made by women at the
entrance of their homes
with white rice powder in
Tamil Nadu