Gond painting

 

 

The Gond people believe that viewing a good image brings you good luck so it's no surprise that their paintings are so joyful. They make the paintings on the walls of their houses to mark special occasions and only recently started to paint on paper with poster paints. Animals and nature scenes dominate these paintings, which consist of a simple single color shape filled with dots and lines described here as being: like undulations of song, like fables within tales, colourful dots and lines chase each other in close succession. Immense patience and delicate brush strokes are part of the meditative process. The Gond tribe was known for storytelling and song, and a connection could be made between that and the rhythmic energy of their heavily patterned artwork. One artist I spoke to told me the inspiration for the dots and dashes that fill the animals is rice, and the article I linked to above says they are evocative of the tattoos on the Gond women. The simple graphics combined with intricate patterning and vibrating colors provide instant inspiration for artists of all ages.

 

After outlining their animal shapes with pencil, children should choose one main color in acrylic or tempera paint to fill them in. Good quality markers or sharpies could be used for the patterning, or detail brushes and paint in both bright colors, black, and white. This could also be a great collage project, a photograph of an animal could be traced and cut out of fadeless paper or traced once onto multiple layers of colored tissue papers. Once those papers have been glued to a white background, acrylic paint can be added with a detail brush or toothpick. Dots, lines, and dashes can be used or students could think of a pattern that has some special significance. Add a black marker outline for a final touch.

 

 

Scissors

 

There are a lot of fascinating artifacts in the Museum of Everyday Objects at Sanskriti Kendra. For centuries Indian artisans have found clever ways to decorate their utensils and tools. I thought that these ancient scissors look a little bit like bird faces, but I have to admit I was surprised that they weren't a bit more playful, since on a wall nearby there were faucets with animal heads, nut crackers carved to look like people, locks that looked like birds, etc. (see pictures below).

Make your own pair of scissors using cardboard and a brass fastener. Look at a pair of scissors. What would you do to make this pair of scissors more interesting? Brainstorm clever ways to design your own pair of scissors, consider things that open and shut, two things that might be joined together? Opposites? Things that come in pairs? Sketch an idea first so you can visualize each section. Draw the two sections side by side on shirt or recycled cardboard, remembering to leave a finger/thumb hole at the end of each section, then cut out carefully and assemble with a brass fastener. Scissor parts could be paper mached before they are attached with fastener, for a more involved project.

 

 

Terra cotta Horses of Aiyanar

 

These enormous (larger than life) horse sculptures were created by villagers so that the protector Aiyanar could ride them at night to chase away evil demons, thereby ensuring good luck for the town. Different horses from different areas were decorated with different types of objects and creatures. These horses are made, in pieces, on the wheel, seams are hidden under decorations. If you were in charge of designing your own village's horses, what sort of decorations and patterns would you put on them?

Cut a large horse out of red or brown paper, draw it first in chalk, making sure to have tips of ears, tail, nose, and hooves touch the edges of the paper. Decorate your horse using black or white marker, crayon, or chalk. Or use white or black paint and detail brushes. Would be a great clay project as well--once horse has been created, use coils and small balls of clay for all sorts of decorations. Another approach would be to collage decorations onto a painting of a horse.

 

 

 

Red-faced monkeys of Delhi

The kindergarten kids loved hearing my stories about the trouble-making red-faced monkeys in Delhi. The monkeys broke into the kitchen and destroyed the salad, stole Marilyn's cashews and dried fruit, followed me ominously when I was with Richard who carried oranges, and ran in the main road alongside traffic near the National Museum. The girls also enjoyed hearing about how these creatures plague the American School so much that sometimes the school hires men to bring huge but friendly black-faced langur monkeys to the yard on leashes to walk around and scare the red guys away.

We looked at pictures of the monkeys and talked about what we saw. I asked a few questions out loud and let children shout out their answers, I didn't dwell on 'right' or 'wrong' answers, but wanted to make sure they were noticing and thinking about what they were seeing. I asked 'are their eyes close together or far apart?' 'Are their mouths smiling lines or straight lines?' etc before inviting them to make these marker and colored pencil creations. They were challenged to make parts of the monkey touch the edges of the paper (and were allowed to say 'bump!' whenever their markers hit the edge, which is a great way to encourage bold drawings). Colored pencil choices were limited to a few different browns, pinks, and reds so the artists could have some freedom but not get too far off task. In subsequent lessons early finishers have been asked to make pictures in their sketchbooks of monkeys being bad. They love that assignment.

 

 

Raja Ravi Varma embellished prints

 

Embellished prints of Indian deities, on view now at OJAS gallery in Delhi. RRV was a prince who created lithographs (using oils?) of Indian gods and goddesses, very colorful classic imagery, in the mid 19th century. What makes these so interesting is that at some point the final prints were embellished with fabric, sequins, embroidery thread, gold, etc. I'm a huge fan of printmaking with kids, and feel that the fun can really begin once the plate has been created and the actual printing begins. This type of embellishment would be a really great third step (carve, print, embellish) after a big printmaking project and a fun way to explore different techniques applied to exact same images. Printing could be done using linoleum, collagraphs, or styrofoam...onto sturdy paper, and then embellished once dry. Elmers glue would be good for most of the materials, and one whole class could be set aside for sewing so conflicting techniques aren't happening at once. I always encourage children to keep every print, and then choose an unsuccessful image as a beginning of a multi media exploration. In this case that could be a good starting point for this type of experimentation. Another way to approach this might be to start with color copies (also on card stock or other substantial paper) of photographs that children take, lively scenes with many people or objects would be a good starting point.

 

 

Gujarat mud mirror work

This is a great example of combining unexpected materials. Mud surface is flat and mirrored mosaics add depth. Found on the outside of thatched roof huts, and in some interiors. Children can design their own Gujarati style huts by embedding bits of aluminum foil in white paint (thickened with rice flour or some other medium, sand might work as well?). Foil bits should be cut and close by on the same day as the painting, so the bits can be pressed down into wet paint. Children should consider pattern and symmetry as they plan and execute their designs and consider important details like windows and doorways. Huts can be finished with straw on top for a roof.

 

 

Painted Trucks

Highly decorative trucks and lorries, bright colors, fanciful images, roosters, and flowers, tassels inside, etc. this is one way a truck driver advertises his pride in his job, and his vehicle. If you were choosing a truck to transport your items you might be greatly influenced by these decorations and the energy the driver put into his truck. invite children to transform a common object or machine using similar techniques, use your imagination, make it special, make it stand out. Could be fun for middle school, esp. Would be a great multi- media project, transform a serious sketch with fanciful add-ons like fringe, pom-poms, rhinestones, etc. or simply add colored magazine papers to black and white sketch or newspaper collage. Check out this blog for a great article on the painted trucks.