Rustic Woman Tending To Her Home

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This superbly detailed oil painting is of a simple North Indian tribeswoman, tending to her tasks of the home and hearth. To be precise, she belongs to the nomadic community of Banjaras that people the Northwestern plains of the subcontinent; it is her homespun gharchola kapdaa and the silver of her ornaments that give it away. Her saree looks coarse; but it is dyed a vibrant blue, and her thickly laced aanchal (especially the part that goes over the head), the colour of moist earth, is luxuriantly embroidered with flowers. Indeed, like most things Indian, the banjara community is a seeming contradiction - they live a nomadic hand-to-mouth lifestyle, yet the women are widely imitated for their fashion and art.

Her adornments are no less. Her shringar is unelaborate but complete. A single-chain, heavy mangtika that grazes her forehead; shapely danglers that look great next to the flawless skin of her cheek; a kadaa of silver in each of her feminine, roughed-up hands; and a plethora of toerings gracing her feet. Note the multiple glass bangles on her wrists and the small red bindi on her brow, the staple of pan-Indian bridal fashion. The profusion of white amulets is typical of Rajasthani female body-embellishments, as anybody who has ever set foot in Rajasthan will tell you how ubiquitous it is. These are fashioned from the whitest lacs (endemic resins) and worn to cover the entire upper arm.

The woman is silently putting together the evening meal. She is transferring rolled-up bits of raw flatbread from the rolling board to a wood-fired angeethee, atop which she roasts it and lays it away on a plate for consumption. The angeethee is but a clay recess carved into the ground. She facilitates the roasting with the tips of her dexterous fingers - she does not have the luxury of metal tongs to turn the bread on the tavaa. Interestingly, the angeethee the rotees are cooking on constitutes the only source of light in the room, the rest of which is nothing but unfinished walls and floors of decidedly raw texture. In stark contrast to the dark background is the serenity on her face, a composure of countenance that betrays worldly innocence.

Oil painting technique – India centric

Oil painting is the most interesting technique in art. Unlike other paintings or art forms, oil painting is a process in which colored pigments are painted on the canvas with a drying oil medium as a binder. This medium helps colors blend beautifully to create layers and also makes them appear rich and dense. Several varieties of oil are used in this painting such as sunflower oil, linseed oil, etc., and depending on the quality of the oil, a particular consistency of the paint is developed. With the use of an oil medium, the painting gets a natural sheen on the surface which appears extremely attractive. India is famous for its old tradition of making oil paintings. This art form was brought by Europeans in the 18th century and is now practiced by almost all well-known artists. Nirmal, a small tribal town in the state of Telangana is the center of traditional oil paintings in India where the local people practice it with dedication. Most Indian artists still use the traditional technique of oil painting.

Canvas of the required size is prepared

The artists use either a wood panel or canvas made from linen or cotton. Sometimes the canvas is stretched onto the wooden frame to form a solid base, or cardboard may be used. The canvas is coated with a layer of white paint or chalk mixed with animal glue. This mixture is then smoothed and dried to form a uniform, textured surface. The wooden panel is more expensive and heavier but its solidity is an advantage in making detailed paintings with ease.

Sketch is drawn on the canvas

Now the artist starts to draw the subject of the painting on the canvas using the actual charcoal or a charcoal pencil. Sometimes, he may sketch with thinned paint as well.

Oil paint is applied using paint brushes or palette knives

Now that the rough sketch is prepared, the artist is now ready to paint. Oil paint, a special paint that contains particles of pigments suspended in a drying oil (usually linseed oil), is again mixed with oil to make it thinner for applying it on the canvas. Proper consistency of the paint is maintained to avoid its breakage. The most important rule for the application of oil paint is “Fat over lean” in which the first layer of paint is thin and later, thicker layers are applied. This means that each additional layer of paint contains more oil. This results in getting a stable paint film. Traditionally, paint was applied using paint brushes but now the artists also use palette knives to create crisp strokes. To paint using this technique, the edge of the palette knife is used to create textured strokes that appear different from that of a paintbrush. Sometimes, oil paints are blended simply using fingers for getting the desired gradation.

Smaller oil paintings, with very fine detail, are relatively easier to paint than larger ones. The most attractive feature of these paintings is the natural shiny appearance that is obtained on the surface because of the use of oil paint. The blending of colors looks extremely realistic and this is the reason why oil paintings are loved by everyone throughout the world.