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Activities / Madhubani / Madhubani Card

Madhubani Card

Madhubani Greeting Card: Fish, Peacock or Lotus in Bihar's Mithila Style

Level
Intermediate
Duration
45 - 90 mins
Budget
₹296 – ₹691
Age
12+
State
Bihar

Materials

  • Cardstock, A4 or US Letter, 200 to 300 gsm (white or ivory)
  • Black waterproof fineliner, 0.5 mm
  • Poster colours (India) or acrylic paint (USA) in red, yellow, blue, green
  • Round brushes, sizes 0 and 1
  • Pencil (HB) and eraser
  • 30 cm ruler
  • Dry ballpoint pen (for scoring the fold)
  • Plate for a palette, jar of water, paper towel, newspaper

Steps

  1. Set up your table, paints and a jar of water
    Cover the table with newspaper. On the side of your painting hand, put a small plate to use as a palette, a jar of water and a paper towel. Squeeze out paint the size of a pea for each colour: red, yellow, blue and green, plus a little black or white if you have it. Keep a scrap piece of cardstock for testing colours. Common mistake: squeezing out too much paint at once. It dries on the plate within about 15 minutes.
    Tip: Lay the paper towel flat next to the plate. Blot the brush on it so it never drips onto the card.
  2. Score and fold the cardstock into a card
    Take an A4 sheet of 200 to 300 gsm cardstock (US Letter works too). Lay a ruler across the exact middle, 14.85 cm from the short edge on A4. Press a dry ballpoint pen firmly along the ruler to make a groove. Fold along the groove and flatten the crease with the side of the ruler. You now have an A5 card. Common mistake: folding without scoring. Thick cardstock cracks along the fold when you do not score it first.
    Tip: Press the crease from the middle outwards for an even fold.
  3. Draw a double-line border on the front of the card
    Open the card flat and work only on the front panel. With a pencil and ruler, draw a rectangle 1 cm in from the edges of the front, then a second rectangle 4 mm inside the first. Press lightly. The space inside is about 12 cm wide and 18 cm tall on A5 and will hold your motif. The 4 mm gap will be filled with small marks later.
  4. Sketch a pair of fish in the middle of the card
    Draw two almond-shaped fish, each about 8 cm long, curved and lying head to tail so that together they make a rough circle about 9 cm across at the centre of the card. Give each fish a forked tail, a small fin on top, and a big almond eye about 1.5 cm wide with a dark pupil. Keep the lines light. Prefer a peacock or lotus? Start with the body or the centre petal. Keep the shape bold and flat, with no shading.
    Tip: Draw the first fish lightly as a half circle, then copy it upside down for the second fish.
  5. Ink the outlines with a waterproof black pen
    Trace the pencil lines with the fineliner, slowly, one smooth line at a time. Ink the border lines as well. Keep every line continuous, because short broken strokes look scratchy. Wait 10 minutes for the ink to dry, then erase the pencil gently. Common mistake: painting over ink that is not waterproof or not fully dry. It smears into the paint and turns the colours muddy.
    Tip: Test the pen on the scrap cardstock first: paint over a dry line and check that it does not smear.
  6. Fill the fish with pen patterns
    Divide each fish body into three zones with curved lines. Fill each zone with a different pattern in black pen: tiny dots, overlapping scales made of small arcs about 7 mm wide, and slanted dashes about 2 mm apart. Add short curved lines on the fins and tail. Work in neat rows and keep the pattern size even on both fish. Slow, even patterns are what make a handmade card look professional.
  7. Fill the border gap with small marks
    Fill the 4 mm gap between the two border lines with short slanted dashes about 2 mm apart, or with tiny triangles that all point the same way. Keep the marks the same length by looking at the gap, not at the pen tip. Turn the card as you go so you are always drawing towards yourself, which gives better control.
  8. Paint the flat colours, lightest first
    Wet your size 0 or 1 brush, then blot it on the paper towel so it is damp, not dripping. Paint the yellow parts first, then red, then blue or green, always inside the black lines. Use thin coats. A second coat after 5 minutes gives an even colour. Rinse the brush before each new colour. Common mistake: a wet brush, which makes paint bleed over the lines.
    Tip: Painting light colours first keeps dark colours from smudging onto them.
  9. Fill the empty background with tiny patterns
    Look inside the border for any blank patch bigger than your thumbnail. Fill these with rows of dots, small leaves, crosshatching (crossed diagonal lines about 3 mm apart) or tiny flowers, using the black pen or a size 0 brush with a little black paint. Madhubani artists traditionally leave no empty space. Stop when the card feels full but you can still see the fish clearly.
  10. Let it dry, fix the edges, write your message and clean up
    Leave the card open and flat for at least 30 minutes, until all the paint is dry and no longer feels cool or tacky. Fix any blurred line by redrawing it with the black pen. Write your message inside with a pen. Wash your brushes with soap and water straight away, because dried paint ruins the bristles, and close the paints and pens. Common mistake: closing the card while the front is still tacky. It sticks to the inside page.

Sustainability

Medium - paper-based; use water-based pens or acrylic and reuse offcuts for cards

Safety

Ink and paint stains, so cover the table; take a short eye break every 20 minutes during fine line work