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Activities / Pichwai / Pichwai Lotus Border Card

Pichwai Lotus Border Card

Pichwai-Style Lotus Border Card: A Simple First Pichwai Pattern

Level
Beginner
Duration
45 - 90 mins
Budget
₹285 – ₹760
Age
10+
State
Rajasthan
Craft
Pichwai

Materials

  • Cardstock, A4 or US Letter, 200 to 300 gsm (white or ivory)
  • Acrylic paints with blue, green, white, red and yellow
  • Gold paint pen
  • Round brushes, sizes 0, 2 and 6
  • Pencil (white or light grey is best), ruler and a dry ballpoint pen
  • Plate for a palette, jar of water, paper towel, newspaper, a heavy book

Steps

  1. Set up a clean table and gather your supplies
    Cover the table with newspaper and lay out the cardstock, paints, brushes, gold pen, pencil, ruler and a plate for mixing. Fill a jar with water and keep a paper towel beside it. Put a pea-sized blob of blue or green, white, red and yellow on the plate, because acrylic dries quickly. Keep a heavy book nearby to press the card flat under it. Common mistake: squeezing out lots of paint at once.
  2. Score and fold the A4 sheet into an A5 card
    Lay the sheet flat with the short side facing you. Draw a line with a dry ballpoint pen against the ruler across the middle, 14.85 cm from the edge. This scoring makes the fold crisp and stops the thick card cracking. Fold along the line and press it with the side of the ruler. The fold is on the left, so the card opens like a book.
    Tip: Run your thumbnail along the fold twice to make it sharp.
  3. Paint the front of the card deep blue or green
    Mix deep blue or dark green acrylic with a few drops of water. With the size 6 brush, paint the front in one direction, edge to edge, in a thin even coat. Wait 15 minutes, then add a second coat. Paint only the front, not the inside. Slide a sheet of newspaper inside the card to keep the pages from sticking, and press the card under the book for 20 minutes so it dries flat.
    Tip: Use thin coats. A thick coat makes the card curl as it dries.
  4. Sketch a big lotus, two small ones, leaves and stems
    Use a white or light pencil. In the lower middle, draw a lotus about 6 cm wide: one upright centre petal with two petals on each side that overlap it. Draw a smaller 3 cm lotus on each side, 4.5 cm out and a little lower. Add a curved stem under each flower and two round leaves at the bottom. Keep the sketch light, because paint will cover it.
  5. Paint the lotus petals white with pink tips
    Paint the back petals first, then the front ones, with 2 thin coats of white and 5 minutes between coats. A single coat looks patchy on dark paper. Mix a little red into white to get light pink and paint the tip of each petal, blending downward a little. Use the size 2 brush for the big lotus and the size 0 for the small ones. Common mistake: thick white, which cracks as it dries.
    Tip: Rinse the brush between white and pink so the white stays clean.
  6. Paint the leaves and stems, then add lotus buds
    Mix green with a little yellow. Fill the leaves with the size 2 brush and paint each stem in one steady stroke with the size 0. Wait 10 minutes. Then paint 3 or 4 tiny buds between the flowers and 2 small flowers in the top corners, each about 2 cm across, using the same white and pink. Common mistake: painting a stem over wet green, which turns muddy.
  7. Outline every petal and leaf with the gold pen
    Shake the gold pen and test it on scrap paper first, because the first mark can come out as a blob. Draw a thin gold line around each petal, then around the leaves. Draw each line in one smooth stroke, working from the top of the card to the bottom so your hand never rests on wet gold. The gold glow around the white is what makes this look like Pichwai.
    Tip: Wait 10 minutes for the pink and white to dry before you outline, or the gold will smear.
  8. Draw a gold border 5 mm from the edge, then a row of dots
    Use the ruler to draw a gold border 5 mm from the edge of the card, all the way round. Then press the tip of the gold pen straight down every 5 mm, 3 mm inside the border, to make a row of dots. Press and lift, without dragging. This frame makes the card look finished.
  9. Let it dry, flatten it and write your message
    Leave the card open for 1 hour so the paint dries completely. If it curls, press it under the heavy book for another hour. Then write your message on the inside with a pen. Close the paint tubes tightly, and wash the brushes in warm water with a little soap before the paint dries on them.

Sustainability

Medium - paper-based; gold pen is plastic-based

Safety

Paint stains; take eye breaks during fine work