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Activities / Warli / Warli Bookmark

Warli Bookmark

Warli Bookmark: A Painted Miniature with White Stick Figures

Level
Beginner
Duration
30 - 60 mins
Budget
₹223 – ₹550
Age
8+
State
Maharashtra
Craft
Warli

Materials

  • Thick cardstock, A4 or US Letter, 200 to 300 gsm
  • Acrylic paints with white, red, yellow and brown
  • Round brushes, sizes 0 and 6
  • Bamboo skewer
  • Scissors, pencil, ruler, a coin, hole punch and ribbon or thread
  • Plate for paint, jar of water, newspaper, apron

Steps

  1. Cover the table and gather your supplies
    Spread newspaper over the table and wear an apron or an old shirt, because acrylic does not wash out of clothes. Set out the cardstock, scissors, a ruler, a pencil, acrylic paints, a size 0 brush, a size 6 brush, a bamboo skewer, a jar of water and a plate for mixing. Put a pea-sized drop of white and each colour for the base on the plate. Common mistake: using too much paint, which dries out on the plate.
  2. Cut a 5 x 18 cm strip and round the top corners
    Measure a strip 5 cm wide and 18 cm long (about 2 x 7 in) on the cardstock and cut it with scissors. Round the two top corners by tracing around a coin and cutting along the curve. Smooth any rough edge by running your thumbnail along it. A neat strip makes the whole bookmark look finished.
  3. Paint the whole strip terracotta brown, edges too
    Mix terracotta by blending red, yellow and a little brown on the plate, or use brown straight from the tube. With the size 6 brush, cover the front in a thin even coat, in one direction, and paint the edges as well. Let it dry for 15 to 20 minutes, then add a second coat to hide any streaks. Common mistake: a thick coat, which curls the card.
    Tip: Warli artists paint on a mud-brown wall. Your brown card copies that earthy look.
  4. Lightly pencil the scene: sun, tree and dancers
    Wait for the paint to dry completely. With a light pencil mark a sun, 1 cm across, near the top. Under it sketch a tree about 5 cm tall at the left. Along the bottom third, sketch three dancers about 2.5 cm tall, standing side by side with their hands joined. Keep the pencil lines faint, because the white paint will not cover dark marks well.
  5. Learn the Warli body: two triangles and a circle
    Warli people are drawn with a few shapes: a circle for the head, and two triangles for the body, one pointing down from the chest and one pointing up from the hips, touching at the waist. Dip the size 0 brush into white and wipe the extra off on the plate rim. Try one figure on scrap paper first. Each triangle should be about 1 cm wide and 1 cm tall.
    Tip: Thick white paint gives bold shapes. Thin paint looks grey on brown.
  6. Paint the three dancers with triangles and circles
    Paint each dancer's body as two triangles, tip to tip, then add a small circle about 5 mm across for the head, leaving a tiny gap for the neck. Space the dancers 2 mm apart. Paint all the bodies first, then the heads, so you do not smear wet paint. Wait 5 minutes before you add the arms and legs.
  7. Add stick arms and legs, and join the hands
    Dip the bamboo skewer into white paint, wipe off the extra, and draw thin lines for the arms and legs, about 1 mm wide. Draw each leg as a short bent line, 6 mm long. Join the dancers by drawing the arm of one into the hand of the next, so they form a chain. Make each pose a little different by bending the arms or legs, which gives the dance life.
    Tip: If a line goes wrong, let it dry and paint over it with the brown base.
  8. Paint the tree, the sun and a bird
    Draw the tree with the skewer: one straight trunk line 4 cm tall, then short branches angling up from it, and a tiny dot at the end of every branch for leaves. Paint the sun as a white circle with a few short dashes around it. Add a small bird made of two curved lines, one for each wing. Leave about 1 cm free between the tree and the dancers, so the scene stays clear.
  9. Dot a border, let it dry, then punch a hole and add a tassel
    With the skewer, make a row of white dots 4 mm from the edge all round, 4 mm apart, pressing straight down and lifting straight up. Let the bookmark dry for 30 minutes. Punch a hole in the top centre, about 8 mm from the edge. Fold a 15 cm piece of ribbon or thread in half, push the loop through the hole, pull the ends through the loop and trim them even.

Sustainability

Medium - made from card offcuts; water-based paints preferred

Safety

Paint stains on clothes, so wear an apron; ventilate when using acrylic