Dolls Of India-1

I have this fascination for dolls. I also have the habit of collecting dolls not only form India but from else where if I can. Every year during the festival of Sankranthi  which falls in January, we arrange a Bommala Kolluvu or all the dolls in a display for three days. Some arrange this during Dassera ior Diwali depending on the traditions of their regions. This practice is followed by the most of the South Indians.

We invite all our neighboring women and girls to look at the display. It is like a ladies only event. For this, every year we have to have at least one new doll or toy. The collection passes on from mother to daughters and keeps on growing with the addition of new dolls.

In olden days dolls were made of wood or clay and were available only at the carnivals during  celebrations of religious occasions at temple, or at the pilgrimage centers. Now the dolls are available at various ehibitions or shops specially meant for these.

So I have been collecting dolls since my child hood. Here are some of them...

These are all made by the artisans of the Bengal. these are made of clay and by hand. Look at the way each detail has been perfectly brought out in each of them.

 These are the tribals performing on the drums.

 

 This is the man carrying the trash.

 

 This is the man selling curd in pots.

 

 This the washer man, carrying the clothes.

 

 This is the man selling jaggery.

 

 This is a fisher man on his way to fishing, carrying the cane baskets to carry his catch

 

 This is the vendor selling bottle gourd roaming around in the village from door to door.

 The structure of the body, the clothes worn and the expressions on their faces so beautifully brought out.

Well I will be back with some more of the ones I have some other time.....

Rangoli-5

I am just overwhelmed by the responses I am getting for my posts on Rangoli. I just thought that since the season of Sankranthi was over no one would be interested in these designs till next year. Thank you friends! I will first  finish of the introduction to the different methods of drawing Rangoli  in the next ew posts and continue with posting different designs of Rangoli.

Here we go on a journey into the intricate designs.....

You can see how the above design has been drawn.

3X3 set of dots and designs that can be drawn using them in various combinations are as follows:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 These can be used as borders for the elaborate designs drawn in the center.

 

 

 

These were only simple ones. Intricate patterns can also be drawn. Why dont you try? I will post some more of the designs next time.

So what do you think?

Rangoli-4

Till now, we have covered designs drawn free hand or drawn with help of lines. Now we have come to the most important and vast section of Rangolis. Well in this post I want to cover the designs drawn with the help of "Dots". The designs using dots as guidance are the most popular ones. We have so many motifs, and designs drawn this way. I will try to post as many designs as possible but one by one.

Now the designs drawn using dots can again be classified into two types:

• Designs drawn with out touching the dots or encircling the dots. Here you can see the dots clearly after finishing the design
  
• Designs drawn by connecting dots. Here you cannot see the dots after finishing the designs. In fact its a challenge to draw designs in such a way that the people looking at it should not be able to decipher how many dots have been used and how these have been connected.

OK! I am going to show you from very simple to complicated designs  of the first category where designs are drawn in such a manner that they do not touch the dots but circle it. These designs are very complicated and intricate. Its really thrilling to draw these ones. I am addicted to this particular style. No matter how skilled one is, if we loose our concentration while drawing these, we will lose the track and end up messing with the design. There were times when I had almost completed the designs but in the last moment I made a mistake and had to again re do the entire thing, by washing the floor and starting the design from the beginning. But then the end result is so beautiful that its worth it.

Some of the important things to remember with designs drawn using dots are:

• Placement of dots should be even and neat in rows
• They should be equidistant from one another
• While drawing the designs the curves and lines should be drawn very neatly

Now here we go....

In the above you can see how a row of dots are used to draw the designs. These are actually used as borders in front of doorways or on the stairs or as borders to encircle the finished Rangolis.

In the third and fourth designs you can see that first a row of dots are placed and then the in the next row, dots are placed in between two dots.

 

  Here again see how the dots can be used to create the designs.

 

Now here we start our journey into the intricate design world. These are called Melicka Muggulu or the curvy designs.

 

See how with the same set of dots we can draw so many designs.

 

This again can be used as a border.

 

Just by varying the set of dots one can create new designs, as shown in the two designs below.

 

 

So with the same set of dots but a slight variation you can create so many new designs. Why dont you try and send me some of your creations. I will post them here.

Oh by the way you have to forgive me for my not so symmetrical drawing of the designs. Its real difficult to maintain the balance or symmetry.

I would be glad if you let me know how my tutorials are and any suggestions for improvements are welcome please.