Red (Segun/Teak)
The new leaves of Segun tree are selected and plucked.
The leaves are crushed and the colour is squeezed out in a coconut shell. The colour is left to dry in the sun before adding natural glue (from wood apple)
Red (Jafran / Saffron)
The seeds of saffron are used to extract colour. The seeds grow in spiky pods which grow in clusters at the top of the tree.
The seeds are removed from the dried fruit pods.
The seeds are rubbed by hand and the colour is collected in a dried coconut shell.
The colour is dried in the sun and then natural glue is added to it.
Blue (Aparajita)
The blue flower whose name means ‘Lady who cannot be defeated' grows prolifically as a creeper and the petals are plucked.
The flower is sometimes rubbed directly onto the paper to transfer the blue colour. Another method is petals are crushed in a coconut shell and then a cap full of gum is added to make a paste.
White (Kusum Mati)
Kusum Mati is a special type of clay and only the whiter stones are used in order to produce the white colour.
White stones are collected and then rubbed onto a plain surface forming a white paste.
Then white paste is collected, kept in a pot and left to dry. A small amount of gum is added to the paste. This gum is added to the paste. This gum is used to ensure that the paint stays on the scrolls.
Red (Pan/Betel leaf, Chun/Lime, Khayer/Catechu)
These are mostly bought from the market to make a red colour. The ingredients are crushed together and the colour extracted.
The colour is collected in a coconut shell and left to dry in the sun. Natural gum is added thereafter.
Green (Kundri)
The leaves of Kundri are used to make the green paint. The leaves are collected and crushed by a pestle.
The colour is squeezed out and collected in a coconut shell. The colour is dried in the sun and then natural glue is added to it.
Green (Barbati/Runner beans)
Green (Seem/flat beans), Bheranda (Jatropa), Kesut (Bottle Green)
Green is also extracted from the leaves of Seem (or flat beans), Bheranda and Kesut (Bottle Green).
Yellow (Turmeric)
Turmeric is a plant in the ginger family. Its roots are the source of a bright yellow spice and dye. The Patuas use this plant to roduce the yellow colour.
In the next step the turmeric is crushed into small pieces using a estle stone.
Then the small pieces are gathered and squeezed and the yellow juice is poured into a coconut shell. This liquid is left to dry for a few days and then the gum is added. Different shades of yellow can be obtained using direct sun light. To get a darker colour the pure juice is left more days in the sun, but if a bright colour is needed then the mixture has to be kept out of the sunlight.
The leaves are collected.
The colour is extracted by squeezing the leaves and collected in a pot. It is dried in the sun and natural glue is added to it.
Brown (Teak/Segun)
The matured leaves of Segun are collected
The stalks are removed
The leaves are crushed using a pestle.
The colour is extracted and collected is a coconut shell. It is dried in the sun before natural gum is added to it.
Black (soot)
Previously a source of black soot was from oil lamps, cooking fires, burnt rice grains or burning bamboo. Now a more modern method is from scraping the soot out of dirty lorry exhaust pipes with a stick.
The soot is collected in a plastic bag.
Natural Gum
Adding a cup full of gum (made from Bel fruit/wood aple) to each crushed colour and mixed with the finger. The coconuts containing the colour are then left in the sunlight to deepen the colour, the amount of sun exposure equates to the darkness of colour.
The final stp is the painting of the scroll.
Patachitra artists work on scrolls of varying lengths, either single frames or multiple depending on the story.
The Patuas achieve the correct shades of colour by mixing the main natural colours of white, red, green, yellow, blue, brown and black in coconut shells. Their tools include market bought paintbrushes or traditional handmade brushes.
The Patuas achieve the correct shades of colour by mixing the main natural colours of white, red, green, yellow, blue, brown and black in coconut shells. Their tools include market bought paintbrushes or traditional handmade brushes.
Handmade Brushes.
The traditional handmade brushes are made from goat or squirrel hair, the hairs are aligned carefully around the wooden stick and a cotton thread (pulled from the fabric of an old sari) is wound around to bind the tow together.
The hair would be cut carefully from the scruff of the goat's neck, the goat needs to be at least 6 months to 1 year old.
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