The Indian culture of using art and craft to decorate the interior aspects of buildings such as palaces, temples, royal houses and residences of the wealthy and noble individuals is an old practice but continues to thrive in the modern world (Barnard 13).
The aesthetic quality of color, patterns and craftwork used in traditional Indian cultures explain why the style is still popular in the modern context. The purpose of this paper is to develop a comprehensive analysis of Indian art, craft and color as used in interior design. In particular, the paper explores the Rajasthan style, one of the oldest and popular Indian arts culture.
The Rajasthan arts culture is widely known for its colorful, lively and attractive characteristics. It originates from the state of Rajasthan, which explains the name of the arts culture (Dongerkery 29). Among the Rajasthan artworks developed for the interior parts of buildings include Rajasthani murals developed through painting. Embossing is an important artistic style used in developing Rajasthani Murals (Barnard 18).
In addition, the Royal Rajput family has played a significant role in maintaining the craft and art industry in India. For instance, fabric colorations and embellishment, painting and interior decorations as well as making of puppets are important aspects of the Rajput arts culture.
The Rajsasthani interior design
The Rajasthani paintings are generally mural works that give an enthusiastic and embossed artwork to the interior design of various houses in India. In the paintings, the base of the artworks is either canvas board or ply board. Ply boards must undergo a number of processes to ensure that it fits the work. For instance, the surface is coated with wood primer for a number of times to achieve a smooth surface finishing.
Then, the artists draw a sketch on the wood or ply surface. In particular, the artists apply relief work on the portions of the main drawing. For example, trees and bushes in a background are developed through embossing (Edwards 66).
A mixture of ceramic and powder/glue is one of the main artistic styles used to decorate the interior of the buildings. To develop this mixture, it is necessary for the artists to make soft dough made from a mixture of ceramic powder and glue. The mixture is then used to make a number of shapes of the relief work depending on the designs set for embossing.
Coloring is a major aspect of the Rajasthan artworks. In fact, all the artworks must be colored to achieve the desired finishing. First, it is necessary to color the background. Any scenery in the background must be completely colored. Then, the artist colors all the objects closer to the foreground. A number of colors are applied in these artworks. The type of color depends on the objects on the scenery.
For instance, bright colors are used to finish dresses. In addition, Rajasthani paintings use bright combination of colors. Moreover, the skin portions are provided different colors. For the jewelry, metallic colors are normally prefers. It is also worth noting that Rajasthan paintings are vanished to provide with adequate protection (Bhandari and Vandana 61).
Wall hangings and other decorations on the walls are developed with dresses and mats. They are designed by sticking a number of decorative sequences such as mirrors.
Glass is used for framing the paintings, but it is not necessary to use glass. A number of synthetic frames can be used. In the traditional systems, wooden frames made of teakwood or rosewood is used to develop frames, which provides an enhanced ethnic appearance of the objects (Ypma 47).
Works Cited
Barnard, Nicholas. Arts and Crafts of India. London: Conran Octopus Limited, 2010. Print.
Bhandari, Dhingra and Sudha Vandana. Textiles and Crafts of India. New Delhi: Prakash Book Depot, 2008. Print.
Dongerkery, Kamala. Interior decoration in India: Past and Present. London, OUP, 2009. Print.
Edwards, Eiluned. Textiles and Dress of Gujarat. Ahmedabad: Mapin Publishing, 2011. Print.
Ypma, Herbert. India modern: traditional forms and contemporary design. New Delhi: Phaidon Press, 2004. Print.