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Tanjore paintings

Traditional paintings made of pure gold foils and semi precious stones. Fully hand painted.

Fibre Glass Murals

Elevation of buildings look grand with murals & attractive name boards done on them.

Rajasthani Murals

Relief work is done for the jewellery & rest of the area is hand painted.

Canvas Paintings

Hand painted canvases of landscapes, floral & abstract pictures

Marble Paintings

Marble painting is a traditional art of India. Marble painting, is done on a thin tile of marble.

Corporate Gifts

Chitrakalaa Arts & Crafts, are into corporate gifting. One can get custom made gifts

TANJORE PAINTINGS : {Click here for Gallery}

Tanjore painting reflects the rich cultural heritage of South India. It is a traditional art which was earlier seen only in palaces. Tanjore painting in its authentic form looks very rich as semi precious gems & pure gold foil is used. It is a precious art form which originated many centuries ago. It is an ancient art form in which the relief work with gold was introduced.
The procedure of making a Tanjore painting is time consuming, and care has to be taken at each stage. First of all a cloth is pasted on a wooden board with a mixture of Arabic gum and chalk powder. The mixture is then applied on to the board. The board is dried and smoothened several times until the desired smooth surface is achieved. This would help the artist in giving better finishing while painting. Now the canvas is ready for drawing the sketch.
A rough sketch is first made of the gods & goddesses and also for the places where the gems have to be placed and for the relief work to be done. Some standard sketches are maintained as the requirement for these paintings are repetitive. Earlier tamarind seed paste was used as an adhesive. The gems are stuck in places where ever required and mixture is applied to form the relief work. A mixture of natural gum obtained from the roots of the trees and French chalk powder is used for this purpose. The relief work is very important, as the total look of the painting gets enhanced with very fine and intricate relief work. The mixture is applied with the help of a broad painting brush. This process has to be repeated in case the relief work needs to look more embossed. The relief work gives an embossed look to the jewellery. The finer designs are then sketched on top of the dried relief work. The finer designs are then done with a thin brush or stick. The gems are also fixed in this mixture, so that they look embedded in it.
The relief work is then covered with gold leaves or gold foils. The gold foils are thin and when stuck on the relief work they take up the design of the relief work. The gold foils have to be pasted properly. They are first cut into required shape,then glue is applied and then they are pasted with the help of a cloth. The pressure applied on the foils should be just enough so that they don’t tear the gold foils. If the glue comes over the foil, while pasting, it can spoil the shine of gold permanently. That is why, care has to be taken at this stage. Once the foils are pasted, the foils are cut open where ever the gems are placed to make them visible. Now it appears as if the gems are embedded in the gold itself. This work also is tedious and needs a lot of patience. Finally the board is ready for colouring. The colour white is usually used for baby Krishna’s body colour. It is then shaded with light pink colour.
The figures are more rounded in these paintings with almond shaped eyes, which draw a lot of attention. The background is usually dark hue of blue, red or green. These contrast colours contrast are used as they make the gold work stand out. The paintings have decorative curtains with gold borders and intricately designed arches and pillars, which again have gems embedded in them. Extensive use gems, gold foils and intricate art work add to the richness of these paintings.
Tanjore painting has undergone a lot of change over the period of time. Here in Chitrakalaa Arts & Crafts, we maintain the quality of materials used, and we also give the best possible quality of intricate art work that can ever be done in Tanjore painting.We do traditional framing such Mani frame, Chettinad frame, Mantap frame as well as Synthetic double framing as desired by the customer.

FIBRE MURALS{Click here for Gallery}

Elevation of buildings look grand with murals & attractive name boards done on them. Fibre Glass is the best material for interior & exterior murals.
These murals are washable. They can withstand rain & sunlight.
Auto paints are used for colouring the murals which is also good for the exterior walls.
First, the claywork is done according to the desired sketch, then the mould is taken in plaster of paris & finally the fibre casting is done. The fibre-casting is then smoothened and coloured with auto paints. A textured finish can also be accomplished. Natural tones or metallic colours can be used according to individual choice.
Chitrakalaa Arts & Crafts, has supplied custom made murals to leading MNCs, 5 Star Hotels, Builders, Architects & Interior designers, apart from individual houses.

RAJASTHANI MURALS {Click here for Gallery}

Rajasthani painting is a mural painting, as there is a lot of relief work done to give it an embossed look. Rajasthani village scenes are usually chosen for this type of painting. We can also take up South Indian village scenes or temples etc., and work with the similar procedure. In general, we can also call these paintings as Indian paintings or Indian murals.
First, we need a board as a base for the painting. The base can be a canvas board or a ply board. In case of a ply board, preparation of the board surface is required. The surface is coated with wood primer several times to achieve a smooth finishing. This is done, as the surface of the board should be workable.
The sketch is then drawn on the surface. Relief work is done on the portions of the drawing, where embossed look is required, like trees in the background, if there is a well, it can be embossed, a hut … For the ladies, jewellery can be embossed. Relief work is done with a mixture of ceramic powder & glue. The mixture has to be pounded well to get a soft dough. This mixture is used to make the different shapes of the relief work, according to the designs that have to be embossed.
Once the relief work has dried, colouring can be done. First, the background is coloured. If there is a scenery in the background, it has be coloured completely. Then, the objects which are closer are coloured.
The relief work also should be coloured with the appropriate colours, according to the objects. The dresses are usually colourful. For rajasthani paintings, bright combinations are chosen. After this, the skin portions are coloured. Metallic colours are used for the jewellery. . The painting is varnished for protection.
The dresses are designed by sticking mirrors & other decorative sequences on them. Now the painting is ready for framing.These paintings can be framed with or without glass. Many variety of synthetic frames are available. These paintings can also be framed with traditional wooden frames, such as teakwood or rosewood frames for an enhanced ethnic look.

CANVAS PAINTINGS {Click here for Gallery}

Canvas Painting, as very clear with the name itself, is a painting done on canvas. Canvas can be mounted in different ways, such as: Canvas cloth. (can be rolled and transported easily)
Stretched canvas (canvas cloth stretched and nailed on to a wooden frame through out the edges).
Canvas panel board (canvas cloth pasted on a board).

In this variety of painting there is no board preparation. The sketch is directly done on to the canvas.
The colours can be that of one’s choice:
Oil colours can be used. Oil tubes of various hues are used. The colours are oil based and linseed oil is used for this purpose. Some artists use turpentine also. These colours take a while to dry and hence have to be kept in a dust free atmosphere until they are completely dry.
Nowadays acrylic colours are also used for this type of painting. These colours dry faster and look equally good.
In Chitrakalaa Arts & Crafts, one can find ready canvas paintings of floral, abstracts, sceneries, etc., We also accept customized work for the same.
Framing can be done for these paintings with or without glass. Synthetic frames of various designs and colours are available. Frame enhances the look of a painting. So, care has to be taken while choosing the right kind of frame. The thickness of the frame should be selected according to size of the painting.

MARBLE PAINTINGS {Click here for Gallery}

Marble painting is a traditional art of India. Marble painting, is done on a thin tile of marble. The surface has to be very smooth, so as to achieve better finishing. In this painting, pure gold leaves are used to add to the richness of the art work. Relief work is done on the places where ever gold leaves have to be pasted.
A very thin marble tile is selected for this type of work, so that, it is not heavy. A sketch is first drawn on to the marble tile. In the portions where gold work is required, fine relief work is done. The relief work is very thin and intricate. This has to dry completely. The gold leaves are then pasted on the relief work. Care has to be taken while pasting the gold leaves, as the leaves may loose their luster due to glue coming over them.
After the gold leaves are pasted, the remaining portions are coloured. The background is usually not coloured. This is because, having the colour of the natural stone as the background, enhances the main object, for example a piece of jewellery. There are various designs that could be selected for this type of art work. It can be a musical instrument, or a bird, or a lady etc. Once the gold leaves are pasted, it is allowed to dry.
After which, intricate designs are drawn on the gold relief work. Beads of various colours and shapes are then stuck with glue over the gold relief work. This adds to the grandness of the painting.
This art work has to be framed with glass. These paintings can be put up as a series on the wall. Various patterns can be made with different sizes and shapes of these paintings on the wall. Marble paintings are also ideal for gifting.

CORPORATE GIFTS{Click here for Gallery}

Chitrakalaa Arts & Crafts, are into corporate gifting. One can get custom made gifts.
Branding is also done for promotional gifts. Indian art & handicrafts like marble painting, tribal art, silk painting,…can be given away as gifts to foreign delegates, in corporate meetings,seasonal gifts & many other occasions.