The painting is done on an austere mud base using one color, white, with occasional dots in red and yellow. This colour is obtained from grounding rice into white powder. This sobriety is offset by the ebullience of their content. Warli paintings representing Palghat, the marriage god, often include a horse used by the bride and groom. This type of painting is considered sacred. These paintings also serve social and religious aspirations of the local people. It is believed that these paintings invoke powers of the Gods. Geometric designs dominate most paintings; dots and crooked lines are the units of these compositions. The appeal of these unicolor compositions lies in their lack of pretentiousness in conveying the profound.
The pared down pictorial language is matched by the rudimentary technique. The walls made of a mixture of branches, earth and cow dung lend a red ochre background for the wall paintings. The white pigment a mixture of rice paste and water with gum for binding is painted on with a bamboo stick chewed at the end
Warli Paintings are characterized by the simple style employed to say the profoundest things. Warli PaintingThe use of color is restricted to a stark white against earthen backgrounds. Geometric designs dominate most paintings; dots and crooked lines are the units of these compositions. The monochromatic tribal paintings express various folk imaginations, beliefs and customs. The whims and moods of tribal life make for interesting themes, which is why Warli Paintings are much more than designs on walls, they are authentic depictions of a way of life. However, the philosophy of a way of life, especially those of tribal societies, is best depicted through colorful images.
