Warli artists hardly use a straight line. Instead of line, series of dots and dashes are made. However nowadays modern artists have begun to draw straight lines in their paintings. Many people have also started to use modern elements such as the bicycle, car, building, computer, space craft, train etc apart from traditional motifs. tribals are now shifting to paper and cloth paintings. Warli paintings on paper have become very popular and are now sold all over India & abroad. Today, small paintings are done on cloth and paper but they look best on the walls or in the form of huge murals that bring out the vast and magical world of the tribals. For the tribals, tradition is still adhered to but at the same time new ideas have been allowed to seep in which helps them face new challenges from the market.
Warli art is done in white on brown or red mud base in simple geometrical shapes. It has gradually diversified into different backgrounds with modern mediums to preserve the paintings. From walls and floor, the Adivasi has graduated to paper and canvas to cater to the market for decorative art, which is highly commercialised.
Apart from wedding ceremonies warli paintings depict the stories kansara chi puja, ayichi puja, which pictorialize and narrate special and specific occasions. Apart from these, there are pictures which show poverty, suffering of the human being and animals, which the people experienced during the times of flood and other crisis situations. Today, warli artists are broadening their palette for paintings created outside the traditional context, especially for exhibitions. New demand and new markets are dictating new designs with suggestions being made by designers or from those working with warli artists who exist outside the traditional space from within which warli art emerged and was sustained by.
Apart from wedding ceremonies warli paintings depict the stories kansara chi puja, ayichi puja, which pictorialize and narrate special and specific occasions. Apart from these, there are pictures which show poverty, suffering of the human being and animals, which the people experienced during the times of flood and other crisis situations. Today, warli artists are broadening their palette for paintings created outside the traditional context, especially for exhibitions. New demand and new markets are dictating new designs with suggestions being made by designers or from those working with warli artists who exist outside the traditional space from within which warli art emerged and was sustained by.
