COLOUR SWATCHES FROM A FOREST
How do rural artists create such vivid colours in their wall paintings? They dip into nature.
TELLTALE ART

JANGARH SINGH SHYAM
The best known and most influential of tribal Indian artists, Jangarh favoured a dotted fan-like pattern that he used to animate lizards, birds and this fearsome tiger.

DURGA BAI
Another gifted and feted artist from the Gond Pardhan tribe, Durga brings folk stories to life using a series of short lines to great effect.

KAUSHAL PRASAD TEKAM
Using deceptively simple, evenly spaced lines as a fill-in, Kaushal Prasad creates texture while keeping the focus on the vivid hues of his paintings.

RAJKUMAR SHYAM
A protégé of Jangarh (as indeed many contemporary Gond artists are), Rajkumar fills his otherworldly drawings with intricate circular motifs that somehow manage to give the impression of a harmonious whole.
THE BALLAD OF JANGARH

L to R: Nankusiya Shyam, Jangarh Singh Shyam, J Swaminathan; Courtesy: Jyoti Bhatt/The Crites Collection