Kathakali - Mixed Media Art On Canvas

This is the work in progress, which I started with acrylic paints, and the dot painting was done with two sizes of round brushes, mainly number 6 and number 1 for the fine dots.

I have been thinking of doing a piece on Kathakali, in acrylics, but it is not something that is so tough to see in Kerala! In fact, to make something about Kathakali, in Kerala, and having it look totally new, is a tough ask. It can be seem in every medium, across every possible surface.

It was while I was checking out dot mandalas, that it occured to me, that maybe that is something that would look uniques. Atleast, so far, I have not seen any Kathakali motif rendered in the pointillism style.

So it started out with that , and it was really exciting to see that it looked nice on the stark black background. And then , I was checking out all the ornate head gears and the face painting that is the trademark of Kathakali, I thought that it would look more striking to make it a mixed media piece and adorn it with rhinestones and some tiny sheeshas or mirrors , that too, framed in my favourite cold porcelain.

In the beginning, I had decided to center the figure on the canvas. but as I was about to sketch it, I decided to shift it a bit to the side. Actually, it was a momentary instinct, and I has no clue what to do with the rest of the space.

And as I was checking more details, I happened across a Kathakali video, and the lit lamp in the beginning. So the final detail was in place.
Finally, this is the finished canvas.