I have tried a freehand kolam after a break. I thought of doing a dot kolam, but had problem in placing dots with perfect spacing. Hope I should draw kolams frequently.
I have tried a freehand kolam after a break.. I thought of doing a dot kolam, but had problem in placing dots with perfect spacing. Hope I should draw kolams frequently..
Alpona style kolam with paisleys.. Now a days I am obsessed with Paisleys.. Now a days Paisleys find a place in my kolams.
Bowling Pins
As I had said earlier, the first line or dot decide the genre of the kolam..
I thought to draw a flower so started with cross lines. Then drew a four petaled flower outlining with line and swirls around the flower. The swirls got transformed to paisleys with a wavy line connecting the swirls.. Then I filled the alternate paisleys with white kolapowder. Then added circular pattern dots in the empty paisleys.. The tear drop shapes are always a part of the Alpona so for the touch I added and with some dots above to it..
I wanted to extend and again the twirls converted to paisleys with crimped back. Now outlined the paisley and added tear drops to complete the design.. The final tear drop design and the dots had a special mention in my friend's comment, she said it looks like exclamatory marks and also bowling pins. So it started to look the same way to my eyes too..
Alpona
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Follow these 4 simple steps to draw Alpona - 2 on your floor or paper.
Beginner-Friendly Method
1
PULLI (DOTS)
Place the Dots
Sprinkle a few drops of water to clean the floor. Put down Freehand dots in straight, even spacing using white rice powder or chalk.
2
CENTER LOOP
Start from the Center
Find the middle dot. Draw the center loop, star knot, or flower petal first. Starting in the center keeps the pattern perfectly balanced on all sides.
3
SIKKU (CURVES)
Loop Around the Outer Dots
Pinch the rice flour between your thumb and forefinger. Guide the line smoothly around the dots in one continuous motion without lifting your fingers.
4
KAAVI & LAMPS
Add Red Border or Lamps
Outline the edges with traditional red Kaavi powder, or place glowing terracotta agal vilakku (oil lamps) at the corners to make your Kolam radiant!
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Beginner Tip for Smooth Drawing:Use coarse dry rice flour (Arisi Maavu) for easy powder flow. For festive days, you can also place oil lamps or fill flower petals into the loops.
Vinns is a traditional South Indian Kolam artist and researcher passionate about preserving the mathematical elegance of Pulli matrices, Brahma Mudi continuous knots, and festival threshold traditions. Every pattern on this blog is drawn by hand.
