• 60 ideas
  • Checked October 2026

Warli Painting Ideas

Pick another idea: one scene in the Warli manner, with the shapes it is built from.

Warli Painting Ideas

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  1. Peacock on a branch, tail hanging in long linesWhite on terracotta red. Draw the bird freehand: one curved neck, then tail lines that each end in a ringed dot.

Next step More peacocks to drawFolk art motifs by tradition

All 60 ideas

Figures from two triangles 12

  • Figure carrying a bundle of sticks on the head White on brown paper. Two triangles for the body; the bundle is six short lines tied by one across.
  • Figure climbing a tall palm trunk White on terracotta red. Tilt both triangles along the trunk and bend the arm and leg lines round it.
  • Figure hauling a rope at a well White on terracotta red. A ring of dashes for the well, one taut line for the rope, triangles leaning back.
  • Figure stirring a pot over a three-stone fire White on terracotta red. Kneeling legs as two bent lines; three dots for stones and short flames between.
  • Figure sweeping a yard with a long broom White on terracotta red. Lean the top triangle forward; the broom is one line ending in a fan of dashes.
  • Five figures in a row with alternate feet lifted White on brown paper. Five pairs of triangles on one ground line; lift every second foot so the row moves.
  • Man and woman side by side, told apart by their triangles White on terracotta red. Make his upper triangle the wider one and her lower triangle the wider one.
  • Mother with a small child on her hip White on terracotta red. One large pair of triangles and a small pair leaning against its side.
  • Runner in mid-stride, both triangles tipped forward White on black. Tip the whole body, fling one leg line back and bend the arms at the elbow.
  • Two children on a rope swing under a branch White on indigo. Two lines hang from the branch; tilt both small figures back as the swing rises.
  • Two figures pounding grain in one mortar White on terracotta red. A body of two triangles each side; one long line apiece for the pestles, one up, one down.
  • Woman carrying a water pot on her head White on terracotta red. Two triangles tip to tip, a circle for the head and a rounder one above it for the pot.

The circle dance 12

  • Chain of dancers bending back on itself in an S White on terracotta red. Draw the S as a guide line, then stand a figure on it every thumb-width.
  • Chain of dancers led by one with a raised arm White on deep green. The figure at the head of the chain lifts a free arm; all the rest link hands.
  • Dance ring under a full moon and dotted stars White on indigo. A plain circle for the moon, dots for stars, the ring of linked figures below.
  • Dance ring with children copying it in a small ring nearby White on terracotta red. The same figures at half size, five of them, in a ring beside the large one.
  • Four linked dancers close up, arms crossed behind their backs White on brown paper. Large triangles; cross each arm line behind the next dancer's waist.
  • Half ring of dancers entering from the page edge White on indigo. Let the ring run off the paper so only an arc of linked figures shows.
  • Line of dancers passing between two huts White on terracotta red. Linked figures on a wavy path; each hut is a box under a roof of slanted dashes.
  • Ring of dancers around one tarpa player White on terracotta red. Draw the player in the middle first, then pairs of triangles all round, arms linked.
  • Spiral of dancers winding out from the center White on terracotta red. Pencil a spiral lightly and stand a two-triangle figure on it at every finger-width.
  • Tarpa player alone, the long instrument raised White on brown paper. Two triangles for the body; the tarpa is one long line widening to a bell at its end.
  • Tarpa player and a drummer in the middle of the ring White on terracotta red. The drum is an oval across the drummer's waist; the tarpa rises beside it.
  • Two rings of dancers, one inside the other White on black. Small figures on the inner ring, larger ones on the outer, all leaning the same way round.

Trees, birds and animals 12

  • Fish circling in a pond of rippled rings White on indigo. Three rings of dashes for the water; each fish is a leaf shape with a forked tail.
  • Hen with a line of chicks behind her White on terracotta red. Freehand ovals with a beak and two leg lines, each chick smaller than the last.
  • Herd of deer leaping, legs flung fore and aft White on black. Sideways triangles for each body, antlers as forked lines, legs stretched out flat.
  • Pair of bullocks with bodies of two sideways triangles White on terracotta red. Lay the triangles tip to tip on their sides; add horns, four leg lines and a tail.
  • Palm with a fan of leaves at the top of a ringed trunk White on brown paper. Short bars up the trunk; each leaf is a spine line with dashes down both sides.
  • Peacock on a branch, tail hanging in long lines White on terracotta red. Draw the bird freehand: one curved neck, then tail lines that each end in a ringed dot.
  • Peacock walking through tall grain stalks White on mustard yellow. Stalks are upright lines with paired dashes; the tail trails behind in a bundle.
  • Peacock with its tail fanned like a half sun White on deep green. Lines spread from the body in a half circle; put a small ring at the tip of each.
  • Trail of ants climbing a tree trunk White on brown paper. Three dots and six tiny legs for each ant, in a line that winds up the trunk.
  • Tree drawn as rows of leaf dashes on a single trunk White on terracotta red. One trunk line, branches in pairs, then a short dash for every leaf.
  • Tree forking again and again, birds roosting at the tips White on terracotta red. Each branch splits in two, again and again; a small freehand bird ends each twig.
  • Two peacocks facing each other under one tree White on terracotta red. Draw one bird, mirror it across the trunk and let both tails sweep the ground.

Village and field scenes 12

  • Bullock cart loaded with hay on a winding road White on brown paper. Two spoked wheels, a heap of short dashes for hay and the driver at the front.
  • Fishing with a wide net thrown from the river bank White on indigo. The net is a cone of crossed lines; fish are leaf shapes under wavy water lines.
  • Harvest with figures cutting grain and stacking sheaves White on mustard yellow. Sheaves are bundles of lines tied in the middle; stand them in threes.
  • Hut with a thatched roof and a fenced yard White on terracotta red. Slanted dashes for thatch, upright strokes for the fence, a hen or two inside.
  • Market day with figures carrying baskets along a path White on deep green. Baskets are half circles on the heads; space the figures evenly along the path.
  • Night scene with a fire and figures seated round it White on black. Flames as upright wavy lines; seated figures have legs folded into a V.
  • Ploughing scene with furrows ruled across the whole page White on terracotta red. Two bullocks, a plough line and a figure behind; fill the field with wavy furrows.
  • Rice planting: a row of bent figures in a flooded field White on terracotta red. Bend each figure where its triangles meet; short tufts mark the planted rows.
  • Sun with rays over fields and a river White on terracotta red. A circle with short rays, a double wavy line for the river, dashes for the crop.
  • Threshing floor with bullocks walking round a post White on brown paper. A post in the middle, a ring of dashes for the grain and two bullocks on the ring.
  • Whole village from above: huts, trees, a path and a pond White on terracotta red. Draw the winding path first and hang every hut, tree and figure off it.
  • Women at the well with pots stacked beside it White on terracotta red. A dashed ring for the well; pots are circles stacked two high.

On a pot, a card or a wall board 12

  • Band of dancers round the shoulder of a terracotta pot White on bare terracotta. Mark the band with two chalk lines and space the figures a finger-width apart.
  • Bookmark with a tall palm and a climbing figure White on a strip of brown card. The trunk runs the full length; the climber sits two thirds of the way up.
  • Cloth bag panel with a row of birds on a line White fabric paint on brown cloth. One straight line across; freehand birds sit on it facing both ways.
  • Greeting card with three figures and a tree on brown card White gel pen on brown card. One tree at the left, three figures walking toward it.
  • Long board with a line of three bullock carts White on a board painted indigo. Repeat the same cart three times and change only its load.
  • Pot ringed with a row of trees and birds White on bare terracotta. Alternate one tree and one bird all the way round so the pattern meets itself.
  • Pot with a zigzag rim and working figures below White on a pot painted black. Zigzag under the rim first; then figures carrying, pounding and sweeping.
  • Round coaster with fish swimming in a ring White on a cork round. Four leaf-shaped fish, nose to tail, around a dot at the center.
  • Small pot with one peacock, its tail wrapping the side White on bare terracotta. Bird at the front, tail lines sweeping round the belly of the pot.
  • Square canvas filled by one large dance ring White on a canvas painted terracotta red. Let the ring touch all four sides; the tarpa player stands inside.
  • Three small canvases: field, village and dance White on canvases painted mustard, red and indigo. One scene on each; hang them in a row.
  • Wall board with a whole village inside a dashed border White on a board painted terracotta red. Rule the border first, then work from the middle outward.

How it works

Warli painting is the art of the Warli people of Maharashtra, India, traditionally painted by women on the mud walls of their homes in white rice paste. It shows daily life, farming, animals and trees in simple shapes.

Read the full guide

Two triangles, a circle and lines

People and animals are two triangles joined at their tips: the upper one is the torso, the lower the pelvis. A triangle wider at the top stands for a man, one wider at the bottom for a woman. Trees, birds, fish and insects are drawn freehand.

Warli painting ideas in color

The tradition has one paint, white, on walls coated in red clay. So color here means the ground: 17 ideas swap the earth red for indigo, black, mustard or deep green and keep every figure white, as in Dance ring under a full moon and dotted stars. That swap is ours, not the tradition's.

  • No idea copies a ritual painting: the square at its center, the goddess and the wedding scenes are left to the Warli.
  • When you share a picture, say it is in the Warli style.

Questions and answers

How is Warli painting traditionally done?

On a wall of earth and red clay, in a white pigment made of rice flour and water, bound with gum. The brush is a bamboo stick chewed at one end. Walls were painted to mark weddings, festivals and harvests.

Which Warli painting peacock ideas are on the list?

Five. Birds are drawn freehand, not from triangles: Peacock on a branch, tail hanging in long lines is one curved neck and a spray of lines. Small pot with one peacock, its tail wrapping the side puts the bird on clay.

What are good Warli pot painting ideas?

A band, because a pot is seen from every side: Band of dancers round the shoulder of a terracotta pot, or Pot ringed with a row of trees and birds. Bare terracotta is already the right color, so one white paint is enough.

How do you start Warli painting ideas on canvas?

Paint the whole canvas earth red and let it dry, then work in white with a fine brush. Square canvas filled by one large dance ring uses the full square. Warli painting has been done on paper and canvas since the 1970s.

How do you draw the Warli circle dance?

Start with the tarpa player, who blows a trumpet-like instrument, then link the dancers' hands in a ring or spiral around him. In the tarpa dance they follow him as he turns and never turn their backs to the tarpa.

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