Drawing books can be seen as a vital component to teaching and learning art. They serve as an excellent resource for understanding the historical context of teaching drawing. As the industrial revolution geared forward in the nineteenth century, drawing books became a crucial source for sharing and disseminating educational philosophies for the…

In West Bengal, India, a traditional caste community of artists, called "patuas", paint colorful scrolls to accompany songs which they sing to relate historic, current, religious, and cultural events to their audiences. These itinerant painter/singers are part of a long lineage that has passed the tradition down for generations. In this…

The author of this article, an art teacher, describes a lesson in which her elementary school students used acrylics to paint a cityscape of Bombay, India. After seeing huge canvas paintings at an art gallery, the students wanted to paint their own. They performed an exercise in which they closed their eyes, thought about the city, and listed all…

Tanjore (or Thanjavur or Thanlavoor) paintings are one of the most popular traditional art forms in Southern India. These ornate religious paintings involve Hindu mythology. The paintings are noted for their adornment of gold and semiprecious stones such as rubies, emeralds, and pearls. Currently, the semiprecious stones are often substituted…

Sacred women have been portrayed throughout the history of India and Southeast Asia. Some were depicted as consorts to the Hindu gods and regarded as the necessary force that activates male energy. Other images arose out of local fertility cults and represented uncontrolled feminine energy that could be terrifying in aspect. The calmer Buddhist…