This one was a couple of months ago around Diwali season. I found this beautiful semi-circular Rangoli design on Pinterest and wanted to try reproducing that on paper for a change. We all are adept at drawing Rangoli designs, a legacy and tradition that we carry from our earliest recollections of childhood. Every Diwali, we would decorate the entrance of our homes with colourful intricate designs, changing them daily and adding to the beauty by lighting lamps all around the design.

Except my sister Neela who actually drew this Rangoli for Diwali, the rest of us attempted this on paper

We started by sketching out the design on paper. This is my sister Bala’s sketch. She managed to get perfect symmetry on paper!

As is our usual approach, once we worked on the sketch, we each coloured it in.

My eldest sister Bala came up with this version:

My cousin Goma went for this choice of colours. She also added lamps in her design to match how it would have looked at the entrance of a home.

My sister Lakshmi came up with this variation. Her attention to finer details remains and probably will always continue to be the best among us!

My sister Neela decided to use the design on Diwali day and made a beautiful Rangoli with powdered colours. This one is lit up with actual lamps!

Finally here’s my version. I used acrylic paint pens and was pleasantly surprised to see the smooth consistency of how the colours came out on paper.

We followed this with a few more, and I hope to get them up on here soon. My workshop members have been very patient with the slow rate at which I catch up to our art efforts. I hope to get these done on a more frequent basis… one day!