Have you tried painting the Dokra figurines that are beautifully handcrafted by artisans in India? Children love metallic colors and I was looking for an art project in gold, silver or bronze. 

But first, what is Dokra?

Dokra or Dhokra art

Dokra is the art of making brass sculptures created by lost-wax casting technique. This sort of metal casting is more than 4000 years old in India. One of the earliest artifacts that we find in history is the dancing girl of Mohenjo Daro. This form of folk art is still in use and the traditional metalsmith or the dhokra damar tribes, who were nomadic tribes, use this beautiful technique to create this art.

Earlier the craftsmen made their Gods and religious figures, ornaments and kitchenware out of dokra.

Now you would see figures and animals commonly created.

How do they make them?

First, the desired shape is created in clay and let to dry in the sun.  Then molten wax mixed with resin extracts of Sal tree is used to create a soft material which is then rolled into Thin Strips and used to create the intricate designs on the shape. After that, it is coated with layers of clay again and let to dry. Once the wax is melted, liquid metal, brass, is poured through this mould. After the metal is cooled, the mould is broken to reveal the unique piece of art.

You can see the creation of dokra art in this video.

Art project in Dokra

For this, you would need acrylic paints gold and some watercolor paper. If you do not have gold, you can use yellow ochre acrylic paints.

Visit some of these sculpture. As you have seen that these figures are intricately done using thin strips of wax like noodles or flat sheets. It is with these thin strips that they create all the parts of the metal statues. So use double lines to create everything like eyes, lips and the designs. Then highlight these areas more by darkening the areas around it.  The hands are long but the legs are comparatively shorter

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