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Why Krishna art

Krishna doll from Remember Krishna shop online doll blue boy

 

I remember practicing to draw that beautiful blue treasure of our hearts when I was just a little tyke!
In fact I remember the first drawings of some of the most incredible artists of this age (Yep I’m looking at you, Devaki & Yogananda!)

Because we all dote on Krishna we can look fondly on the blue or yellow or green scribble and encourage further attempts.

The thing I find the most encouraging is that, Krishna’s sweetness can be evident even in a sketchy scribble where the arms maybe not exactly proportionate or even correct, but we can see tilak or some effulgence and we have this little piece of remembrance.

While I personally am only a mediocre artist, and am always learning more, it is a great delight to draw and practice on Krishna.

little syamasundar doll with his finger in his mouth krsna peacock feather and dhoti Thankfully many people have enjoyed my Krishna art and of course I am thrilled to be able to sell my Krishna dolls.

When I was little our parents encouraged us to create by giving us stories of Krishna, nursery rhymes which had lyrics about Him, and always coloring in activities with Krishna and His transcendental companions.  If you remove tv and computer games as a distraction then there’s a lot more time to develop an interest! Interestingly – and this is not at all the point of my post but a fascinating side note – Bill Gates, the genius behind Microsoft computers, does not even allow his kids to own or have devices – citing developing creativity and interests as his parenting reasoning.

So, the beauty of capturing Krishna in art is such that, while we do so we can absorb ourselves in thinking about Him (what does He look like? How does He stand/ what does He wear, what have I heard about Him that I can incorporate into this artwork?).

The beauty for the audience is they also get to enjoy remembering Krishna by gazing upon the Krsna artwork – however inexpertly created. A win win situation!

deity paint in oils for metal murti krsna formsWhile I work on painting my Krishna dolls, I find it is conducive to listen to a lecture, so my ears are occupied in hearing while my hands are busy. This can be nice, but other great times are when family is gathered or friends are visiting – like someone who knits, always on your lap!

Krsna_deity_painted_diy
Adorable but shiny

I also ask Krishna for His blessings and assistance before I try and represent Him – most especially before I attempt to paint deities of the Lord, I pay my obeisances and ask Krishna for His help to guide my hand – I need it because I am not very expert, but who can accurately portray the beauty of Krishna without His assistance?

Remembering Krishna’s name, qualities, beauty and pastimes I have some very very favorite and inspiring quotes to share with you to assist you in your own creativity painting Krishna.

Sri Krsna’s complexion is as enchanting as an emerald, a tamala tree, or a group of beautiful dark clouds. He is an ocean of nectarean handsomeness.

He wears yellow garments and a garland of forest flowers. He is decorated with various jewels and He is a great reservoir of the nectar of many transcendental pastimes.

His handsome crown is decorated with many different flowers. His handsome forehead is splendidly decorated with tilaka markings and curling locks of hair.

The playful movements of His raised, dark eyebrows enchant the hearts of the gopis.

The tip of His nose is as handsome as the beak of Garuda, the king of birds.

His charming ears and cheeks are decorated with earrings made of various jewels.

He speaks many charming jokes.

 

Decorated with a necklace of pearls, the beauty of His neck enchants the residents of the three planetary systems. Decorated with a necklace of pearls and with the Kaustubha gem, which shines like lightning, Krsna’s handsome chest longs to enjoy the company of the beautiful gopis.

Decorated with bracelets and armlets, Krsna’s arms hang down to His knees.

 

Krsna’s knees are very splendid, charming and handsome.

His charming lotus feet are decorated with jeweled ankle-bells.

Krsna’s feet have the luster of roses, and they are decorated with various auspicious markings, such as the markings of the disc, half-moon, octagon, triangle, barleycorn, sky, parasol, waterpot, conchshell, cow’s footprint, svastika, rod for controlling elephants, lotus flower, bow and jambu fruit.

His reddish toes are decorated with the row of full moons that are His toenails.

Although we have sometimes compared Krsna’s handsomeness to various things, nothing can actually be equal to it.

 

 

 

 

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Cleaning metal deities of Krishna, Gaur Nitai, or other deity

Although by no means an expert, it’s been my pleasure and challenge to be given deities to paint. The first step before painting your deity is cleaning the deities.

As I have spent copious amounts of time researching and adore talking about all aspects of deity care please read on for my guide to cleaning your Lordships.

This advice encompasses metal vigraha forms.

This is a nice way to polish up your installed deities, and doesn’t leave nasty residue or make them experience an unpleasant odour or process. It can be like another beautiful form of worship.

I usually clean my Lords at the sink, first cleaning the sink! then laying down cloth and having plenty of cotton wool or cloths at hand, as well as a pitcher to pour over them for rinsing.

HOW TO CLEAN YOUR DEITIES:
Cleaning deities is best done with the following methods.

Fresh Lemon juice

Gopi chandan (tilak)

Polishing cloth( paper towels, cotton cloth, or cotton balls)

Soft cloth to dry

Or

Fresh lemon juice

Tamarind paste

Polishing cloth( paper towels, cotton cloth, or cotton balls)

Soft cloth to dry

Notes on which one to use, and benefit:

I find that tilak paste is superior in removal of dark tarnish, but you may need to spend longer removing the paste from the deity form and occasionally use a soft new toothbrush to remove white from crevices.  It’s still superior to using any commercial brasso or other tarnish remover brands.

Tamarind paste leaves zero residue and is perfect for gently polishing.

I tend to use whatever I have at hand.

Important notes;

As you polish the deities you should keep away from eyes inlaid with conch. These can have soft black gum paste filling the iris/pupil socket which will be removed by vigorous cleaning. Should you have an emergency and need to repair such a loss, I have successfully used a wood putty to fill both a missing iris AND a missing conch eye. You never know the state of some deity forms – they can come to your care with numerous little challenges.

Applying paste;

Combine to a frothy smooth paste and apply using a soft cotton cloth or cotton wool balls or pads.

As you polish the deity forms any tarnish will transfer to the cloth as black marks.

You can wash the deity form under warm running water to clean, or stand the deity form of the Lord and pour water over murti to remove polishing paste.

Gently dry.

Admire.

Now you are ready to paint your Lords – please see here for some advice on painting metal deities of Nitai Gaur, or Krishna, and Radha.

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Painting metal deity forms of Krishna, Nitai Gaura deities

Brass or metal deities; guide to paints. What do you use to paint on metal murti?

The following paints have been tested on numerous deity forms (by me), and will be ideal for Ashtadhatu* deties (A combination of 8 metals) and will also work on marble deities as well as wood or resin deity forms.

You will need:

Enamel oil-based paints OR oil paints – see notes on where to purchase
Turpentine for brush clean up and thinning.
Fine brushes – .07 watercolor or acrylic brushes

deity paint in oils for metal murti krsna formsThe following basic colors:

White
Black
Red

Optional Extra colors which are nice to have:
Yellow
Gold/ bronze/ silver
Pink (you could mix own)
Blue
Green
Peach (mix from red and yellow/white)

Bathing Krsna deity – little laddhu Gopal

One off the charming benefits of metal archa vigraha forms is the potential for bathing the murti. So that you are able to do so, they need to be painted with water proof paint. Oil based enamel can withstand many years of daily bathing, although it is prone to chipping.  Oil paints are slightly tougher and if you have the patience to sit out the requisite drying time are ideal.

I’m not famous for my patience and generally use enamel which dry waiting 2 hours (each layer).

Oil based paints can take up to 8 weeks took dry but this depends on the thickness of the applied paint and the climate.  Dry climates will hasten the drying process.

A few random notes painting aesthetically:
If deities (metal/ brass combo) are a warm tone it can be complimentary to use a warm peachy tone for hands/eyelids/lips and feet.

paint gaurnitai deities
Warm tones suit the gold hue of metal Ashatdhatu deities.

When painting eyelids I suggest a gentle eye lids color, not bold, for a mellow look.  I never use a blue eyeshadow on lids, but will sometimes use it to indicate the lid crease.

See my future tutorial (coming soon) for painting deity eyes, and check out my guide to cleaning metal murti (coming soon).

*Ashtadhatu is a pleasing combination of metals including gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, tin, iron and mercury that has been traditionally used for deity creation in India and is still used to this day.  While this author is not a Vedic scholar and cannot answer at this point to the benefits of mixing metals, modern scientists are extensively trialing different combination of metal alloys and state, interestingly, that
“At the atomic level, pure metals have a regular crystal structure that stacks layer upon layer of identical atoms. Often, these layers slip past each other easily, which makes the metal too soft to be useful. That is why pure gold is rarely used in jewellery: it cannot survive much wear and tear. But if a metalsmith mixes in an element with a different atomic size, the interloper will randomly disrupt the layers and reduce their tendency to slip, which creates a much harder alloy. The correct choice of compounds can enable metallurgists to tailor other properties as well, such as corrosion resistance or melting point.”

So it can be understood that deities created from this combination of metals will be superior, given their basis in Vedic history!  Nevertheless, Krishna is kind enough to accept worship even in a printed paper format, so don’t stress, we just thought it was a fun fact.

**You may have to hunt around to find where you can purchase mini enamel paints. Try hobby shops, or toy shops often sell enamel paints for model painting. You always have the option of ordering online. You can use the enamel house paints which are available from hardware stores but generally these are sold in larger containers than required, and you can end up spending more than you would need to. I can’t vouch for whether they are stronger or not.

Did you enjoy this post? Please leave me a comment and let me know!

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Easy vest DIY tutorial for Nitai Gaur or Krishna deities

gauranitai murti diy tutorial deity clothes

Summer is so easy! Just lovely breezy dhoti & nice light shawls. Once winter rolls around I start wishing I had more shirts for my dear Lords, so I have come up with a really simple shirt option.

This set is basically a sleeveless vest option and there are a variety of fabrics you can experiment with.

For this tutorial I used quite a flexible but heavy thai shot silk fabric (given to me by a very dear friend, thank you!).

I have also made longer looser versions in a sheer fabric which look really lovely on, they work really well and nicely, almost like flowy shawls.

The beauty of this pattern is it’s ease. It suits a beginner skill level, and there are no tricky sleeve insets in sight!

DIY sewing deity tutorial
after measuring the shoulder to waist height of your deities, double it so that each fabric strip will fold tidily over each shoulder. Hem both all the way around as needed.
How to make murti clothes for Nitai Gaur shirts
Once you have hemmed each strip of fabric, create pleats in the centre so that the neckline is narrower. Stitch across your pleats to secure them in place.
Deity garment tutorial
Now leaving enough room for the arm to pass through the hole and the top to sit around the shoulder, carefully overlap the fabric and stitch down, securing each strip of fabric into a half of the top
Deity Clothes DIY top tutorial for SEVA Vaishnava devotees of Krishna
Inside out, note the seams and stitching so you can understand how to do it.
Deity Murti top tutorial for sewing for your deities
Turn the tops in the right way and test on your deities. These little sleeveless vests can be pulled together tightly for warmth, and belted, or they can be left open and flowing.
The thai silk I have used for this set actually sits really nicely and is moldable, but I have also made versions where I have put velcro at the back so it closes securely.
gauranitai murti diy tutorial deity clothes
The finished garment set with little tunic tops

 

For more DIY deity tutorials browse through these posts.

I posted this set off, so couldn’t share a photo of them on.

This was the first type of top I made for my own deities, and it really is the foundation of long sleeve top patterns I will plan to share later on.

Try it in light fabrics! Add braid, add trims, have fun, and share your pics I would LOVE to see your creativity.

 

Be sure to let me know if my tutorial is lacking, I might have to work on improving it. Hopefully you’ll get the idea of how to construct these easy deity vests.

 

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Best tips for DIY sewing deity garments

Krishna deity garment

One of the best hints I can share for sewing deity garments is hemming using the rolled foot!

You can buy an attachment for your sewing machine, if it hasn’t already come with one. I use it on nearly every set of deity clothes that I make – the teeny tiny seams are a dream!

There ARE tricks to using it, and a lot of my friends over the years have asked me to show them to use it, and I would LOVE to do that, but sociable as I am I rarely get out, and it’s hard to find the time – plus, how am I going to help my New York, Vrindavan, or Polish friends? So, this is how my friends, this is how.

This is the original tutorial I learnt from:

One note that I would add, is that you can hold your fabric up and slightly over. You will learn to do this naturally to solve the frustration of unpicking your seams, but hey I’d love to save you from that frustration entirely.
Now that I have just revisited that tutorial I realise that it can actually be used as a trick for curved seams, which someone asked me about today (here, this tip’s for you!)
Ok so you have an EXQUISITE fabric that is ridiculously slippery to sew. One fabric like that is this STUNNING Devore Velvet Silk with peacock pattern that I bought in a fit of enthusiasm, in 3 colors. Seriously, it was almost impossible to sew these into pretty shawls.
So after ruining half my fabric & a lot of research on how to stiffen fabrics which are prone to slide like this beautiful silk I found a LOT of information on using a gelatin bath to temporarily stiffen. Ok- so not going to happen! So While I did have ideas of using Agar-agar I still haven’t tried that. What I used was starch. I starched the fabric heavily, and ironed it dry, and THEN stitched it.
It worked pretty well! Stabilized the fabric enough to get relatively straight seams out of it.
Here’s a tutorial I liked (it’s a video tutorial) on sewing slippery fabrics.
One day I’m going to try the Agar-bath.
Here’s a tip on sewing silk chiffon
This is a great DIY tip on understanding your thread tension on sewing maching. I can’t tell you how often I have been puzzled by this and just fiddled and hoped… But especially if you are trying to stitch using gold thread or switching between sewing heavy weight fabrics and light floaty fabrics, this is essential. I always wreck my tension when I sew deity turbans (because I sew right through stabilising xrays and fabric and quilt wadding!)