Sandhya Garg · Brand Pillar
Gond Art
Madhya Pradesh · Outline, Then Fill · The Animals Behind Our Prints
Quick Answer
Gond art is a painting tradition from the Gond community of central India, traced to Patangarh Mall village in Madhya Pradesh. It began on the walls of village homes. Jangarh Singh Shyam took it to canvas and paper in the 1970s. Its signature is outlined animals and trees filled with lines and dots instead of shading. My Gond-inspired prints are my own drawings made in that visual language, and I credit the tradition that taught it to me.
Some of my most-loved prints are animals: lavender birds and beasts on the Jill, tigers on a rope on the Sher. People ask what they are. The honest answer is that they're mine, but I learned to draw them that way from Gond art.
This post explains where Gond painting comes from, what makes it recognisable, and how it shaped the way I draw.
In This Guide
Where Gond Art Comes From
Gond painting comes from the Gond community of central India. PARI, the People’s Archive of Rural India, traces it to Patangarh Mall, a village south of the Narmada river in Madhya Pradesh. It began as painting on the walls of village homes for festivals and weddings. In the 1970s the artist Jangarh Singh Shyam moved to Bhopal and began painting on cloth, then canvas and paper. He is credited with creating the form the world now knows. As his son put it, "Without him there would be no Gond art."
Shape
Outline First
An animal, a bird or a tree is drawn as a clear outline.
Not shading
Then Fill With Pattern
The inside is filled with lines, dots and repeated marks. That's what makes a Gond tiger instantly recognisable.
Subject
Stories, Not Scenes
The forest, the sky, folktales and village life. Animals often carry meaning, not just likeness.
Gond art outlines a tiger and fills it with pattern. I've drawn that way ever since.
How It Shaped My Prints
I grew up in India surrounded by this kind of drawing, and it's the reason I fill shapes with pattern instead of shading them. My Gond-inspired prints, with lavender animals on the Jill and Rara and tigers on a rope on the Sher, are my own drawings made in that language. I don't claim them as Gond paintings. I credit the tradition because the way of seeing is theirs.
The same idea runs into my newest work: outline, then fill. You can see it in the bird print from our Lucy’s Magazine editorial. You'll also find it in the Versailles scrollwork in the latest collection, which I explain in Hand-Making a Versailles Print. For the wider story, read My Desi Heritage and Behind the Prints.
The Gond Edit
Gond Prints, and the Method in Our Newest Work
Four archive Gond pieces with very few left, then the latest collection, drawn the same way.
The Gond Prints: Archive Pieces, Few Left
The Same Idea in the New Collection: Drawn, Then Filled
Most new-collection dresses run XS to 3XL; archive pieces, jackets and one-size styles vary. Stock is limited, so check the size selector on each product page · Size chart · Made to measure
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Gond art?
A tradition of painting from the Gond community of central India. According to PARI (People’s Archive of Rural India), it began as wall painting on village homes for festivals and weddings, and traces back to Patangarh Mall village in Madhya Pradesh.
Who was Jangarh Singh Shyam?
A Gond artist from Patangarh who moved to Bhopal in the 1970s and began painting on cloth, then canvas and paper. He is credited with creating the paper-and-canvas form of Gond art that is known worldwide today.
What do Gond paintings show?
Animals, birds, trees, the forest and sky, folktales, farming and village life. Shapes are outlined, then filled with patterns of lines and dots instead of shading.
Are Sandhya Garg's Gond prints original Gond paintings?
No. They are my own drawings, made in the style that Gond art taught me: outlined animals filled with pattern. I credit the tradition because the visual language is theirs.
Keep Reading
Heritage
My Desi Heritage
How growing up in India shaped my designs.
Press
Lucy's Magazine: Magnolia
The bird print, photographed.
Craft
Indian Hand Embroidery
The techniques in our pieces.
Inspiration
Behind the Prints
Where the designs come from.
About the Writer
Sandhya Garg is a Project Runway Season 13 designer who won two challenges on the show and presented her collection at Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week. She studied womenswear at London College of Fashion and has worked at Alexander McQueen, Gucci, Liberty London and Alice Temperley. Her label has been featured in Marie Claire US, Elle, Cosmopolitan and Vogue online. Every print is drawn by Sandhya in Los Angeles and printed and made in India. Read her story.
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