Techniques

The Kalamkari design artwork is generally printed on cotton, silk, and jute. Making Techniques includes the following steps

First, the cloth is washed and dried to remove dirt and starch, cotton used for kalamkari is initially treated with a solution having cow dung and bleach. After soaking the fabric in this bleach solution for some hours, then fabric gets a uniform off-white color after acquiring off-white color, again this cotton fabric is soaked in a mixture solution of cow milk and myrobalans, this immersion will avoid blur of dyes on the fabric when it is painted with Natural dyes after this immersed fabric is washed off in order to get rid of the smell of buffalo milk. By completing the washing process for twenty-three times making techniques reaches the first stage, the fabric is dried under direct sunlight.

once the fabric is made ready for painting, craftsman sketch patterns, and designs on the fabric, kalamkaris use 'tamarind stem' to sketch outlines on the cloth and later a pen which is made up of a Bamboo stick, cotton, and sponge is used to paint the beautiful designs of Krishna Raasa-Leela and Indian God/Goddesses and scenes from Hindu Mythological epics.

The outer line and background of the design on the fabric are painted with only red and black color after painting this colors the fabric is left aside for the purpose of drying and left it to dry for a day, after drying cloth is washed in water in order to remove excess colors on the cloth. The entire cloth is red dyed by putting it in a boiling vessel which contains a red color solution. The cloth is laid on the river sand to spread the colors evenly spread cloth is treated with sprinkled water and exposed to sunlight.

After the cloth is soaked in milk solution in order to prevent the spreading of colors on the cloth. Fat content present in the milk acts as a wax material and prevents spreading.

Finally, the cloth is painted with Golden and Blue colors leftover areas, after it is washed and dried in order to finish the making of kalamkari cloths.