A dhyana , for example, may be an image of Sarasvati standing with her vina in hand, or Krishna playing his flute while embracing Radha. 10 the use of red as a background color Studies in the 1980s reported red to be very common in recent pata paintings, noting that it had been a traditional background color since the 19th century. However, in the late 1990s, the present author found many paintings, perhaps a majority of paintings, from Raghurajpur and Puri that had background colors other than red, with white being a common background color, as well as peach and a pinkish color. Figures are typically shown with a frontal view of the body but a profile view of the head. Sages are depicted with matted hair.
Characters often wear jewelry.
There is no attempt to convey a sense of volume to the figures. Perspective is absent and the chitrakaras do not strive for realism in their portrayal of people or the natural world. All items collection of the author or Kalarte Gallery unless otherwise noted. However, there are a few exceptions related to words repeatedly used throughout. These words, which are italicized at first usage only, include pata-chitra and chitrakara.