Inspirational indian henna

Indian henna is a vegetal composite that sometimes is used as a decorational substance to draw intrincate patterns on skin or to dye hair. First time I met this was in a National Geographic article and got really shocked by the complexity and richness of the forms. Come inside, maybe you can find some inspiration here for your next design!

Love the embossed effect that some henna designs feature, like the one above.

Do you notice the tiny bits of color on the henna design above? beautiful

Feet are also nice for some henna.

It’s fascinating how crisp the henna designs are. Click on the images above to go to their respective Flickr page, each one has a lot of pictures featuring henna designs.

Got your attention? here’s a couple of resources to get you started. The first one, HennaDesigns.org provides a bunch of templates for your inspiration, both indian and arabic designs, as well as an introduction to the world of henna.

The guys at KeepDesigning.com offer a downloadable vectorial set of henna designs. Whether you want to add some of them to your designs or just be inspired by them, these vectors are definitely the right stuff.

Finally, lol, the idea of writing about this came up when I was doodling at my boys’ hands. It is not henna as you can see, it’s merely a pen, but the design is not worthy of henna neither

sebat

agust

Have you tried indian henna on yourself? got some pics to share? would be awesome if you could share some more indian henna designs images.

Tags: henna, painting, resources. Categories: Inspiration.
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009.

lisa September 27th, 2009

My daughter had henna done last week and it was beautiful. Here in the Netherlands it seems to be fashionable to add glitter too.

Shaista September 30th, 2009

This is such an amazing website – I have to leave a comment Your web design is awesome, makes me realise my blog looks rather painfully old-fashioned.
I’m Indian so I love henna anyway, but your display makes me remember the smell, the feel of it as it peels off to reveal the soft colour underneath…
Beautiful, particularly the personal touch of your sons’ hands. Thankyou.

Elliot September 30th, 2009

Shaista, I’m really thankful for your deep thoughts. It’s always nice when someone or something remembers how it felt something that we are so fond of.

DM October 5th, 2009

Corinne October 7th, 2009

I fell in love with henna when my mother purchased Sumitra Batra’s Art of Mehndi book. I’ve applied henna on my self about 3 times now. You can see my henna adventures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/khorin/tags/henna/

Thanks for posting the henna resources! Personally, I think your designs are great!

Elliot October 7th, 2009

Hi Corinne! thanks for the tip about the book, haven’t heard about it before. I spent a good time digging in your Flickr, hope you don’t mind
All the best!

nihara October 24th, 2009

hi,the designs are superb nd excellent.
pls make more clear nd easy

naveed November 23rd, 2009

this tradition is more vibrant in Arab countries and Pakistan specially women do it more often on marriage and eid holidays

Robine March 10th, 2010

Very nice, I have made some henna drawings on my hands in the past as well!

lauren May 10th, 2010

hey i love this website
Im not Indian but we have to look up Indian patterns for art and I think henna is the most beautiful thing ever

Elio May 15th, 2010

Robine, sometimes while having lunch at work, some of the girls ask me to draw some of these patterns on their hands.

Lauren, thanks. It’s funny that while I designed this site before knowing about indian henna, it has some resemblance. Maybe the organic patterns of indian henna designs are somehow design archetypes, just like circles or spirals might be.