I Paint On Peepal Leaves To Keep The Ancient Art Alive

by Patrick Penrose Published Nov 11, 2025

I’m Sandesh S. Rangnekar and I’ve learned this traditional art from my father Sadashiv G. Rangnekar who was an acclaimed artist. I see unique art and beauty in every aspect of life and nature. I find the Peepal Leaf medium very different and interesting. This leaf art form is from ancient India and very few artists practice it and hence want to keep this art alive.

To create the skeleton of a leaf itself takes 30-45 days and that needs lots of patience. Especially I find it challenging to do portrait paintings on leaves. The detailing has to be very accurate to get the likeness of the person. It takes a day to complete one tiny painting.

Doing a painting of the Mona Lisa was indeed a very tough task as the size of the leaf is 6-7 inch and to capture her smile and expression in such detailed artwork was not at all easy. But this gave me the confidence to do more beautiful paintings.

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