Different kinds of material are used to create Rangoli designs, such as grains, lentiles, flowers, rice flour, coloured powder etc. To make contemporary type Rangoli pictures, specially processed dry coloured powder is used and it is available in more than 22 different colours and colour shades. While working on a Rangoli picture, many of these are blended to get required shades.
Rangoli pictures are usually made in 6 ft. X 4 ft., 4 ft. X 3 ft. & 8 ft. X 4 ft. size as required. They are made on hardboard. A sketch is drawn on a board from a referance picture. After that "Rangoli colours are filled-in using fingers only and no other instrument is used".

The artists are so skilled with their fingers that they can creat figures of deities, celebrities, world or war heros, landscapes, seascapes, still-life so beautifully and live that one could hardly believe it being made out of sand like powder by sitting for hours together in back breaking position. The colours are overlaped to achieve desired shading and result. Once the Rangoli colours are filled-in, that part can not be touched. 

Touching spoils the grace and originality of picture. "Intense concentration and control on fingers is absolutely essential". It takes around 60 to 70 hours to make one Rangoli picrure of 6ft. X 4ft. size. Usually, 14 to 15 Rangoli pictures are made in each exhibition. To accomodate these many pictures, a hall is required. The hall needs to be closed to stop incoming wind and should be able to protect the work from elements while work is on. The main material for making Rangoli picture includes hard boards / ply sheet, Rangoli colours, glass marking penciles etc. The pictures are required to be made at the venue itself. 

Once they are made, it is not advisable to move them from one place to another. Pictures are to be laid down on the floor all the times while working on it and after its completion they can be put very carefully on special stands in slanting position to get a better view.. Work for pictures of an exhibition starts 5 - 6 days prior to the date of exhibition.
Artists at work