Some people choose art the sensible way: wall size, budget, colours that go with the sofa. Others pick the painting that feels like them. This one is for the second group.
We matched each zodiac sign with a traditional Indian art form, based on what each tradition is actually like: its subjects, its mood, the way it is made. Read your sun sign, then your rising sign if you know it. If you disagree, good. Arguing about it is half the fun.
For each sign you will find why the match works, what to look for in a painting, and where to start if you would like to try painting it yourself.
Aries (21 March to 19 April): Phad
Aries charges in first, sword up. So does Pabuji, the folk hero at the centre of most Phad paintings. These long cloth scrolls from Bhilwara in Rajasthan tell stories of warriors, horses and impossible quests, in bold reds and oranges with figures that never stand still.
Phad is not subtle, and it does not want to be. It was painted to be unrolled in a village at night and read aloud by a singing priest. That is an Aries kind of entrance.
Look for: a mounted hero, strong red, crowded action. Learn it: Kalyan Joshi's Phad art course.
Taurus (20 April to 20 May): Pichwai
Taurus loves comfort, beauty and good food, and is ruled by the bull. Meet Pichwai, a tradition so fond of cows that some paintings feature little else. Pichwais from Nathdwara show Shrinathji surrounded by gentle cows, lotus ponds and, for the Annakut festival, literal mountains of food offered to the god.
Gold detail, soft colour, abundance in every corner. It is the most Taurean painting in India.
Look for: cows, lotuses, gold, a feast. Buy it: Pichwai paintings. Learn it: Rajaram Sharma's Pichwai course.
Cows, lotuses and peacocks in a Pichwai, the Taurus art sign
Gemini (21 May to 20 June): Kalighat
Gemini is quick, funny and always has an opinion. In 19th-century Kolkata, so did the Kalighat painters. Working outside the Kalighat temple, they painted gods for pilgrims, but they also painted gossip: the dandy babu with his hair oiled, the fashionable wife, the cat walking off with a prawn. Our piece on cats eating fish in Indian painting explains the joke.
Kalighat is drawn with fast, sweeping lines, like a sketch made between two conversations. Very Gemini.
Look for: a babu, a cat, a wink. Learn it: Anwar Chitrakar's Kalighat painting course.
A still from Rooftop's Kalighat course with Anwar Chitrakar. Kalighat is the Gemini art sign
Cancer (21 June to 22 July): Madhubani
Cancer is the sign of home, family and the people you would do anything for. Madhubani began in exactly that place. For centuries, women in Mithila painted it on the walls and floors of their homes for weddings, births and festivals, as blessings for the family.
Madhubani is full of fish, which stand for fertility and good fortune, and of the moon, Cancer's ruler. It carries memory and care in every border.
Look for: fish, a wedding scene, double-line borders. Learn it: Padma Shri Dulari Devi's Madhubani art course.
Leo (23 July to 22 August): Mewar miniature
Leo is ruled by the Sun and likes to be at the centre of the room. The rulers of Mewar claimed descent from the Sun itself, and their court painters made sure everyone knew it. Mewar miniature painting is the boldest of the Rajasthani schools: saturated reds and yellows, confident outlines, kings in procession, courts in full splendour.
There is nothing shy about a Mewar painting, which is exactly how a Leo likes it.
A Mewar miniature, the Leo art sign
Look for: a royal procession, a golden sun, red everywhere. Learn it: Bhanwar Lal Kumawat's Mewar miniature course.
Virgo (23 August to 22 September): Bikaner miniature
Virgo notices the detail everyone else missed. Bikaner miniature is built on detail. Its painters shade with pardaz, thousands of tiny strokes laid down one at a time until a face or a leaf seems to breathe. Bikaner artists were also unusually careful to sign their work.
Mahaveer Swami, who teaches the Bikaner course on Rooftop, paints a desert plant with the same patience he gives a god. Read how he paints a leaf and a god the same way. If that sounds relaxing rather than exhausting, you are a Virgo.
Look for: soft colour, fine shading, botanical detail. Learn it: the Bikaner miniature course.
Libra (23 September to 22 October): Kishangarh miniature
Libra loves beauty, balance and romance. Kishangarh painting is all three. In the 18th century, under Raja Savant Singh and the painter Nihal Chand, this small Rajasthani court produced the most romantic paintings in India: Radha and Krishna in glowing landscapes, with long, elegant faces and almond eyes.
Everything in a Kishangarh painting is in harmony, from the lake in the background to the curve of an eyebrow. Our chronicles of Kishangarh miniature painting tells the love story behind the style.
Look for: Radha and Krishna, a lake at dusk, elegant profiles. Buy it: miniature paintings.
Scorpio (23 October to 21 November): Mata ni Pachedi
Scorpio is intense, protective and drawn to what lies beneath the surface. Mata ni Pachedi, the sacred cloth of Gujarat, is painted for the mother goddess in her fiercest forms. It was made by communities who were kept out of temples, so they carried their goddess with them on cloth.
The paintings are dramatic: a powerful goddess at the centre, strong black line, deep red, and a toran border holding everything in. Loyal, fierce and a little mysterious. Scorpio.
Look for: a central goddess, black and red, a toran border. Learn it: the Chitara family's Mata ni Pachedi course.
Sagittarius (22 November to 21 December): Kota-Bundi miniature
Sagittarius is the archer, the traveller, the one who has already booked the next trip. The Kota painters of Rajasthan would understand. Their most famous paintings are hunting scenes: rulers on elephants, tigers leaping, forests so dense you can almost hear them. Neighbouring Bundi painted the moods of music and the seasons.
Kota miniature is restless and outdoorsy, and it never stays in the palace for long.
Look for: a hunt, a jungle, movement in every corner. Learn it: Mohammed Luqman's Kota-Bundi miniature course.
A Kota hunting scene, the Sagittarius art sign
Capricorn (22 December to 19 January): Thangka
Capricorn respects tradition, discipline and doing things properly. Thangka, the Buddhist scroll painting of the Himalayas, is built on all of it. Every figure is drawn on a measured grid so that its proportions follow centuries-old rules. Painters train for years, work slowly in mineral colour and gold, and treat accuracy as a form of devotion.
A Thangka rewards patience, which Capricorn has more of than any other sign.
Look for: a central deity, precise symmetry, gold. Learn it: Padma Shri Khandu Wangchuk Bhutia's Thangka course, at about 18 hours the longest on Rooftop.
Thangka with Padma Shri Khandu Wangchuk Bhutia, the Capricorn art sign
Aquarius (20 January to 18 February): Gond
Aquarius is the innovator who still cares about the community. That describes Gond art's modern story. In the 1980s, Jangarh Singh Shyam took a tradition painted on village walls and turned it into something new on paper and canvas, and the art world took notice. Today Gond painters like his nephew Venkat Raman Singh Shyam use the form to talk about people, forests and the damage done to both.
Gond painting is inventive, playful and quietly political. Every artist develops their own signature pattern. Very Aquarius.
Look for: a tree of life, animals full of pattern, an environmental message. Learn it: Venkat Raman Singh Shyam's Gond art course online.
A porcupine that grows into a tree, a Gond painting by Sandip Dhurve. Gond is the Aquarius art sign
Pisces (19 February to 20 March): Bhil
Pisces lives half in a dream. Bhil painting looks like one. Its animals, trees and gods are covered in thousands of coloured dots that shimmer like rain on a pond, and many paintings tell stories of rain gods, spirits and the forest. In one of Lado Bai's paintings, a tree grows out of a running deer's antlers, and nobody in the picture finds it strange.
Bhil is gentle, intuitive and hypnotic to make. Placing dot after dot is close to meditation, which suits the most spiritual sign of all.
Golden birds by Lado Bai. Bhil, all shimmering dots, is the Pisces art sign
Look for: shimmering dots, rain, a dreamlike animal. Learn it: Padma Shri Bhuri Bai's Bhil art course. She was the first Bhil artist to paint on paper and canvas instead of walls.
Your art signs at a glance
| Sign | Art form | One-line reason |
|---|---|---|
| Aries | Phad | Heroes, horses, bold red |
| Taurus | Pichwai | Cows, gold and feasts |
| Gemini | Kalighat | Witty, fast, full of gossip |
| Cancer | Madhubani | Painted at home, for family |
| Leo | Mewar miniature | Royal courts of the Sun dynasty |
| Virgo | Bikaner miniature | Detail, one stroke at a time |
| Libra | Kishangarh miniature | Romance and perfect balance |
| Scorpio | Mata ni Pachedi | The fierce, protective goddess |
| Sagittarius | Kota-Bundi miniature | Hunts, jungles, adventure |
| Capricorn | Thangka | Discipline and measured grids |
| Aquarius | Gond | Tradition, reinvented |
| Pisces | Bhil | Dreamy, shimmering dots |
What about Warli?
We left Warli out on purpose, because it suits everyone. Its circle, triangle and line are the simplest shapes in Indian art, and its scenes of villages dancing, farming and celebrating together feel familiar whatever your sign. If you are buying a gift and do not know the person's sign, a Warli painting is the safe and lovely choice.
Use your art sign
There are three ways to put this to work.
Hang it. Browse original paintings on Rooftop by art form, starting with your sign. If you are not sure where it should go, our guide to choosing a painting for every wall helps.
Gift it. A painting in someone's art sign makes a thoughtful birthday present, with a story to tell when they unwrap it.
Learn it. Every art form above, except Kishangarh, has a master course on Rooftop. Our guide to learning traditional Indian art online helps you choose where to start.
And if your art sign does not feel right, try your rising sign, or your moon sign, or just pick the one you liked reading about most. Astrology is a game. The paintings are real.
Frequently asked questions
Which Indian art form matches my zodiac sign?
Aries: Phad. Taurus: Pichwai. Gemini: Kalighat. Cancer: Madhubani. Leo: Mewar miniature. Virgo: Bikaner miniature. Libra: Kishangarh miniature. Scorpio: Mata ni Pachedi. Sagittarius: Kota-Bundi miniature. Capricorn: Thangka. Aquarius: Gond. Pisces: Bhil.
Is a zodiac painting a good birthday gift?
Yes. Choosing an original painting in the art form that matches someone's sign gives the gift a story. Rooftop paintings are originals and come with a certificate of authenticity.
Can I learn the art form for my sign online?
Most of them, yes. Rooftop has master courses in Phad, Pichwai, Kalighat, Madhubani, Mewar, Bikaner and Kota-Bundi miniature, Mata ni Pachedi, Thangka, Gond and Bhil.
