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A traditional phad is approximately thirty feet long and five feet wide and the material used is local khadi or canvas and is made from special oil colors. Primarily only vegetable colors were used, which remained fast and fresh for a long duration. Scarcity of these colors, however, would have ultimately led to a virtual stagnation of the craft, so the artists were compelled to make innovations. Thus the usage of water-proof earthen colors evolved. These colors are made by pounding the natural earthen colors with gum, water and indigo.

The painting commences with great flourish on the appointed auspicious day, when the Bhopas arrive. The ritual offering of a coconut is made to the Goddess Saraswati (Goddess of Learning). A free hand sketch is then made on the canvas, where various postures of human and animal figures are perfected. Floral trees adorn the piece filling up the empty spaces. The figures are the painted in a light yellow color initially, known as kacha. The first stroke of color is always made by a virgin girl from the artist’s family or from another family of high caste. The artist uses only one color at a time, filling it in wherever required. The color orange is used for limbs and torso, yellow for ornaments, clothing and designs, gray for structure, blue for water and curtains, green for trees and vegetation and red, prominently for dress. The subtle black outline that brings the linear expressions alive, is the syahi.