How is shading made with henna?

The cone is pressed harder or lighter, so the paste lays a darker or paler line. The drawings show that difference as solid and pale shapes.

What is the difference between the styles?

Solid shade fills the shaded shapes solid black, stippled shade builds the shading from dots, and henna brown shows the reddish stroke of dried henna.

Can I change the subject?

Yes. Type a subject of your own and the shading is drawn with it, as a request rather than a fixed result.

Are these drawn on real hands?

No. Each is a drawing on white paper, showing the design over a hand outline.

toile

/shaded-mehndi · tattoo

Shaded mehndi design: shaded leaves, shaded flower, shaded paisley

Shaded mehndi — a trail of leaves each shaded half dark down its midrib, the other half left as outline, a heavy press of the cone, the shaded shapes filled solid black beside shapes left as pale outline

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every sample — three subjects, three styles ↓

Reading 1Shaded leaves

Reading 2Shaded flower

Reading 3Shaded paisley

Shading makes mehndi read from a distance: the cone pressed light or heavy, so some shapes fill dark and others stay pale. The designs are a trail of leaves each shaded half dark, a large flower shaded from the tip inward, and a paisley with a dark border and a pale inside. Type a subject of your own, such as Arabic style, and the shading is drawn with it as a request.

a design that reads across a room
a shaded Arabic-style trail
a flower with depth for the back of the hand
a reference for pressure-based henna work

Frequently asked questions

How is shading made with henna?: The cone is pressed harder or lighter, so the paste lays a darker or paler line. The drawings show that difference as solid and pale shapes.
What is the difference between the styles?: Solid shade fills the shaded shapes solid black, stippled shade builds the shading from dots, and henna brown shows the reddish stroke of dried henna.
Can I change the subject?: Yes. Type a subject of your own and the shading is drawn with it, as a request rather than a fixed result.
Are these drawn on real hands?: No. Each is a drawing on white paper, showing the design over a hand outline.

About toile

This page is a showcase and a starting point: nine samples already rendered, three readings of the pack crossed with three styles, each shown at the size and ratio it was made for. Take any of them further on the wall with a few words, or ask for all nine again under your own direction; a sign-in keeps what you make, and it is free while Toile is new. The recipe behind each sample — the subject, the style, the palette, the framing — travels with the image rather than staying private to the render: it is in the alt text of every sample and in the page's own structured data, so a search engine reads the same handles a person would.