Tanjore paintings are in fact panel paintings done on solid wood planks, and hence were also referred to aspalagai padam (palagai = "wooden plank"; padam = "picture") in local parlance. In modern times, these paintings have become souvenirs during festive occasions in South India, pieces to decorate the walls, or collectors' items for art lovers.

    The process of making a Tanjore painting involves many stages. The first stage involves the making of the preliminary sketch of the image on the base. The base consists of a cloth pasted over a wooden base. Then chalk powder or Zinc Oxide is mixed with water-soluble adhesive and applied on the base. To make the base smoother, a mild abrasive is sometimes used. After the drawing is made, decoration of the jewellery and the apparels in the image is done with semi-precious stones also known as Jaipur stones. Laces or threads are also used to decorate the jewellery. On top of this, the gold foils are pasted. Finally, dyes are used to add colors to the figures in the paintings.

    High-quality gold foil is used to ensure that the paintings last generations. They generally appreciate in value and are considered collectibles. Paintings come in three finishes, Classic, Antinque Style and Embossed. In the classic finish, bold colors and striking backgrounds are combined with high-glitter gold foil, while in the antique style, the gold's glitter is more sober, with more subtle colors and plain backgrounds.+

The embossed paintings are similar to the classic style but are embossed to bring about more depth. In the late 16th century the greate maratha emperor came down the south, in thanjavur, to elaborate their princess they started this type of paitings, this is the finest of all paintings garnishes with pure gold foil,precious stones called jaipur stones.the credit goes to them.

    The figures in Tanjore paintings are static. The figures are housed in the center of the board, inside beautifully decorated arches or curtains. Eyes are broad like almonds; the outer lines are either brown or red; for Krishna it is blue. The body is painted with white shading of Krishna with light blue or body color, for goddesses like Radha the shading is done with light yellow. Originally Krishna figures were painted but these days all figures are painted.