The richness as well as weaknesses of the wall paintings of Kerala can be said to have been derived from the visionary zeal of Namboothiris. The symbolism and display of colours have their origin in the Vedic heritage. True to the Indian tradition, while green was considered to represent "Sathwa-gunam" and red, "Rajo-gunam", they equated white or absence of colour with "Thamo-gunam". They gave primacy to the concept of "Manthrams" over depiction of myths. Though this aspect had a certain restrictive impact on the development of this art form, it played an important part in enriching knowledge about gods and idols, and this wealth of knowledge enhanced Kerala's glory in the fields of Manthrams and Thanthram.

The wall-paintings of Kerala depicted mainly the following gods, demi-gods and their various forms.

Bhadrakaali Sapthamaathrukkal Durga Aswaarooddha Paarvathi Annapoorneswari Saanthidurga Pakshidurga Vaageeswari Panchamahaadurga Vishnumaaya Lakshmi Saraswathy Yakshi Vaikuntthanaathhan Ananthasayanam Gajendramoksha Vishnu Dasaavathaarangal Varaaham Narasimham Vaamanan Parasuraaman Kharanigraharaaman Veeraaraaman Ayodhyaapathy Balabhadran Krishnan Venugopalakrishnan Madanagopalakrishnan Yogaasanakrishnan

Vennakrishnan Vasthraapaharanakrishnan Vadapathrasaayi Kaaliyamardanakrishnan Santhaanagopaalakrishnan Govardhanadhaareekrishnan Dhanwanthari Brahmaavu Saasthaavu Vettakkorumakan Ganapathy Baalaganapathy Shadchakraganapathy Vainaayaki Sooryanaaraayanan Subrahmanian Lingotbhavamoorthy Nrithamoorthy Dakshinaamoorthy Vaasukisayanam Kiraathamoorthy Thripuraanthakamoorthy Kaalasamhaari Mrithyunjayan Sadaasivan Sankaranaarayanan Ardhanaareeswaran Bhikshaadanamoorthy Aghoramoorthy Ekaadasarudranmaar

There were also works depicting ancient myths like Raamaayanam, Krishna-Leela, Mahishaasura-Mardanam, Gajendra-Moksham and Bhaaratham. The temple walls adorned only the gods of the Braahmanans, and not of others, like Ayyapan, Maatan, Muthaaramma, Marutha, Muneeswaran, Madhuraveeran, Karapaswaamy, etc.

Sreekumaran, a Namboothiri scholar ("Aastthaana Pandhhithan") in Chempakasseri's Royal Court, in his work "Silparathnam", describes the scientific method of preparing the wall ("Sudhaa-lepa-vidhi"). He could very well have been himself an artist. That the renowned Melpathoor Narayana Bhattathiri could have been an artist too, is a popular belief in and around his birth-place, Chandanakkaavu, though the portrait of Ganapathy in the Vishnu temple there, believed to have been drawn by him, was indeed by someone else and during a much later period.

There is a distinct possibility that the Krishnan and his disciple, the stone sculptors who depicted aspects of "Dhyaanam" as well as scenes from "Mahaabhaaratham", in Thrissur Vadakkumnaattha temple, might have been Braahmanans, though not explicitly stated so on the work. The statement that the work was done as directed by the "Yogaathiripad" and as advised by Aazhvaancherry Thampraakkal (Nethranarayanan), and the artists' manifest knowledge of "Dhyaana-manthrams", points to their Braahminical background. "Yootthaapuram" to which Krishnan belonged, could be the Sanskrit version of "Koottaayi" near Tirur, or "Koottaala" of Thrissur district.

The Saiva paintings of  Wadakkancherry Pallimanna were done by a Braahmanan by name Gopalan of Kollam and by Raman of Oordhaaranyam, or Mekkaat Illam.

It was one Narayana Pattar, son of Vedam Vaadhyaan of Ramavarmapuram (of first and second Puthan Theru) who produced the artwork in the Paandavam temple near Aimanam of Kottayam. His Guru was a Namboothiri of Kaikkotta or Thaikkotta or even Thaikkattu, who was in the forefront for the construction of the Karinkal Kotta and built the idol in Padmanabhaswamy temple, both in Thiruvananthapuram. The artwork in Padmanabhapuram Palace was a combined effort of Kaikkotta Namboodiri and Narayana Pattar, but only the latter in Paandavam temple. Considering the similarity in style, it can be deducted that Narayana Pattar was indeed the artist who drew the Gajendramoksham in Krishnapuram Palace and the wall paintings in the Siva temple of Panayannaar-kavu. The Tripunithura people believes that the Bhaagavatham scenes in Mattancherry Palace were done under the leadership of a Namboothiri from Thiruvalla.

Idavettikkaattu Narayanan Namboothiri, a contemporary of Karthika Thirunal, from Pankode near Kunnathunadu of Kollam district, was not only a learned poet, an expert in "Jyothisham" (Astrology) and "Vaasthu-silpam" (Architecture), but was also an art scholar. It is said that the ancestors of the renowned A R Raja Raja Varma's father's Illam, Paattiyaal, were artists. It was Mangalappally Damodaran Moothathu who drew the pictures in Aranmula temple; and Vilaayikkottu Namboodiri of Aayaamkudi who did the now-defunct art work in Kumaaranalloor temple. The famous poet, Seevolli Narayanan Namboodiri of 19th century, was a good artist too. Artists or not, the Venmani poets were learned in the science of painting. Their poetry in "Chhaayaaslokams" were modelled after "Dhyaanaslokams".

Raja Ravi Varma's biography refers to one Animangalam Namboodri, who earlier had painted the pictures in the Ayyappan temple of Kilimanoor palace. Ravi Varma, when he had finished his work, "Hamsa-Damayanthy" asked the Namboodiri who had come to see it, why he was staring at the work for so long, got the reply that he was doubting whether she had one delivery or two, implying that the subject looked more like a woman than the virgin she was. One who could criticise so world famous an artist as Ravi Varma should indeed be an expert and a connoiseur.

Apart from the wall-art, palm-leaf art had also been popular in Kerala, since early times. The "Chithra-Raamaayanam" available both in the Manuscript Library, Thiruvananthapuram and with Kanjoor Neelakandhan Nambudiripad of Chunangat near Ottapalam in Palakkad district, as well as "Chithra-Prasnam" and "Roopa-Prasnam" available in the manuscript collections at Thiruvananthapuram, Tripunithura and Thiruvaarpu, are good examples.

The richness and long tradition of "Kalamezhuthu" and "Chumar-Chithram" of Kerala, were derived from its ritualistic traditions. These traditions have positively influenced even modern-day artists such as Karuvaad Vasudevan Namboodiri, Akitham Narayanan and Sukumar.