Aboriginal art, made by the indigenous people of Australia is the oldest ongoing art form of the world.
Aboriginal art is completely based on story telling and the importance of ancient stories on the Dreamtime, the time when the people believed the world was created.
Symbols are highly used in Aboriginal art, even though the symbols meaning might change depending on the location of the indigenous people. The artwork is often said to be a language within itself. The Aboriginal people have no written language of their own, the artwork, in addition to song and dance, is used as a way of communicating and passing on very important information from one generation to the next.
Dots are often one of the most recognizable designs used in aboriginal art. Dot paintings are actually arial views of the land from above. Stripes and lines are also used to paint meaningful symbols.
The colors used in a painting often represent a certain community. One community might use bright primary colors, while another uses earth tones. Colors also represent different things, like red for soil, yellow for sun, and blue for clouds.
In studying other cultures, we learn more about ourselves and our relationship to all things in this world. -Eustace Conway
For this exercise you will use color, symbols, and designs to make up an Aboriginal inspired painting. I started by using black gesso on paper, then I used a white charcoal pencil to map out my designs. From these I used colored gesso, chopsticks, and paint brushes to create my inspired painting.
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Below you will find Symbols often found in Aboriginal Art & a few examples of Aboriginal Art. You can find out more about the culture and people on this website and this website and this website.
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