4th Grade Art Smart

Aboriginal Dot Art

In the Beginning…

there was Prehistoric Art

Art produced prior to the development of written

language or other methods of record-keeping

The main way early people communicated

Prehistoric Art ends and Ancient Art begins when

a culture becomes literate. Thus, the end-date

for “Prehistoric Art” varies greatly between

different parts of the world.

Prehistoric Art Spans the Globe

AsiaAfric

a

Europe

Australia

AustraliaHuman habitation is estimated to have begun 42,000 - 48,000 years ago

AboriginesThe Indigenous (Native) People of Australia

Aborigines have existed for over 40,000 years

Today with only 150,000 Aborigines left, they represent just 1% of the population of Australia

Traditional Aborigines were hunter / gatherers

They have a complex oral culture  (no written language)

Their spiritual values (and art) are based on reverence for the land and a belief in “Dreamtime”

The Dreamtime  is the Aboriginal understanding

of the world, of it's creation, and it's great stories.

The Dreamtime is the beginning of knowledge, from which came

the laws of existence. For survival these laws must be observed. The Dreaming world

was the old time of the Ancestor Beings.

Aboriginal ArtAustralian Indigenous Art is the oldest unbroken

tradition of art in the world. It includes:

The oldest Aboriginal art examples (rock painting) are estimated to be up to around 40,000 years old.

They predate both Lascaux (Yellow Horse) and Chauvet cave art (the earliest known art in Europe) by at least

10,000 years.

Stone arrangements Bark painting

Rock painting Carvings and sculpture

Aerial desert "country" landscape

Weaving and string-art

Papunya Tula “Dot painting”

28,000 Year Old Rock Art Charcoal Drawing

Located in the Narwala Gabarnmang rock shelter , it is the oldest, firmly dated art piece in Australia and one of the oldest

known pieces of rock art on Earth (with a confirmed date).

Aboriginal Dot ArtOne of the classic styles of Aboriginal artwork is the dot paintings utilizing

thousands of painted dots

Aboriginal Dot Art originated in the desert sand using natural substances on the ground .

Look down from a cliff or hill at the desert landscape and you see clumps of growth (dots) scattered about a red landscape.

The dots in the Dot Art, reflect this perspective (Dreamtime) and serve to both communicate and conceal “Dreaming” stories.

Why Dots?

Dreaming Stories “Dreaming” explains the creation

of life, people and animals – in essence, their religion.

A Dreaming story is passed on protectively as it is owned and is a form of "intellectual property".

The color and the placement of the dots are important to depicting the visible message and camouflaging the hidden message.

Dot Painting or Aboriginal Dot Art originated in the desert sand using natural substances on the ground.

Traditional Aboriginal colors include yellow, brown, red and white .

Today, acrylic paint is applied to canvas with various diameter sticks dipped into a paint and then applied one dot at

a time.

The paint used may be flat or highly

textured (high level of viscosity) with a

very raised surface.

Artists may overlap or 'enclose' dots within other larger dots, or they may be closely joined to give the appearance of lines, and even dotted so densely that they create a flat colored area.

However to be a 'dot' painting, the dotting method must still be visible.

Aboriginal AnimalsKangaroo

Dingo

Kookaburra

Platypus

Tasmanian Devil

Koala

Emu

Art Activity Using black paper, brightly colored Acrylic paints, and

Q-tips, toothpicks, straws and matchsticks; create your own Aboriginal Dot Painting

Select a native Australian animal as your main feature

Cover at least 85% of the paper with dots

Leave blank the areas that you want to remain black