ABORIGINAL ART Symbols patterns and colours The Aboriginal

ABORIGINAL ART Symbols, patterns and colours

The Aboriginal people have been living in Australia for thousands of years. Their paintings and drawings are called ‘Aboriginal art’.

Rock There are different types of Aboriginal art. Here are some of them. Dot X-ray

PATTERNS There are lots of patterns in Aboriginal art, most of them are made using dots and lines. Each style of work comes from a different place in Australia and is special to the Aboriginal people that come from that area.

STORYTELLERS Storytelling is an important part of Aboriginal culture and some stories are very old. Aboriginal people do not have a written language so to pass their traditional stories of life, culture and beliefs on to others they use symbols to create beautiful pieces of art.

Each symbol has a special meaning and is used to tell a story or message.

Traditionally people drew pictures in sand or dirt. They also painted on rocks, bark and bodies.

COLOURS Many years ago Aboriginal people only used materials from the land to make paint. They used clay and plants so all of the colours were natural. Today other materials are used to create Aboriginal art and the colours are much brighter.

ARTYLINGUA

We’re going to have a go at some Aboriginal art work of our own linked to the animals we have chosen to study to write our fact file in English.

LET ’S G ET P AI NTING…. You will need: - Australian animals template - White, A 4 paper - Water colours and poster paints - Paint brushes and cotton buds Paint a plain coloured background using the water colours and leave it to dry. Next, choose one of the animal templates. Cut this out and use it to draw an animal outline on your paper. Use the end of the cotton bud to dab dots of poster paint. Begin by outlining your animal before moving on to create the patterns by building up the lines of dots. Try to limit your colour palette and remember to keep all the dots in each section the same colour. We can’t wait to see your results.