ABORIGINAL ARTWORKS

•In traditional Aboriginal painting, several recurring patterns and styles are used.

•The main pattern elements are:

- Dots (evenly spaced to form outlines or areas of colour/tone).

- Concentric shapes (for instance a range of smaller circles inside a larger circle, getting progressively smaller).

The painting in the background of this slide is an example of a painting that uses concentric shapes.

However, there are also spirals in this design too (follow one line with your eye; see where it ends).

The painting below is an example of the

“X-Ray” style.

As the name suggests, this is a style of painting where the bones and inner organs of animals/humans are shown in the body.

In the painting below, notice how dots are used to create a texture or area of tone.

It is important which colour is used for the background paint and which colour is used for the ‘foreground’ dots.

Notice how different combinations of background and foreground colours can create different effects