Aboriginal Dot Painting

Aboriginal Australian artists often painted in the sand. In the 1970s, this tradition led to a new type of art called dot painting. Unlike art done in sand, which washes away, dot paintings on canvas are permanent. Artists dot paint in patterns to create pictures of animals, trees, landscapes, and people. Aboriginal Australians often paint images that tell important stories from their culture. You can create your own version of an Aboriginal Australian dot painting!

What You Need:

• Wooden stick, the wooden end of a paintbrush, or cotton swabs
• Tempera paint In the following colors: red, brown, white, yellow, black
• Small paper plates or plastic palettes for paint
• Newspaper
• Brown construction paper (11” x 17”)

What You Do:

1. Pour out paint into separate plates, or in a palette
2. Think about an important place, event, animal, or person in your life. What image could you paint that would represent it?
3. Test out the dot painting technique by dipping a wooden stick or cotton swab into the paint and dotting it on the newspaper. Do this a few times to get the hang of it. You can even practice making the outline of a shape, like a square, with dots. 
4. Create shapes of animals, people, patterns, and landscapes by dotting the outline of them onto the brown paper. You can interchange colors! If you are using cotton swabs, use a different one for each color. If you are using a stick, wipe it off between color changes. 
5. Fill in the shape outline with more dots to make the figure complete. 
6. Allow your dot painting to dry completely before moving it so the colors won't run.
7. Hang your painting and enjoy!