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Lesson: African Scenes Art from Lesson: African Scenes

Telling stories is a key part of African cultural heritage Telling stories is a key part of African cultural heritage. It is a way of passing down stories and traditions from one generation to the next. Using a mixture of techniques, we can create African scenes that represent the warmth and bright colours of an African landscape.

First Step: Tie Dye Cloth pinch, twist and twirl Twist, knot and tie

Roll and tie Once the cloth has been tied, it is then dyed using Indigo dye. It is left for a while to allow the dye to stain the cloth. Once dyed, the cloth needs to be ‘fixed’ – this means that the colour will not wash away in water. Chemicals are used to fix the dye.

Second Step: Printed Border Using the Polyprint technique to create a simple printing block. Create a geometrical design and if you want you can include a small animal outline such as a lizard, snake or a crocodile. Once the cloth has been fixed to a backing board, use the printing block to make a repeating pattern border.

Third Step: Silhouette Centre In the centre of the cloth the scene can be drawn lightly using a pencil. Once complete the silhouette can be painted using black fabric paint.