1. Aboriginal Dot Art

2.  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.

3. Asia Africa Europe Australia

4. Human habitation is estimated to have begun 42,000 - 48,000 years ago

5. Aborigines The 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”

6. 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.

7. Australian 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 arrangementsBark painting Rock paintingCarvings and sculpture Aerial desert "country" landscapeWeaving and string-art Papunya Tula “Dot painting”

9. One of the classic styles of Aboriginal artwork is the dot paintings utilizing thousands of painted dots

10.  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?

11.  “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.

12.  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.

13. 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.

14.  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.

15. Aboriginal Animals Kangaroo Dingo Kookaburra Platypus Tasmanian Devil Koala Emu

16. 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