Lesson One:
1. Introduce/define art
history as all the art that has come before today. Art is believed
to have begun with paintings created on the walls of caves. These
primitive artists used homemade paints and pencils to create images that
communicated ideas to one another. <Show poster of Lascaux caves.
> These are images found on a wall in a cave in Lascaux, France.
These are believed to be the oldest examples of cave painting ever found.
So if you were creating a time line of art history, this is what would
be at the beginning. What kinds of materials do you think these primitive
artists used? (Discuss) What types of subjects did they paint? (Things
in their world.)
2. In other parts of the
world, as art evolved in to many different styles, there were still primitive
peoples that made art in the style of the cave painters. If you have
ever seen a National Geographic magazine, you know that there are, even
today, cultures of people that live primitively. In Australia,
the native people are known as Aborigines. Some of the Aboriginal
tribes live today as they did thousands of years ago. Like the early
cave painters, Aborigines use art as a way to communicate. They use
art as a way to tell stories, known as "dreamings." Dreamings are
the aboriginal folk tales and myths that teach why things happen the way
they do.
3. I was lucky to get to
travel to Australia and got to see some authentic aboriginal art.
What I noticed was that they very often chose animals as the subject of
their work, just like the primitive cave painters. The work is very
intricate, combining simple exterior animal shapes and insides patterned
with intricate cross-hatching and line designs. Sometimes the bone
structure or a baby animal could be found inside the animal.
4. The Aborigine artist
often spends more time selecting and treating the bark and making his palette
and brushes than he does on the actual painting process. Sheets of
reddish bark are removed from trees during the rainy monsoon season.
Layers are carefully removed to reveal a thin fibrous red sheet.
This is cured by fire and flattened out on the ground with weights for
several days. Bark painters work with the basic earth pigments: red,
black, yellow and white. These are gathered from various deposits
and ground into fine powders. Then they are mixed with a number of
fixatives, such as bee's wax, honey, juices of orchid bulbs or egg yolk,
depending on the effect desired. Brushes are made simply, mostly
from strips of stringy bark or pliant green twigs. These are either
whittled or chewed into shaped to make the bristles. The artist will
use several differently shaped brushes for one painting.
5. We will be creating a
version of the Aboriginal bark painting. You will choose an animal
(or animals) as your subject and add decorative designs or bone structure
to the inside of the animal. Or you may want to add a baby animal
inside. You will create a border design to create unity among the
parts of your design. You may want to add your own versions of flora
and fauna (leaves or greenery, etc).
6. In your sketchbook, draw
out your design. You may want to practice several different animals
to see which you like the best or if you want to have more than one on
your design. Practice the different styles of line and dot formations
you saw in the examples. When you have practiced your design and
feel good about it, you may begin on the brown paper. On the brown
paper, students may trace their animal using a pattern.
7. As students work, read
one of the Aboriginal "dreaming" stories.
Lesson Two:
1. Review information on
Aboriginal art. Demonstrate using tempera paint and how to mix colors.
Students begin their bark painting on brown paper. As the design
is finished, add color using tempera paint and small brushes. If
a new color is desired, students may mix their own colors.
2 When painting is dry,
outline entire design with black permanent marker. This may need to be
done on another day.
Lesson Three and Beyond:
Continue production, if
necessary, for third day.
Conduct a class critique:
-- What does my artwork
show?
-- What do I like about
my work?
-- What would I do differently
next time?
-- What do others have to
say about my work?
Evaluation:
Can student identify characteristics
of primitive art?
Did student participate
in class critique?
Does student artwork contain
an animal? Are there lines and details in the style of the Aborigines?
Resources:
Book: Tjarany Roughtail: The Dreaming of the Roughtail
Lizard and Other Stories Told by the Kukatja by Gracie Green, Joe Tramacchi,
Lucille Gill - Illustrated with dot style paintings
Book: Pheasant and Kingfisher: Originally Told by
Nganalgindja in the Gunwinggu Language by Catherine Helen Berndt, Arone
Raymond Meeks (Illustrator) Illustrated with x-ray style
Book:
Koalas and Other Australian Animals (Zoobooks Series)
Book:
Wonderful Animals of Australia (National Geographic
Action Book)
by John
Sibbick (Illustrator), Jane
R. McCauley, National
Geographic Society (Corporate Author)
Unique
Australian Animals Lots of animals to check - compiled by Andy Readman,
Melbourne Victoria Australia- Australia has been isolated from the rest of the
world by vast oceans. The animals and plants which were originally there no
longer had contact with animals from other parts of the world. They evolved
separately. That is why they are so different. An Australian
Animals Web Quest. Some animal
print-outs
ABC
TV's Our Animals - looks at Australian animals, their physical features,
food, homes and environment and social groups. Has cartoon-like line art as
well as photographs of animals.
EdNA
Online - Education Network Australia. Enter Australian Animals in your
search for WebQuests and more.
Zoo
Fact Sheets - 3 Zoos Victoria Pdf files for various animals - identify those
that are from Australia from the list.
Art
of Australia links page: http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/middle/austral.htm
