Aboriginal Acrylic Dot Painting Inspiration

Today I introduced my love for Australian Aboriginal Acrylic Dot Painting. I've studied this art form for years. It has been the inspiration of my own modified method of painting. When I introduce this technique I share examples of real Aboriginal paintings and photos of some of the incredible artists that produce unbelievable work. 

Each Student for this project had a few instructions to follow and then they were off on their own. 

1) Draw a simple outline of a lizard and paint it black.

2) Then paint around it with dots. They could use either the back end of the paint brush or a cotton swab.

3) They were told to explore color patterns and try to keep their dots consistent in size.

I was very proud of the results:

Acrylic - 6th Grader

Acrylic - 4th Grader

Acrylic - 4th Grader

Acrylic - 5th Grader 

Color Mixing Acrylic Paint - Elementary Art

 

It is all about the COLOR! I didn't start painting until I was in college, which left me scrambling to learn the basics. I love the fact that I get to explore color with young children. With this project I did the following:

 

1) On a plate I gave the students (K-5 classes) all three primary acrylic colors, and the three mixtures to make up the secondary colors.

2) Each table had a pile of Q-tips to mix up their secondary colors.

3) They used those  Q-tips to apply their colors in a rainbow-like pattern.

4) I allowed the kids to choose whatever kind of patter they wanted, I just asked that they painted patterns and not a scene or mix all the colors together on the page.