Colours and objects
Traditional art uses “earth colours” – colours made from natural materials.
Their colours were made of pigments found naturally in the outback.
The colours have special meanings :
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black represents the night and the aboriginal people
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yellow represents the sun, it is the sacred colour.
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red is the colour of the land and blood
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white is the spirit colour
One method the Aborigines used for painting was bark painting. The process involved cutting bark from trees during the wet season and placing it in a fire to cure. When the bark was taken out of the fire it was flattened with stones. This was used as the painting canvas.
Traditionally, the paintings were also made on rocks, weapons (spears and boomerangs), and musical instruments. Aboriginal people painted these objects using a technique called “dotting”.
