Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Uluru Landscape Aboriginal Inspired Art

 4th grade


 2nd grade


 1st grade


 1st grade
reminds me of a stage with lights


Kinder

These mixed media paintings were inspired by a piece by Aboriginal artist, Danny Eastwood. You can find it on Flickr here. Uluru is a large sandstone monolithic rock in the middle of the Australian outback. Over 600 million years old, it is a holy place for the Anangu tribe of Aboriginal people who have been there over 10,000 years. 

Here's a link to the brief video I showed my class from Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOxVc2XVV7s

I thought this style of art would lend itself well to my new favorite "canvas", roofing felt. Basic drawings of "The Red Center", as it is nicknamed, were drawn in white chalk. I had the kids draw "copycat" lines for every line drawn to give spaces for our dot work. Oil pastel was used to fill in their larger spaces. These were rinsed in the sink, washing away all chalk. Children were given free reign for their acrylic dot-work designs.

*Note: Be sure to use natural roofing felt, NOT synthetic which can contain fiberglass.

Here you can see the white chalk design and oil pastel 
before rinsing with water 


Felt was blotted dry and dot prints were made 
with the backs of paint brushes and acrylics

8 comments:

  1. Terrific use of the roofing felt! These are fabulous! I love the 'copycat lines' idea - it works well for the dots.

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  2. Thanks Phyl! It's always a a bit tricky to challenge my older kids but not overwhelm my younger ones. I might have altered things a bit for my kinders looking back. But everyone had fun with this one.

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  3. I like the bright acrylic dots against the more subtle oil pastel colors -- they really stand out and almost appear to be 3-D!!

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  4. Fantastic pieces! Curious about the roofing felt. Is it economical? Safe for kids to use? Why use it as opposed to construction paper? I LOVE using all sorts of media on a dark background. Great contrast! Thanks for sharing.

    Renée Collins
    http://myadventuresinpositivespace.blogspot.com

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    1. Thanks Renee! Roofing felt or tar paper is very economical and safe to use. The main benefit is that it's waterproof. So designs can be drawn in simple white chalk then completed with acrylics or oil pastel and then rinsed in the sink. It is similar to using glue line on black construction paper. Here's a link to my original post using it for an O'keeffe flower lesson.
      http://marymaking.blogspot.com/2015/03/georgia-okeeffe-flowers-with-roofing.html
      It's fun canvas option I'm having fun playing around with.

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  5. I really like those bright acrylic dots. These Aboriginal Art paintings are just fabulous. Your students did great job. Christie is right that these paintings seem to be 3D painting.

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  6. I found this post of yours first, when I was looking for inspired artwork. I love the use of the chalk in this. (I know you later wiped it off.) Then I looked at your current post, and saw the beautiful bird artwork. (I'm glad I found your blog.)

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I appreciate your comments and feedback!