Small, carefully ordered dots are as common as the wild, multi-colored dotting of certain desert women’s paintings in the genre as massive, chaotic dots. Rather than having a ‘dotted’ appearance, some painters combine their beads with lines or even large expanses of linked dots. An essential aspect of aboriginal dot painting seems to be the method used to create it, which involves repeatedly imprinting a paint-covered brush onto the canvas and creating distinct “dot” marks on the surface.
Even though Aboriginal artists can overlap or “enclose” dots, link dots so close together that they appear to be lined, or dot so thickly that they produce a flat coloured surface, the dotting process must be evident to be considered a “dot” painting, not a “painting.”
Acrylic paint has to be the most regularly used medium for Aboriginal Dot Paints. However, Ochre paintings or Acrylics are also frequently employed. The paint’s surface can be raised or flat, depending on the degree of texturing desired. If you’re looking for the best dot work, you’ll want to use acrylic paint with a high level of stiffness – when it’s dried; it creates a high profile on the canvas, making a curved shape when viewed from the side.
From excellent jobs completed with tiny sticks to dot sizes of up to 4 cm in width, dots can be found. Some patterns use Ochre paints, while others use acrylics to create exceptionally clean, conventional motifs. In other cases, the art may be chaotic and unorganized, in which case the Aboriginal Artist has opted for a more expressionist approach.
Dot Paintings began to express one’s feelings through the use of dots.
There are numerous ideas about the genesis of dot paintings, and most of them may play a role in the perspective of various Aboriginal painters.
- One of the reasons is that the Aboriginal People were concerned early on that non-initiates might be able to grasp or learn about the holy, secret or limited portions of their traditions. As long as it was smoothed away after telling, or if left here on the ground, this was done so in their territories where it was safe from prying eyes, drawing a sand painting wasn’t a problem. A concern about revealing secret information was born since acrylic paints are so durable, and the technique of ‘overdotting’ served to disguise the sacred or ‘classified information beneath. Iconography is now widely accepted that the untrained Westerner can’t grasp it beyond the most basic level; hence the practice of overdotting, attempting to hide what is underlying, has faded.
- Another source of the dotted style is that Central Desert peoples’ instructive sand drawings were made up of both lines and gestural dot work. Dots were a logical progression for the many Aboriginal painters in this region as they translated their sand paintings onto contemporary materials like canvas and paint.
- A different characteristic of many Aboriginal dot paintings is the terrain itself as a subject, frequently covered in dots of stone, flowering spinifex, and distant trees. The ‘dotted landscape inspired dot patterns.’
Intricate Dots
Our art search feature under ‘Dots – fine’ shows an astounding variety of styles, how artwork communicates to you, and how it impacts your emotions. These fantastic art pieces need a great deal of skill and patience (not to mention the ability to see clearly).
She is a labor of passion; her public dot work is thick, intricate, and meticulously done by hand. Helen has an exceptional ability to change her look consistently. When she looks at the world, she sees it in a manner only a truly great artist can. She can turn a plain piece of paper into a work of art that is both stunning and mind-blowing.
Older Aboriginal Artists’ Work
Older Aboriginal Artists’ dot paintings are some of the most fascinating artistically. They are not just based on ancient myths and imagery, but they are also less exact and steady because the artists are in their seventies, eighties, or even older. As a result, the artworks have a gorgeous, artistic aspect and an easygoing manner that is visually appealing and can frequently be a trademark of the work of an Aboriginal Artist.