Introduction:

“Ochre: any of several earthy mineral oxides of iron mingled with varying amounts of clay and sand, occurring in yellow, brown, or red, and used as pigments.” Before rock art, there were minerals from the Earth. These minerals became valuable to the rock artists of the Australian continent.

The rock paintings of the original Australians demonstrate creative uses of available materials. The most popular colours are red, white, black and yellow, which are found throughout the continent, although different regions favour various mixes and pigments. Some areas provided an abundant supply of natural pigments, whereas other clans had to trade with neighbours or travel long distances to gather pigments for paints.

Black is easily obtained from charcoal, white from pipeclay, gypsum or burnt selenite. Yellow was the most difficult to obtain and occurs least often. Aboriginal legend tells of deposits of yellow ochre in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory as being totemic centers, the ochre being deposited there by mythological beings. Purple and brown are obtained from ochres and the blue, in the Kimberleys, comes from glauconite. The blues of north Queensland come from ochre found on the Johnstone River. It is the red ochres, which vary from pink to a deep reddish brown, that represent many objects in Aboriginal paintings.

The colours vary with the origin of the ochres, originating from manganese, iron oxide and ferruginous sandstone. Red was also obtained by burning yellow ochre, clay and rocks. Near Adelaide, decorative reds were gathered from the roots of certain plants. Once obtained, the pigments were broken up into powders on a portable stone mortar, then mixed with water. In areas where water was scarce, the powder was mixed with the fat of fish, emu, possum or goanna. Animal fat also had great penetrating properties, allowing the paintings to remain on the rocks for hundreds of years. Some art has been carbon dated from several hundred years ago.

Coastal tribes often mixed the paint in shells. The paint was applied with a finger, a brush (made of a twig chewed and teased out at the end) or with feathers tied to the end of a stick.

Charcoal and lumps of ochre were also used as crayons for drawing on rocks and for decorating the body, possessions and sacred objects.

Rock art was created using ochres sometimes mixed with animal blood collected from ceremonial rituals. Fixatives, such as plant resins from spinifex (a desert plant) wax or egg yolks are often added to the pigments. Pigments used in bark painting are mainly red and yellow ochers, white (kaolin) and black from charcoal. The colours are gathered from special sites. They provide a soft, earthy finish to the painting.

Vocabulary:

• fixative
• pigments
• decorative
• perishable

Materials:

• resource books of geology and rock types
• resource materials depicting cave art, i.e., Painters of the Caves, Patricia Lauber
• sand paper
• glue
• sand
• dry tempera paint
• pencils
• spoons
• brushes

Preparation:

• Gather clean sand, free from dirt and leaves (a finer grain of sand is optimal)
• Investigate various symbols that portray animals or nature
• Make a pattern of a symbol that has importance to the student
• Simplify designs to reproduce on to the sandpaper

Procedure:

• To color sand, mix one tablespoon of dry paint into one cup of sand. Mix to coat evenly, using this procedure for each container of colored sand.
• Transfer the symbol from the pattern to the sandpaper. Plan the colors to be used for each section.
• Spread the glue around the first section to be coloured. Spoon the sand over the design, completely covering the first section.
• Allow the glue to dry, then tap the excess sand into its container. (tap over construction paper, then create a funnel with it to pour sand easily)
• Continue covering the symbol in this manner until it is completely covered with the coloured sand. Allow to dry overnight.

Analyze and Conclude:

• Ancient artists created designs out of earth’s natural features by using sand as a base. Explore various cultures that portrayed images in sand paintings. Investigate their ceremonial significance.
• Identify regions around the world where cave art has been found. What steps are being taken to preserve and protect this historical record?
• What symbols where important to the cave artist? How do these symbols reflect the daily life of the people? Why was this portrayal important in ceremonies of these clan groups?
• Create a map of Australia identifying locations of cave art. Can you find where the ochres originated that were used in the paintings? How did the Aboriginal people obtain the ochres that they used?

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