X-Ray Style Aboriginal Printmaking

The "X-ray" tradition in Aboriginal art is thought to have developed around 2000 B.C. and continues to the present day. As its name implies, the style depicts animals or human figures in which the internal organs and bone structures are clearly visible. Through the creation of X-ray art, Aboriginal painters express their ongoing relationships with the natural and supernatural worlds. Fifth graders created a three-step reduction relief print in the X-ray style using carving tools and a linoleum-like block. Students depicted animals with portions of their skeletal and organ systems visible within the outline of the body.

Dot paintings are the traditional visual art form of the Aborigines in Western Australia Central Desert. The canvas is covered in small dots of paint which create patterns and symbols, often called "dreamings." Bright colors are now more common with the use of acrylic paint, but traditional dot painters used natural pigments such as ochre from crushed seeds. The boys used this technique to create a border of painted colorful dots and patterns, similar to those seen in most traditional Aboriginal artwork, for the frame of their piece.