Region Styles

3 Distinctive designs

• The Desert 
• Kimberley
• Arnhem Land 

The Desert 

• dots and circles 
• wide pallet, acrylic 

Shorty Lungkarta Tjungurrayi (Pintupi, 1920-1987), Mystery Sand Mosaic, 1974. Synthetic polymer paint on canvas board.

Bush Bean Dreaming, William Sandy, 2003,

Source of image 1 

SoI 2

Kimberley

• structural, block colours
• restricted pallet, natural colours 

Rover Thomas, Nilah Marudji (Rover’s Country), Courtesy Coo-ee Aboriginal Art, 1996

Rover Thomas

 SoI 3
 SoI 4

Arnhem Land

• Diagonal shapes 
• crosshatching 
• natural pigments
• animals and characters with skeleton like 

Arnhem Land aboriginal artists are also famous for their weaving made of bark, hairstring and grasses as well as spectacular sculptures.

 
SoI 5,6,7

For more information on Aboriginal painting