Rock Art Facts

-  3 basic ingredients for paint used in rock art were: a carrying substance like water or saliva or plant juices, crushed pigments to produce colour and a binding agent like egg, fat or blood.

- pigments used for colour were: charcoal and manganese oxide for black,  iron oxide for reddish colours,  yellow ochre for yellow and white clay and crushed raptor droppings for white and creamy colours.

- crushed pigments were carried in leather pouches or hollowed out antelope horns or in small calabashes tied to the waist.

- pens were made from porcupine quills and hollow canes of grass cut at an angle.

- brushes were made from sticks or porcupine quills with pieces of feather or animal hairs tied on to their tips.

- hard, thick hairs were used for brushes that were needed to paint large areas while fine hairs were used for painting thin lines.

- mixing palettes were made from hollowed animal hooves, small tortoise shells, or oyster shells that were easy to hold in the palm of the hand.

-today art projects amongst the Khoi and San people are encouraging them to use their skills and knowledge of nature in new art forms.

Extra Ideas for Students:

1. Collect soil and clay samples of red iron oxide and yellow ochre and anything that you think will make colour like charcoal or certain grass juices and beetroot (be careful it stains clothes) Mix the soil and oxides or charcoal with a little water (egg helps make it thicker) to make a sticky paint. The plant juices won't need egg.  Use brushes made of grass or feathers or pens of reed or quills and try writing your name in as many colours as you can.

2. If you can find enough clay and soil colours, try painting a picture of an antelope or any wild animal on brown paper or plain newsprint.

3. Study some leaves and make a pattern of leaf designs by using them as a negative stencil and spattering paint around them. It's easy to spatter paint with an old toothbrush.  Early rock artists dipped hollow pieces of dried grass into their colour pigment and spattered it by blowing through the hollow tube. Don't try this, as you don't want to swallow any pigment accidently.   

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