As part of their study of Prehistoric art, students discussed the images of hands that are frequently seen on cave walls. Hands also appear in the art of Aboriginal peoples in Australia.
We discussed several ways that these stenciled and printed images could have been made, and we experimented to simulate these techniques.
To create a stenciled image, a small amount of powdered black tempera paint was sprinkled on top of the student’s. When their hand was spritzed with water, the result was a stenciled image.
Then, when they turned their hand over and pressed it against the paper, it created a print.
It was fascinating to think that people were stenciling and printing thousands and thousands of years ago–and that we still use these basic methods of art production today!
