Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Tableau Africain - The Art Of Painting African Designs On Wooden Tables

By Amber T. Robertson


African paintings are known for their unique images, natural colors and legendary themes. Each painted picture unfolds an untold story and most of them are inspired by lifestyles, tribal folklore or history. With time, several modifications have been made to painting techniques. Initially, African art was confined to walls, grounds and rocks however, now, painters can easily create appealing images on metal, glass, wood and ceramic. In this article, we shall discuss about tableau africain - the art of developing pictures on wooden tables.

Since African continent boasts a long, impressive and complex history, viewers can witness cultural diversity and unique variation in the wood art. The origin of wood painting was credited to African tribes of Morocco. It was a tradition to create wooden vases, masks and tables during festivals. Thus, wood painting evolved into a completely new branch. Presently, concepts of wood painting have been applied on other wooden sculpture. You can witness several impressive pieces exhibited in art galleries and museums.

The best thing about tableau africain is use of natural colors which is eco-friendly, soothing and pleasing to eyes. This was probably because these colors were associated with ritual ceremonial paintings. Moreover, art lovers will be pleased to know that African paintings involve use of vibrant colors. Each individual shade holds a significant place because it depicts various rhythms, emotions and human voices. Orange, magenta, scarlet, blood red, brown, green, olive, navy and purple are dominating shades.

Those of you who're asking yourself how painters generate tableau africain need to go by way of next couple of paragraphs to unveil this mystery.

- First of all, artists prepare wooden tables for priming. The rub it with a fine grained sand paper to make the surface smooth and wipe it with soft cloth.

- Next, they apply a single or double coat of primer and leave it for around 5-6 hours for drying. This is done to provide extra protection to underlying wood and to enhance the life of color.

- Thereafter, designs are strategically sketched on wooden surface. Once the drawing part is over, large areas are painted first, followed by smaller regions. Sometimes double coats are applied to obtain darker shades.

- The smaller specifics are painted using fine bristle brushes. This approach requires time, patience and skill. If paint is accidentally spilled on other regions, it's promptly removed by dabbing it away using a sponge.

- Once the painting is complete, it is left to dry for couple of hours. Lastly, designers apply varnishes or wood sealants on the surface. It can either be sprayed or coated with a brush. The chief reason behind using sealant is to prevent fading, keeping away moisture and to retain the glossy texture of paint for longer period of time. If tables are displayed in an open area then UV protected sealants are used.

Thus, tableau africain or African table paintings are prepared with great care. This task can be performed by skilled craftsmen only.




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