During this evolution, or, should one say, metamorphosis, in the perception of art, the tendency must necessarily be to smooth out the irregular and unsymmetrical contours of Nature and bring the design down to as nearly geometrical as possible. For the same reason, a single design is often repeated indefinitely, so that a single form derived from a simple motive may expand into a continuous chain or ornate pattern covering a considerable area. A large series of devices has been established, the majority of which are known all over the Australian continent; but, as the same time, there are many signs which are entirely of a “totemic” nature and can only be understood by a person belonging to that particular “totem.”
Fig. 46. Conventional representation of hopping kangaroo.
Let us take a few simple cases illustrating the different points enumerated above.
A simple drawing of a lizard would include a substantial body, with rounded head and tapering tail; the legs are usually extended, and at times have the claws marked. Vide [Fig. 30].
The conventionalized form consists of a long straight line crossed at right angles by two shorter bars, at points about one-quarter and three-quarters distance respectively from one end.
A turtle design consists of an oval, representing the shield, from which extend the head, tail, and paddles. In its modified form this becomes a circle with six short lines radiating from the circumference at equal distances apart ([Fig. 31]).
The picture of a frog in its simplified form becomes, like that of a turtle, a circle, but has only four radiating lines ([Fig. 32]). When designs like these are expanded symmetrically into patterns, the result is after the style of that shown in the accompanying sketches. These patterns are extensively used in totemic devices upon tjuringas and implements.
The drawing of an echidna, or native hedgehog, ordinarily is like the sketch shown above ([Fig. 33]), but as a result of its conventional transformation it becomes a simple hexagon, from the corners of which the limbs may or may not be shown as simply projecting lines. The pattern obtained by linking up a number of hexagons is not uncommonly found engraved upon weapons and implements.
