Table of Contents
Guide
Published in the United States of America by Cherry Lake Publishing
Ann Arbor, Michigan
www.cherrylakepublishing.com
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
People often show what they are feeling or thinking by
creating art. Art comes in many forms. It can be visual (seen
with the eyes), audible (heard with the ears), physical
(touched), or a combination of all three. Some artists create
interactive art. This is art that changes when people interact
with it. You can make your own art in all these styles in
Minecraft . Lets discover how!
Art is experienced in many different ways.
CHAPTER ONE
Archaeology:
Cave Paintings
Art is one of the earliest forms of communication. Humans
have used visual art to share their ideas and feelings for
thousands of years. Some of the first pieces of visual art were
cave paintings. During the Paleolithic era, early humans
painted animals, other humans, and scenes from nature
inside caves. Over time, this art form evolved into the art that
you see in museums and the graffiti you see on the streets.
Archaeologists are not sure why early people made cave
paintings. Most archaeologists believe the paintings were made
for a specific reason. Some believe the paintings were part of a
religious ritual. Others think the paintings were a way to
communicate ideas. What thoughts, ideas, and feelings would
you like to communicate? Think about this as you design your
own version of a cave painting in Minecraft . Where would you
Prehistoric cave paintings are found all around the world. This painting was
found in Indonesia and is estimated to be about 3,000 to 5,000 years old!
start your painting? Would you find the perfect cave already in
the game, or would you carve one yourself into a mountain?
What materials would you use to make your art? Would you use
different types of stone or clay like early humans?
Visual art has certainly changed since Paleolithic times.
Today, you see many types of art made out of different
materials. Some are made out of tiny tiles, colored glass, and
stone. These are called mosaics. Some art is made out of
recycled material. There is also art thats made out of thread.
Many cultures practice the art of weaving. These cultures would
If you needed a certain paint color, youd go to the store.
Early humans did not have this luxury. They made their own
paint by using the materials found in nature. For example,
theyd use leftover charcoal from a fire to make black
paint. Sometimes, they would even chew the charcoal, or
other material, and spit it out. They would place their hand
or other object, like leaf or feather, and spit around it to
create different outlines. They used other materials to paint,
including twigs, horsehair, and feathers. As you make your
own cave paintings in Minecraft , what unique materials
could you use?
Some Minecraft users recreate famous buildings down to the paintings and
statues inside. This user recreated the Pantheon in Rome!
often weave thread into intricate patterns to cover their floors.
These woven carpets would usually be made out of wool. People
in the past and also today would often hang carpets on walls as
decorations. These are called tapestries.
You can make your own tapestries in Minecraft by building
banners. These banners can have dozens of different designs.
You can also make your own carpets in Minecraft . Try to mix
wool blocks with different dyes, like yellow dye from dandelions
or rose red from roses. You can then place these wool blocks on
the ground in different patterns. What types of patterns can you
use to make a carpet or banner for your home or other building
in Minecraft ?
Similar to Minecraft artists, some artists in the real world make colored dyes
and paints from plants!
SCIENCE
Many artists use materials they find in the environment to
create their art. For instance, wool from sheep is often used in
art. Long ago, gathering wool from these sheep was no easy
task. Sheep then were wild. They had large horns and were
significantly smaller in size. This made them dangerous and
hard to catch. Over time, humans domesticated the animal.
They did this by breeding sheep to be larger and calmer.
In science, this is called selective breeding, or artificial selection.
Artists have also collected dyes from nature. Purple was one
of the hardest colors for artists to make during ancient times.
Purple dye was made by crushing murex, a tiny snail. This
snail was only found in certain areas along the coasts. Each
snail only gave a little dye, so artists needed thousands of
snails to make their creations. These snails do not exist in
Minecraft , but lapis lazuli dye does, and it is a rare dye in
the game. The dye can only be made by mining lapis
lazuli underground, which is hard to find. This makes
it as rare as purple dye in the real world. Have
you ever found and used lapis lazuli in
your art creations?
Minecraft paintings can be used for decoration or to keep a secret
room hidden!
CHAPTER TWO
Music: From
Communication to
Feeling
People also express themselves through music. Some of the
earliest music used repeated sounds in a series of patterns. This
is called rhythm. Rhythmic music was one of the earliest forms
of long-distance communication. Prehistoric civilizations,
especially ones who lived in forested areas, used drums and logs
to perform rhythmic patterns to relay messages over a long
In order to help remember complicated songs filled with
different rhythms and pitches, musicians created notes. These
notes are like a musical language. Musicians who can read
these notes can turn them into music. This lets musicians write
their songs down for others to also play. As more pitches
and rhythms were added, the notes became more advanced.
It eventually became the standard notation of music seen
today.
Historians believe the first musical instrument was the human voice.
distance. Archaeologists have found instruments, like flutes,