Drums

"Drums of Africa"
watercolor
15"x 20"

"These are selections from series of watercolor illustrations done for an educational film on the 'Drums of Africa,' produced by Betty Wilenski. I did more than 20 images for the film, all told. They were used as the primary visual elements illustrating the narrated text. It was supposed to be released to public television networks, though I never found it if it aired nationally.
"These were done in watercolor wash. I have to apologize for the unusually light-skinned Africans, but we tried painting the skin tones darker, and had a difficult time getting the images to show up effectively on film.
— Jon Fraze

Log drum	Skin drum	Different Cultures	Ceramic drum	Royal Drum	Rock art 1: "Sowing and Hunting"	Rock Art 2: "Marriage Ceremony"

This was one of the opening images of the film. It was meant to portray a theory that drums were first invented in Africa by someone beating on a hollow log. The narration related a fanciful story of a hunter who might have lost his prey by tripping over such a log, and beating on it out of frustration.

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This scene represented another theory, this one on the creation of the stretched skin drum. According to the narration, hunters tanning animal hides may have stretched the hides over holes in the ground to allow air to circulate, allowing it to dry out more efficiently. The children in this scene discovered the resonance this created by throwing rocks onto the stretched skin, while the hunter runs up in the background to shoo them away.

Detail from the scene above.
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This scene was intended to represent the spread of various types of skin drums across the different cultures and groups of the African continent.

A detail from the scene above.

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This scene was intended to show how women and children used the ceramic drum for celebration and dance. The theory was supposed to be that the ceramic drum developed from cooking vessels used by women. I have to admit, the scene seemed to be little more than an excuse to be a bit prurient, but that's what Betty asked for.

Details from the scene above.

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Another detail.

This scene represented a historical central African culture which purportedly honored the royal drums as representatives of the king. Offerings and worship were presented to the drums in the king's stead. I can't vouch for the veracity of the information, but I suppose it was well researched.

Detail from the above scene.

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These two images were intended as faux African rock art. They were done in the style of various periods of rock art, to represent aspects of the culture which were tied in to the story of the drums of Africa by the narration.

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