There are many mediums of Art in every Culture. Tlingit Tribe included. Up to this point I have focused on everything from the perspective of a Tlingit carver. Carving masks, Totem poles, and other Formline items over the years.

^This is a picture of me holding the Tlingit Eagle Formline Drum

A Little Bit About My YouTube Channel

Currently I have 786 YouTube videos on my YouTube channel Fred Fulmer Tlingit Artist I like to tell a story through my art work as well as through creating videos. Basically I have a passion being behaind the lense taking still photos and videos I also have a website fredfulmernativeart.com that I have to help showcase what I call my "One Of A Kind Art".

^Contemporary Butterfly Drum by Ivy Fulmer

A Men's Healing & Drum Making Workshop in Lynnwood Inspired Me to Start Making My Own Drum

When 2025 started to come to a close. The Tlingit Tribal Council organization Tlingit and Haida was hosting a Mens workshop in their Lynnwood Washington office. I put in a request to attend and was selected along with 28 other men from the Alaskan community.

The workshop included making a deer hide hoop drum, followed up by a Healing circle. All that attended participated in the healing circle and also got to make a 14 inch hoop drum.

Now I had this drum that I brought home which I could put with the other non painted drums at our home, or create a Tlingit Formline design and paint it onto the drum.

I want to share that. over the last 35+ years of creating art. One of the things I would say as the Winter time of the year approached. I would say to myself '" This Winter I am going to do some formline work". Well the winter would come and go and I hadn't done any formline design practice. So this was going to be the year that I sit down and focus on formline designing.

Fulfilling My Formline Journey

That is exactly what I did. I took an 18 inch drum and decided to take a Raven drum design I did 10 years ago and update it and turn it into a Eagle design. As I was working on the design, I would talk to my nephew Neeka and we would talk about the different options that this design can go. My nephew made a couplle of suggestions and I took them to heart and made some changes. As the design progressed I would share the progress with him. Finally I came up with a completed design which ended up being the one I used. One of the things that happens when I'm creating a design is when it gets to the time to lay down the paint. As I check out the primary forms and then the secondary areas. I follow how each will flow. I usually find with no exception that I have a road block that I didn't see and then correct it. Once painted it all looks awesome..

So this Eagle drum got me started onto the path of designing and painting formline drums of various sizes: 13in, 14in, 15in, 17in. and 18in hide drums. I painted an old style Tlingit formline Killerwhale design on the drum i made at the workshop. I made a Hummingbird drum and that one sold and got a commsiiion to do another one. I just finished that one and mailed it off today. I also did a Seahawk drum . Ivy has been doing drums as well. Hers are totally contemporary style, no tribal affilliation, just pure art passion of what she like doing. She made her type of hummiongbird and that one sold.. She has a butterfly drum on our Gallery wall right now.

^Seahawk Drum Among Tlingit Formline Salmon and Frog Drum

More Painted Hand Drum Designs to Come...

So I have some other Tlingit Formline drum designs I have been working on and will still be refining them and get them ready to put on a drum. I think I'll have about 7-9 designs for sure. Just like Hummiingbird design I did. 2 in total and both sold. That mean I don't have another one to put oin the gallery wall, until I make another one.

The colors I use for the drum are pretty much the Tlingit style paint pallet. Tlingit Green/blue, Black, Red, White, Blue. I like using more of a pastel palete. I personally don't like bright shiny colors.

Primary colors are usually Black, secondary colors are red, tertiary colors are green/tiel and fine line colors can be black,red.

The Formline principles followed are complex and pretty much a language of it's own. I know artists who have been creating art for many dedcades each and they don't follow the exact same formline principles, but their formline fits the principles/rules.. Most people won't even notice, but to artist with a trained eye will notice the various styles.

^Contemporary Hummingbird Drum by Ivy Fulmer