Amber & Turquoise Class

Our reception, year 1 and year 2 artists finished their fabulous Leroy Nieman inspired lions this week! The results are very colourful and full of character. They’ll be on display at our exhibition at Black Cab Studio next week, which is open to the public on Saturday 23rd December, 10-4. 

 

Magenta & Violet Class

Our year 3 and 4 classes finished their landscapes in the style of Ton Schulten. We mixed different shades of reds and purples to paint the buildings in our designs, then added finishing touches such as trees and boats. We then had some time to create Christmas cards and paper chains!

 

 

Maroon & Emerald Class

Our year 5 and 6 classes added the second layer of pattern to their Chris Ofili inspired abstract pieces. We used black and white photos of our own faces in our designs, and added pom poms coated in PVA glue to represent the elephant poo in resin that Ofili uses in his work!

Amber & Turquoise Class

Our reception, year 1 and year 2 classes made a start on their Leroy Nieman inspired masterpieces for the Winter Exhibition this week! We referred to our practise work from last week, working in layers of different primary and secondary colours to build up our vibrant lions’ manes. We’ll add the finishing touches next week!

 

Magenta & Violet Class

Our year 3 and 4 artists began their Ton Schulten inspired canvases. We quickly sketched a composition of horizontal and vertical lines onto our canvas using a ruler, then mixed different shades and tones of yellow and orange for the sky. We then moved on to using blues and greens for the ground. Next week we’ll use reds and purples for the buildings, and complete additional details such as trees and boats.

 

Maroon & Emerald Class

Our year 5 and 6 artists completed the first layer of their abstract designs inspired by Chris Ofili. Next week we’ll add a layer of pattern using acrylic paint, collage and other materials to finish off our pieces.

Amber & Turquoise Class

This week our reception, year 1 and year 2 classes have been looking at the paintings of popular American artist Leroy Nieman (see examples below). We discussed his use of colour and brush strokes, then practised drawing lion faces in our sketchbooks. We finished with a colour version, combining oil pastel and watercolours. We will be starting a final version on canvas next week ready for our Winter Exhibition!

 

Magenta & Violet Class

Our year 3 and 4 artists created compositions based on the landscape paintings of Ton Schulten (see examples below). We used rulers to draw a series of horizontal and vertical lines, creating a grid on which to draw some elements from a landscape such as trees, buildings and boats. We then mixed variations of different colours to paint in the different spaces created by the grid. We will be starting final versions of our designs on canvas next week, in preparation for our Winter Exhibition!

 

Maroon & Emerald Class

Maroon class finished off their Hundertwasser inspired landscapes this week. They got some brilliant results! 

 

Emerald class discussed the work of Turner Prize-winning British artist Chris Ofili (see examples below). We talked about his use of patterns and collaged faces, and his African influences. We warmed up in our sketchbooks by generating lots of different patterns, then created mixed media abstract patterns around collaged photos. We will starting our final paintings on canvas next week, which will be on display in our Winter Exhibition!

Amber & Turquoise Class

This week our reception, year 1 and year 2 classes have been looking at Aboriginal art (see examples). We discussed the earthy colours used, and how the patterns were made using lots of tiny dots. We learnt about Aboriginal symbols- the concentric circles represent a campsite, lines between them are journeys, and little ‘c’ shapes around a circle shows a meeting place. 

We used cotton buds to create our own images, telling the story of a journey from one place to another.

 

Magenta & Violet Class

Our year 3 and 4 artists continued with their investigation into the geometric compositions of Wassily Kandinsky (see examples below). We practised some watercolour techniques in our sketchbooks, such as varying the tone of a colour by adding water, and producing graduated and variegated washes. We then used these techniques to add colour to our own Kandinsky inspired compositions.

 

Maroon & Emerald Class

Our year 5 and 6 artists continued with their colourful paintings inspired by Hundertwasser. We mixed our own secondary and tertiary colours, and showed a lit of patience and paintbrush control when adding colour to the tiny details. The results look brilliant!

Amber & Turquoise Class

Our reception, year 1 and year 2 artists have been developing their colour mixing skills this week by investigating the work of British artist Anthony Frost (see examples below). We discussed his use of vibrant primary and secondary colours, and the way in which he paints onto a textured background. We created our own background using a variety of textured fabrics, then mixed colours to paint our pieces. We got some very colourful results!

 

Magenta & Violet Class

Our year 3 and 4 artists have been studying the geometric compositions of Wassily Kandinsky this week (see example below). We talked about the use of straight lines, angles and shapes and how they interact with one another, and made a record of particular elements that we liked in our sketchbooks. We then combined these elements to create our own Kandinsky-inspired compositions, which we will be adding colour to next week.

 

Emerald Class

Our year 5 and 6 artists had a visit from one of our Bronze Arts Award students this week! Frances, who is in year 9, chose to share her skills with Emerald class as part of her award criteria. Frances had prepared a really enjoyable workshop on Tangrams- dissection puzzles consisting of seven flat shapes, called tans, which are put together to form shapes. She showed the group some examples of designs they could make using the tangrams, and then encouraged them to come up with some images of their own. 

Emerald class really enjoyed the session and gave Frances some positive feedback for her Arts Log.

Amber Class

This week Amber class worked with one of our Bronze Arts Award students, Lottie, who is in year 8. Part of the Arts Award structure requires students to share their skills with others, and Lottie chose to lead a workshop with a younger class. She prepared a lesson plan for teaching Amber class how to produce a colourful background using bubble wrap printing, and linked her teaching to the class’s previous work on mark making and colour mixing. The class then designed their own fish which will be added to the printed background. 

Amber class really enjoyed the session and gave Lottie some great feedback for her Arts Award log book!

Turquoise Class

Our other reception, year 1 and year 2 class developed their colour mixing skills this week. We identified primary and secondary colours, mixing our own secondary colours in our palettes before recording the colour wheel in our sketchbooks. We painted pictures of lollies showing which primary colours are needed to make each secondary colour, aiming to achieve an even, smooth finish with our brushes. We chose a coloured background to mount our lolly paintings. The results were very colourful!

 

Magenta & Violet Class

Our year 3 and 4 artists continued their investigation into the work of Vincent Van Gogh. We discussed ‘The Starry Night’, commenting on the different kinds of mark making we could find within the painting. We learnt how to change the tone of a colour by adding different amounts of white, and practised painting Van Gogh style stars in our sketchbooks. We then worked in pairs to create a large starry sky painting. 

 

Emerald Class

Our year 5 and 6 artists discussed the work of Fridensreich Hundertwasser, an Austrian-born New Zealand artist and architect (see examples below). We identified a range of elements which appear frequently in his abstract landscapes, such as lollipop-shaped trees, contour lines, rows of houses and hidden faces, and sketched them in our books. We then put the elements together to form a composition, which we drew out in marker pen onto mountboard. We will be continuing with our Hundertwasser-inspired artwork another week!

This term we are focusing on painting techniques. We’ll be experimenting with different varieties of paint and building on our knowledge of line, tone, texture and colour. We’ll investigate the work of different artists, and producing a masterpiece on canvas ready for our winter exhibition!

Amber & Turquoise Class

This week our reception, year 1 and year 2 artists spent time investigating mark making using ready mixed paint in two primary colours, yellow and red. We experimented with creating marks using a variety of tools, including brushes, sticks, clay tools, sponges, glue spreaders and plastic lids. We responded to prompt words such as ‘fluffy’, ‘spiky’, ‘rough’, ‘swirly’, ‘bouncy’ and ‘smooth’, and thought about how we might paint if we were feeling excited, or angry, or sad. 

As we worked, our two primary colours mixed together to give us a secondary colour, and as it was Halloween, we made different marks using black paint to turn our orange textures into spooky pumpkins!

Magenta & Violet Class

Our year 3 and 4 artists warmed up with a similar activity to Amber and Turquoise class. We used a variety of tools to respond to different prompt words, choosing appropriate tools for the kind of mark we wanted to create.

We then discussed some ink drawings by Vincent Van Gogh (see photos). We looked carefully at the different kinds of marks he used in the drawings, and made a record of them in our sketchbooks using first pencils, and then paint. We collected lots of different Van Gogh style marks, which we will be referring to next week! 

Emerald Class

Our year 5 and 6 artists also did the mark making warm up! We were responding to some more ambiguous prompts, such as ‘inside’, ‘under’, ‘corners’, ‘turn’ and ‘glide’. It was really interesting to see how each student interpreted the prompts in different ways. 

We then discussed some portraits by Australian artist Mike Parr (see photos). We talked about the different kinds of marks he’d created, and how he used them to convey expression and emotion. We then painted our own portraits inspired by Parr’s work- some based on his more recognisable portraits and some based on his more abstract work.