Term 3 Week 3

January 27, 2018Leave a comment

Amber & Turquoise Class

This week our reception and year 1 and 2 artists created a different kind of printing plate. We investigated the work of Henri Matisse, then cut shapes from craft foam inspired by Matisse’s collaged images. We arranged the shapes on a piece of mountboard to create an interesting composition. Some of us included our names or initials, which was tricky as we had to make sure the letters were backwards so that they will print out forwards! Next week we will produce prints from our plates.

Magenta & Violet Class

Our year 3 and 4 artists spent some time assembling their cityscapes this week. We arranged our prints onto the painted backgrounds in layers to give a sense of depth before sticking them in place. Some of us swapped prints with others so that we had a variety of buildings within our pictures. The results were really effective!

We then cut letters from craft foam and used PVA glue to fix them onto a piece of mountboard to form a printing plate. We took care to make sure the letters and words were all mirror image so that they will print out the right way round. We’ll be making prints from them next week.

Emerald Class

Our year 5 and 6 artists continued with their typography printing plates this week. We have been working on some intricate wording which required a lot of skill and patience with the scissors! Next week we’ll be making prints from them.

Term 3 Week 2

January 19, 2018January 27, 2018Leave a comment

Amber and Turquoise Class

This week our reception, year 1 and year 2 artists used their polystyrene printing plates from last week to create images using block printing ink. We got some great results! We learnt about different kinds of printing blocks and had a go with wooden blocks, rubber blocks, linocut plates and foam shapes.

Magenta & Violet Class

Our year 3 and 4 artists created backgrounds for their printed cityscapes from last week. We used wax resist techniques to portray clouds, then added a variegated wash using Brusho paint. We discussed warm and cool colours, using warm colours to show a sunset sky and cool colours to suggest a night time scene.

Emerald Class

Our year 5 and 6 artists continued with their typography projects. We drew out our designs onto craft foam then carefully cut the letters out. It took a lot of patience! We’ll be finishing them next week.

Maroon Class

In Maroon class we’re working on some drawing techniques. This week we experimented with tone and texture using a variety of media, including graphite, charcoal, wax resist and watercolour. The resulting drawing was full of energy!

Term 3 Week 1

January 12, 2018Leave a comment

We’ve had a lovely first week back after the holidays! Term 3 at Art Stars will focus on printmaking. We’ll be learning a variety of techniques including lino printing, polystyrene block printing, etching and collograph blocks. Our artists will develop their skills in design, typography and repeating pattern as well as their fine motor skills, and we’ll be inspired by local printmakers such as John McGowan and Carry Akroyd.

Amber & Turquoise Class

Our reception, year 1 and year 2 artists had a go at some printmaking using washable markers. We used biros to draw designs based on last term’s Leroy Nieman inspired lions onto polystyrene sheets. We then added colour using the pens, before printing the image onto paper. We dampened the paper with sponges before printing to allow the colour to transfer successfully. We got some interesting results!

Magenta & Violet Class

Our year 3 and 4 artists started a two week printing project. We created a city skyline in our sketchbooks by drawing a series of horizontal and vertical lines, adding windows, doors and roofs. We then recreated our designs onto polystyrene sheets, before rolling printing ink onto our printing plates. We made several prints in black ink onto different coloured paper.

Emerald Class

Our year 5 and 6 artists have been investigating typography. We looked at examples of typographic posters, then chose a word or quote to produce a design for. We created a layout by sketching blocks into which we fit the words. Next week we will be producing a printing plate of our typographic design.

Arts Award- Term 1 Week 3

September 22, 2017September 25, 2017Leave a comment

Cyan Class- Discover Arts Award

Our Discover group spent some time recording last week’s visit from artist Sam Hope in their arts logs. We made a photo collage showing the different stages of the wet felting technique that Sam taught us, and commented on which aspects we enjoyed the most. We then added embellishments to our pieces of felt, using embroidery and beadwork.

Indigo Class- Bronze Arts Award

Our Bronze group worked on their arts logs too, recording our visit to John McGowan’s studio and producing an artist profile. We then had a go at etching onto perspex- we are creating printing plates which we will be printing from with John’s help!

Term 1 Week 2

September 16, 2017September 16, 2017Leave a comment

Amber & Turquoise Class

Our reception, year 1 and year 2 artists investigated the abstract textile work of Liz Payne (you can see examples of her work here). We discussed her use of colour and pattern, and the way in which she adds detail using different embroidery techniques. We used ready mixed paint to make our own version of one of her pieces, then embroidered patterns onto our work using wool. It took a lot of concentration, and we got some great results!

Magenta & Violet Class

Our year 3 and 4 artists looked at the work of quilting artist Pamela Allen (see examples of her work here). We sketched a rough idea for a fabric collage composition, using Pamela’s work and the patterns on our fabric as inspiration. Once we were happy with our designs, we started to put it together using shapes cut from different kinds of fabric. Next week we are going to add embroidery details to our images.

Emerald Class

Our year 5 and 6 artists continued with their batik project. Last week we created a pattern onto a piece of fabric using glue pens, which we then left to dry. This week we added colour- we used watered down acrylic paints, as it needed to soak into the fabric but also to be waterproof. Once our work was dry, it was soaked in warm water and rinsed out to remove the glue, leaving some really interesting patterns.

You can watch a tutorial on the technique we used here.

Cyan Class- Discover Arts Award

This week we had a visit from local artist Samantha Hope! Sam talked to us about her interest in textiles, and showed us some examples of her felting work. She then taught us how to produce a piece of handmade felt. We laid sections of wool roving (unspun wool) onto a piece of bubble wrap, teasing open the fibres as we went. We then laid a piece of netting over the fibres to hold them in place before wetting them down with soapy water. We rubbed the wool through the netting until it was partially felted together, then rolled the piece of felt up in the bubble wrap. We rolled it back and forth 40 times before unwrapping it, turning it 90 degrees and repeating the process. This causes the fibres to mesh together until it becomes one piece. The felt is then submerged in warm water, which opens up the fibres, and then immediately into cold water, causing them to contract which strengthens the bonds between them.

A huge thank you to Sam for coming to visit! It was a really interesting and fun process, and we got some brilliant results. Next week we are going to add embellishments to our felt.

Indigo Class- Bronze Arts Award

Indigo class are working towards Part C of the Bronze Award- Arts Inspiration. This section involves researching an artist, craftsperson or arts practitioner, for which we will be producing an artist profile on local printmaker John McGowan. This week we visited John’s inspirational studio in Northborough to find out about his work.

You can see examples of John’s work here.

John talked to us about his early life and how his interest in art developed. He told us about his career as an art teacher, and his particular love for screen printing. We were shown lots of examples of different kinds of printing, including drypoint, screen printing and relief printing. John then talked us through the process of creating his most recent print, a composition consisting of several historical buildings in Oundle. He showed us how much development work goes into the process, with numerous test prints produced to try different combinations of colour and texture. He talked to us about the importance of self criticism, and to remember that ‘you’re not trying to please the world, but to please yourself’.

John gave us a quick demonstration of drypoint intaglio printing, which involves scratching an image onto an acrylic plate before rubbing ink into the scratches. We are going to be producing our own printing plates over the next couple of weeks, and John has kindly invited us back to use his printing press!

Arts Award Explore

February 10, 2017Leave a comment

This week Indigo class met illustrator Craig Pattrick. Craig specialises in plasticine sculpture, and has run fab holiday workshops with Art Stars in the past! Craig took part in a Q & A session, with the students asking questions in order to complete an artist profile as part of their Arts Award. He spoke about how he became an illustrator, and where the inspiration came from for the characters in his picture book. He then showed us some techniques for sculpting in plasticine, and we had a go at creating our own characters using Craig’s set of dentist tools!

You can see more of Craig’s work on his website, Craig Pattrick Illustration

We also screen printed the third layer of our Marcus Walters inspired designs.

Term 3 Week 6- Bubble Wrap Printing and Alphabet Stamps

February 10, 2017February 10, 2017Leave a comment

This week, each artist printed the final layer of the Art Stars logo design onto our tote bags, alongside our other printing work. Some classes used red ink and some used blue. We think they turned out really well! Scroll down to the bottom of this post to see them all.

Amber & Turquoise Class

Our reception, year 1 and year 2 classes used bubble wrap to print spotty designs in our sketchbooks. We painted patterns onto the bubble wrap before laying it onto the paper and gently pressing it down. We also painted onto acetate sheets and transferred these images to paper- a form of monoprinting.

Magenta & Violet Class

The year 3 and 4 artists tried their hand at bubble wrap printing and monoprinting too, and then used their spotty papers to create a collage. They used different styles of alphabet stamps to write messages in their sketchbooks.

Maroon & Emerald Class

The year 5 and 6 artists also experimented with bubble wrap and stamp printing, and produced some lovely monoprinting too! We also completed our reduction block prints. We got some really effective results!

Our Finished Tote Bags!

Arts Award Explore

February 3, 2017Leave a comment

Indigo Class continued with their screen prints based on British designer Marcus Walters’ work. We produced the stencil for the second layer, which involved more fiddly work with the craft knives! We each printed the second layer onto our prints from last week, taking care to align the screen correctly with the image underneath. We also prepared the third stencil ready for next week’s final round of screen printing. The students are really getting to grips with the process now and worked independently and in pairs.

Term 3 Week 5- Stencils and Lino Printing

February 3, 2017February 3, 2017Leave a comment

This week each student screen printed the second layer of our design onto their tote bag in orange, alongside other printmaking activities.

Amber & Turquoise Class

Our reception, year 1 and year 2 artists learned how to use stencils to create images, similar to the technique we’re using to screen print. We used sponge brushes to paint through a stencil cut from card, and tried hard to use a stippling effect so that the edges of our images were crisp. We began with primary colours, then layered the paints up to create secondary colours.

Two of our students in Turquoise Class brought in some artwork they’d done at home- we were shown a fabulous painting of a truck on canvas, and a whole folder of Jackson Pollock-inspired work! It was great to see some artwork they’d done outside of Art Stars. Thank you for sharing it with us!

Magenta & Violet Class

Our year 3 and 4 classes designed and cut their own stencils from moisture resistant card. We experimented with combining different techniques in our sketchbooks, including using the stencils to produce both positive (solid) and negative (outlined) shapes. Some of us chose to base our designs around our initials, while others created characters or more abstract designs. We created some really bright, cheerful patterns!

Maroon & Emerald Class

Our year 5 and 6 students continued with their reduction block print. We cut away areas of our lino blocks that we printed from last week, so that less of the surface area would be exposed to the ink. We then printed directly on top of last week’s prints, using a contrasting colour ink. We had to take care to line up the lino block carefully so that it would correspond with the image underneath. This produced a successful layered design.

Arts Award Explore

January 26, 2017January 30, 2017Leave a comment

This week in Indigo class, we produced a stencil for the first layer of our screen print design inspired by Marcus Walters. We drew the design out onto moisture resistant card, before using a craft knife to cut around the outlines. This was fiddly and required quite a lot of patience! Once our stencils were ready we attached them to the underside of a silk screen using parcel tape. We laid the screen on top of a piece of heavy duty cartridge paper, then used a squeegee to drag ink across the surface. Some of us experimented with combining colours and got some interesting results! Next week we’ll be printing the second layer of our designs.