This was the last week of our first term- it feels like it’s gone really quickly! Here’s what we’ve been up to…

Maroon & Turquoise Class

Our reception, year 1 and year 2 artists looked at examples of George Rodrigue’s Blue Dog paintings. We practised drawing our own blue dog characters, then used a variety of blue tones to paint them. We got some lovely results!

 

Amber & Magenta Class

Our year 3 and 4 artists produced some wonderful Blue Dog paintings too!

 

Violet Class

Violet class finished their Jasper Johns-inspired canvases this week, and then produced Autumnal paintings inspired by ‘Avenue of Poplars’ by Van Gogh.

 

Jade & Emerald Class

Our year 5 and 6 artists continued with their Jean Michel Basquiat-inspired self portraits.

Maroon & Turquoise Class

Our reception, year 1 and year 2 artists added their initials to our Jasper Johns-inspired canvases today! We created a stencil using card and painted around it to make the letter. We then produced some colourful lions using our primary and secondary colours!

 

Amber, Magenta & Violet Class

Our year 3 and 4 artists added their initial to their canvases too. We then looked at ‘Avenue of Poplars’ by Vincent Van Gogh, and talked about one point perspective. We created our own versions of the painting and used autumnal colours in the Impressionist style to add leaves to our images.

 

Jade & Emerald Class

Our year 5 and 6 artists also added their initials to their canvases. We then looked at examples of work by Jean Michel Basquiat and started to create our own self portraits based on his work.

 

 

This week, each class produced a small canvas inspired by the Alphabet painting below, by Jasper Johns. We used mainly primary colours, as seen in the example. Next week we will produce stencils of the initial of our first names and then use a small amount of additional paint to create the letter on the canvas. When we put them all together they will form a giant collaborative homage to Jasper Johns!

Maroon & Turquoise Class

 

Amber & Magenta Class

 

Jade & Emerald Class

 

Violet Class

Violet class finished off their Hundertwasser-inspired collages this week- we think they look wonderful! Next week they’ll produce their canvases for the group project.

Maroon & Turquoise Class

Our reception, year 1 and year 2 artists created some messy Jackson Pollock inspired artwork this week! We watched a video about Pollock’s techniques, the used spinges, toothbrushes and our hands to create spattered patterns. We also had a go at using extended paintbrushes!

 

Amber Class

Amber class were taught this week by two of our Bronze Arts Award students, who came to run a workshop as part of the skills share element of the Bronze course. They introduced the group to the work of Keith Haring and the students created some large scale Haring-inspired doodles inside outlines of their bodies! They then worked on drawing expressive lines, chosen to represent different emotions such as happiness, fear, excitement and nervousness. The class really enjoyed the session!

 

Magenta & Violet Class

Our year 3 and 4 artists tried painting with extended paintbrushes this week! We used masking tape to fix paintbrushes onto bamboo canes, then used them to produce some large scale abstract designs. It was interesting to see the effect this had on the way we controlled the brushes, and how much harder it was. We also tried painting portraits using toothbrushes and sponges, and then again while holding the paintbrushes with our feet!

 

Jade & Emerald Class

Our year 5 and 6 artists had an equally messy session working with extended paintbrushes, hands and feet! 

 

Cyan & Indigo Class

Our Key Stage 3 and 4 artists built on the skills they’d learnt in previous sessions to create a painting of a ceramic object. We chose white objects so that the subtle differences in tone were more apparent and so that we weren’t distracted by having to think about colour or pattern. We started off by mixing four tones of grey in addition to black and white. We produced an underpainting first, sketching out the basic forms in the palest grey. We then highlighted the lightest area of our painting, followed by blocking in the darkest areas, and then finished by adding the midtones. 

Maroon & Turquoise Class

Our reception, year 1 and year 2 artists discussed the colourful abstract paintings of Howard Hodgkin and Anthony Frost. We talked about the primary and secondary colours we could see, and how both artists use bold geometric shapes in their work. We created a collaged background using primary coloured cardboard pieces, then mixed secondary colours to paint over the top to produce our own designs inspired by the artists’ work.

 

Amber, Magenta & Violet Class

Our year 3 and 4 artists used the warm and cool co,lour painted papers they had prepared last week to create collages inspired by the art of Hundertwasser. We looked at examples of his paintings and discussed the various recurring features we could see before incorporating them into our own work. We got some lovely results!

 

Jade & Emerald Class

Our year 5 and 6 artists finished their beautiful peacocks this week. We think they look lovely!

 

Cyan & Indigo Class

Our Key Stage 3 and 4 classes continued with learning basic skills in oil paint. We painted over the underpaintings of spheres that we made last week, concentrating on giving the illusion of a three dimensional object by thinking about the direction of light and shadow. We also practised using palette knives to apply the paint, and mixing with solvent to create drip effects. Next week we’ll start to use some of these techniques to develop a more finished image.

This week was our first full week of the new term and a very busy one, with all twelve classes up and running! 

Maroon & Turquoise Class

Our reception, year 1 and year 2 artists learnt how to mix different types of green this week. We started with two primary colours- yellow and blue- and experimented with adding different amounts of each to produce a variety of hues. We also used white to create different tints. We used all the different greens to create a leafy background for some lovely owl characters!

 

Amber, Magenta & Violet Class

Our year 3 and 4 artists learnt about colour mixing too. We discussed the art of Hundertwasser and his use of warm and cool colours, and painted a page of each in different stripes. We will use the paper we have created to produce a collage inspired by Hundertwasser’s paintings.

Violet class worked on some green colour mixing and made owls, just like Maroon and Turquoise class!

 

Jade & Emerald Class

Our year 5 and 6 artists started work on a two week project, creating peacock portraits! We looked closely at real peacock feathers and sketched them in our sketchbooks. We practised mixing a variety of different colours using only primary colours, black and white, and using different sized brushes to create feathery effects. We then began work on the portraits. Next week we’ll finish them off!

 

Cyan & Indigo Class

Our Key Stage 3 and 4 artists started an oil painting course this week! We started by learning some basic techniques including smooth blending, visible brush strokes, underpainting and using linseed oil to thin the paint. We got some lovely results, especially as this was an unfamiliar medium for most of the students!

 

Arts Award Courses

The new school year sees two new Arts Award classes starting! We currently have Cerise class who are finishing off their Bronze level awards, Teal class who are starting the Explore level (moving on to Bronze after Christmas), and Sapphire class who are embarking on the Silver level award! We’ll also have another Bronze group starting after half term. Watch this space for news on how they’re getting on!

We were excited to start the new term! This term our focus is on painting. Here’s what we’ve been up to…

Maroon & Turquoise Class

Our reception, year 1 and year 2 artists worked on some large scale collaborative paintings! We used fluorescent paint and followed instructions such as ‘paint a small circle’ and paint dots around a circle’. Our paper was transformed into a garden of flowers!

 

Amber, Magenta & Violet Class

Our year 3 and 4 artists worked collaboratively on some monster character designs! We each drew a body shape, then passed the paper to the next person to add a head, and repeated the process for different body parts and features. We came up with some very interesting characters! 

 

Jade & Emerald Class

Our year 5 and 6 artists worked on a similar project to the year 3 and 4 groups, but with each new section the paper was folded over so they weren’t able to see the parts that had already been drawn. We produced some very weird and wonderful creations!