painting

Today the y3's got back into the swing of things artistic by creating colour wheels. They did the usual - mixing primary cols to make secondary ones but then we had a chunk of time left so we decided to use up the rest of our paint by doing some collaborative pieces. Each child began with a sheet of blank paper and was tasked with choosing one colour and painting variations (ie. big, small) of one shape (square, rectangle, circle etc). We then swapped with someone else and used a different colour and a different shape etc. After a few rounds of this we finished them off by adding stripes of a colour not yet used. Without any discussion or dialogue this is one of the pieces that came out of the activity. To my mind it looks very much like a close-up study of a bunch of flowers. What do you reckon?

collaborative painting

Finally managed to do some 'real' art this week with the children. In y5 today they had a go at creating some paintings as a whole group. They each had one colour and were instructed to paint half of the paper. 

The 'painting' was then passed to another person who, using their colour, painted half of the remaining space. And so on and so on until the whole sheet was blocked in.

They then started to add stripes, again passing the paintings around. We had taped the sheets to thin boards to both keep the paper flat and aid easy movement.

Next, they added spots (using cotton buds to apply the paint.

To further enhance the pieces, the children used felt pens to draw lines, stars etc.

The resulting pieces were a riot of colour and pattern. 32 children = 32 abstract artworks.

 We're thinking of using them to create lengths of bunting.

painting

Y6 painted strips of paper to represent water. They used wet on wet, spatter and combing techniques.

They are intended for a composite piece that incorporates their ceramic ducks and fish.

 



Meanwhile Y5 took inspiration from Mondrian and Paul Klee to paint 'green' abstract images. These will be used back to back to create leaves for the magic forest that Y1 are currently putting together.

completed

Finished the painting the other day. Thought I'd overdone it with the noses (cadmium scarlet!) but they're beginning to grow on me and look ok..

 

BIG

An abstract piece by members of the art club. After last weeks 'Autumnal Mondrians' they wanted to go brighter and more colourful. We created 4 large (65 x 90cm) pieces on thick black card supports. The children 'signed' them with hand & finger prints.

 

 

this week

As school draws to a close - though we don't finish until next wed - we've been busy creating yet more masterpieces!

As a whole school we created a plethora of patterned squares using pens, crayons, glitter, sequins, buttons and all manner of other bits and pieces. These were then glued onto pre-drawn paper patterns. The result can be seen below - it all occupies what was once just a blank expanse of yellow wall. Can you spot the homage to Morecombe & Wise ?

 

 

 

Each figure is about 150 cm tall - each square is 10x10cm.

 



 

 

In y5 today we were inspired by the work of Kandinsky. We used watercolours to create our own abstracts.

 



 

This one is called 'Le Tour'. Can you pick out the bicycles and the yellow jersey amid the chaos that is the peleton?



 

And finally ... here are a couple of pics of what will be my new art room! This is a view from the doorway - the windows stretch the length of the far wall, so plenty of natural light. I'll need to fit upwards of 30 children + desks, stools etc in here as well as storage.

 

 

And this is the view from the opposite corner back towards the door. It's very much a blank canvas (I've tried to remove all trace of it being the former FS2 room!) - I can't wait to put my stamp on it and turn it into a welcoming, creative learning environment.

  

 

abstract journey

 

Last week I had the privilege of working with a real, bona-fide artist - Brian Sayers. A select group of sixth form students and staff were treated to 3 days of expert tuition centred around our interpretations of one of the largest collections of still life bits and bobs I have ever come across. Centred in the room it resembled the barricade from Les Mis. There were musical instruments, skulls, old frames, ribbons & scarves, dried corn stalks & husks ,chairs, cardboard boxes, artists mannequins, bottles, glasses, tea cups, maps etc. I think the prop department had been well and truly raided. Initially we were encouraged to draw anything from the artfully arranged pile. Then, through careful guidance, we were directed to cut, chop, and paste our drawings into altered assemblages and add paint, inks and pastels. This was way out of my comfort zone. I was at first very reluctant to cut anything but, having seen the gusto with which my fellow 'artists' attacked the task, I felt inspired to give it a go. They were busily and happily working to A1 size whilst mine eventually came out to A4! This is my final piece;

 

 

A lot of other stuff happened to get to this stage - I initially went for the tea cups and did a variety of studies from different viewpoints, this led on to studies of wine bottles and glasses as a direct contrast, which led me on to a representation of the sights and sounds of a smoky jazz café. Which all led eventually to the piece as pictured. In my mind it was supposed to represent the journey we all take from birth to death (from one box to another) - but that it should be taken with as much fun and enjoyment as possible along the way!
I thoroughly enjoyed having the time, space and freedom to explore lots of different ideas - something that rarely happens during the school day. Brian proved a very knowledgeable and humorous practitioner and I'll certainly be taking some ideas and concepts back into the classroom. Time, methinks, to start amassing an eclectic collection of pieces ready for when I move into my new art room in a few weeks(?) time.

revisited style

In between doing cards and decorations with the children in the run up to Christmas, I managed to draw a couple of pics in a style from a while ago.This time I went for an even more angular (cubist?) and abstracted image. Quite pleased with the end results - am even toying with putting a few in my Etsy/Folksy shops, 'cos the paintings don't seem to be shifting much. I prefer the old-fashioned boots and leather 'casey' ball but am not averse to doing the more garish footwear colours that players seem to favour nowadays!

 

Underlying sketch and inking.

 

Coloured using pencil crayons.

Another strong but reasonably fair challenge.

 

Pencil, crayon & ink on paper.

collaborative abstracts

Back in the swing of things.The walls of our school are pretty bare at the moment, so, in an effort to brighten up a small corner, one of the classes had a go at creating abstract paintings. On some small spare canvases using acrylics, we painted a variety of shapes and lines. Each child had only one colour and after a couple of minutes of painting we passed the canvases on to another person. We were able to create 14 pics in about an hour. We all began with squares/rectangles, then circles and finally lines and dots.

 

 

Not sure whether to hang them singly or grouped randomly.Will ponder it over the weekend.

peg doll

Have painted up one of the recently made peg dolls in a style after the work of Niki de Saint Phalle - lots of bright colours and dots/lines. It's about 10cm from head to toe. Would love to know what folk think.

Also re-purposed a couple of wooden teaspoons (bamboo I think) as bookmarks. They measure around 14cm in length. Thinking about listing them in my etsy shop.

autumnal abstracts

Finally managed to display the artwork we started weeks ago - added 'fallen' leaves and other details today. Work is pinned up ready for final fixing.

Need to add a few more touches - photos of the process etc.

we painted today

This afternoon my new class and I painted. We started out with tree-like silhouettes which we then abstracted into patterns and designs. It was nice to spend time like this before the onslaught of chasing targets and levels.

arty science

Today, post-inspection we went a bit creative in science. To cover forces, pushes & pulls - we applied the same to a lump of clay each. We'll let them dry and then paint (or not). It enabled the kinaesthetic learners to engage a bit more and allowed the creatives to explore things away from the printed page. Oh, and we thoroughly enjoyed it as well.

Almost coral-like this piece. I can feel some 'temporary' metal paperclip sculptures coming on when we get to using magnets.

paper sculpture

Y3 art today - we did some abstract paper sculpture. I intend to take this, via more 'in the round' pieces (representing 'machines'), towards tackling simple automata - it will tie in with our intended Victorian 'topic' (oops, not allowed to call them that anymore!).

collaborative painting

Y3 today, in a spirit of cooperation, produced a body of work that, en-masse, loosely represents a spring meadow. They each painted a bit and then passed it on, whilst receiving another piece to add to. This round robin proved quite successful, with the first class painting 'textured' backgrounds for the next class to add flora. A variety of techniques were incorporated including overpainting and scratching out.

Might well add other media including collage, oil pastel or even a bit of stitching!

more mathARTmatics

Further fraction work - getting them to understand fractional parts of wholes. We have previously looked at the work of Mondrian and decided (well I did!) to try and create 'recognisable' abstract pictures based on a simple 4x4 grid.

Again, the children had to label (using a key) the fractional breakdown of their compositions. Am thinking of extending this by painting large versions for display around school.

Ovalteenies

Not much happening creative-wise this week in school - it's assessment week (aarrgh!). So thought I 'd upload a few sketches. I call them 'ovalteenies' 'cos they're drawn from truncated (?) ovals and not because of their liking for a certain beverage. I'm unsure whether to collage or simply paint them, or in fact do both (you daredevil you) and create mixed media pics. Have explored a whole range of images - I like the simple, almost abstract results. Might do some on square canvases and put in my long defunct etsy store - after I've marked those tests of course!!