Trying out a new style - even more blockier and abstract than before. 'Red Diver' measures 30x40cm, on canvas.

self portraits 2

The clay faces sculpted by our y1's are dry and have been mounted on thick card. They've also received a coat of thinned down PVA to help keep all of the bits together, especially the finely modelled hair! Here's hoping they remain intact when they're hung on the wall.

Self portraits

Today the y1's rounded off their short project on self-portraits by creating semi-relief sculptures using clay. We used air-drying clay so here's hoping they don't crack and fragment as they dry. We'll give them a good coat of PVA to seal and glue any stray bits together before attaching them to a piece of card that can then be hung for display.

collage & drawing

Our y1's have completed their collage self-portraits - not bad for 5 yr olds.

The y5's have been looking at the work of 'Futurist' artists (Boccioni, Balla etc.) from the early 1900s. And, using their card 'mannequins' that they made last week, they've drawn images of figures, trying to make them look dynamic and active. 

Warhol & Tudors

Y6 have finished their self-portraits in the style of Andy Warhol.

And our Tudor real estate is nearing completion. Today we fixed the upper and lower storeys together and added the internal roof structures. Just the thatching to do. Hope it doesn't rain before next week!

draw like an Egyptian!

In y5/6 (we have mixed classes) we've been looking at Ancient Egyptian images. We talked about the common features and then sketched figures. We then had a go at drawing self-portraits in a similar style.

portraits

The y1's continued with their 'all about me' unit and created self-portraits from clay. Not sure if we'll paint, 'varnish' or just leave them when they've dried.

Today's small painting on my table.

Again, 12cm square, mixed media.

Another portrait

The rest of y1 completed their collage self-portraits today. This one is actually quite a good likeness as her hair is exactly like that!

Again, not at all bad for a 5 year old!

Portraits

Today the y1's finished their collage self-portraits. I think they turned out quite well. We added nostrils and eyebrows as well as eyelashes!

And a couple more cards - should have taken the pic before putting them in the cellophane packets!

collages and kicker!

Today the y1's (5/6 yr olds) started to create collage self-portraits. We stuck to using simple shapes. Think these will look quite effective when complete.

Latest automaton to leave the workbench is a prototype 'kicking' figure. It's a very rough creation just to test the mechanism. The squares on the cutting mat are 5cm just to give you an idea of scale.

It works...

...but I'm not happy with it. The mechanism is too fiddly to make and install and I've already worked out how to make it much simpler!

There's also no reason for the arms to be 'loose' as they don't really move. Am already thinking of two players tackling for the ball!

faces

Some of the slightly older children have done the 'old' favourite of creating self-portraits by completing the other half of an image.

portraits & bookmarks

Got around to painting our self-portraits (after Warhol) today. Used watercolours. Enterprise club also finished off the felt bookmarks.

Am also feeling a little bit of a 'victim of my own success'! I was told by a publisher today reference my book - 'A is for Art'- that 'you seem to be having success self publishing...why do you feel you need a publisher..?'!! Yes 50+ copies is great but I was hoping that it would show that the idea has fantastic potential given the right backing and promotion.

collage portraits

Had a 'multi-cultural day' today - different groups looking at different countries and cultures on a round-robin basis.The groups that came to me made collage self-portraits - to show that our school is indeed multi-cultural. The plan is to assemble them all into one large piece roughly 100cm by 60cm - the individual faces are about 10 cm across.

portraits

Y5 this week had a go at drawing realistic portraits. Their initial 'before' sketches are in the top corner and the 'after instruction' larger. Looks like they listened - they were certainly impressed with the results.