more new pics

Some more new illustrations today. Am liking this adaptation of a previous style. Another tussle for the ball.

 

I then had a go at copying a newspaper image rather than conjuring a pose up out of my head. Also tried out a new ball design - it's supposed to represent a more modern one with black and white panels.

 

Then I decided to see if I could do the same, but with a different sport. This image shows Manu Tuilagi (England) trying to outrun an opponent.

And here it is coloured in.

This is probably the last post for this year - have a great Christmas and a very happy New Year - providing we're all still here after tomorrow!

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.

misc. xmas stuff

On the run in to the Christmas hols. Some bits and pieces that we've been doing in between rehearsing and performing our whole school carol concert.

 

The y2's followed up their yarn woven bookmarks by creating cards by weaving paper strips and then cutting them into a simple tree shape before sticking them onto a card.

 

In y3 we used strips of paper to make star/snowflake decorations

In y5 we made pop-up nativity scenes incorporating a simple box-fold mechanism for the stable.

to market

A clear, bright but very cold saturday at Dortmund xmas market. One of the largest trees around (actually made from lots of smaller ones attached to a very sturdy framework).

 

Some of the stalls are works of art and must take ages to put together and have to be stored very carefully from year to year.

 

 

This old barn looked like it had been there forever but was in fact a pre-fabricated structure plonked in the middle of a pedestrian walkway.

 

cards & wood

More Chrimbo card designs that we've been having a go at this week. The children have been really pleased with their efforts.

 

Today was our school xmas fayre. Children bring stuff in...and then buy it back! I bet parents love getting rid of some unwanted bits and pieces only to have it replaced with someone else's stuff. This is a pic of wooden things that no-one else wanted. They went for the flashy plastic toys. Being a sucker for anything wooden, it was only right and proper that I saved it from the skip (where all the unsold stuff gets dumped). I've got ideas about repurposing the boxes with handpainted images and making some doll type figures out of the stacking toys - watch this space after Christmas.

little angels

The littley's in FS1 (aged 3 & 4) made these simple craft stick angels today. Pleated/concertina'd wings,yellow thread hair and pipe cleaner halo's (unfortunately we couldn't lay our hands on any gold glittery ones).

 

 

weaving

In y2 we've been weaving bookmarks. Simple card looms with woollen threads. The loose ends have been tied off. The children did really well to keep the tension constant and still manage to weave quite tight pieces.

 

 

It's also Christmas card making season. Here's a small selection of the card designs we've done so far this week. Simple cut/folded shapes.

sari's

We wrapped the woodblock printed fabric around a balsa wood 'figure' to represent an Indian lady wearing a sari.

 

 

 

They seem happy with their new garments!

moving art

In y1 today we made wheeled toys. Card and dowel were the materials to hand.

 

One chap added thread to his car to represent exhaust smoke!

 



In y5 we continued our discovery and exploration of space theme by making moving pics of 'Neil Armstrong' - "One small step...".

 



 

When  pulled, the tab causes the legs to move in opposite directions so that he appears to be walking. A5 Card and split pins.

 

slowly but surely

The Globe rises from the ground. Stage section is yet to be built.

 

A view along the middle tier - seating/audience yet to be installed.

The view from the stage area!

We think it's looking quite good. The plan is still to be able to poke your head up through the middle and imagine yourself as one of the 'groundlings'.

In y6 today we made some origami boxes, upturned them and repurposed them as tanks - to tie in with our WW2 topic.

woodblock printing

In y3 today, as part of their studies about India, we used our woodblocks to print onto fabric. We designed and made the woodblocks last week from balsa wood - a thick piece with cut balsa sheet glued on.

 

 

The children were encouraged to line up their blocks carefully to ensure a regular repeat pattern.

An overview of some of the printed pieces of fabric.

The intention is to display them by draping them around a simple silhouette, so as to resemble an Indian woman wearing a sari.

3d card models

Today y1 made robots. From a simple pre-printed sheet they crafted some very benign looking 'bots. None of your 'evil, destroy the world at all costs' characters here. 

 

 

Whilst higher up the school in y5 we created 3d space pictures.You probably can't see it all that well from this image but the astronaut figure is held out from the background by a pipecleaner (cunningly doubling up as the safety line).

cat & mouse

In FS2, after reading a 'dark, dark tale' about a cat and a mouse, we created collage pictures of the main characters. We drew round plastic templates, cut out and then stuck down the shapes to make our pictures. We added details (whiskers, tails) using pencil crayons.

 

 

The Globe

We thatched the Globe model today.Various threads, strips of felt, raffia and wools were wrapped and woven around the upper seating units to give an impression of coarse thatch.

 

 

These are the partially completed units temporarily arranged to give an indication of the size when complete.

The whole thing is just about ready for assembling - we've just got the stage left to do!

teddy bears

End of a very stressful & busy week. Spent the last part of today drawing teddy bears (in honour of Pudsey/Children in Need).

 

Hopefully, now the inspection is over, we can actually get on and enjoy teaching and learning stuff without having to worry whether or not we've crossed every last possible T and dotted all the I's.

the inspectors!

Apologies for the lack of posts lately - we are in the midst of a dreaded Ofsted inspection (ask anyone who is or knows a teacher and they'll concur). Hopefully it will all turn out fine in the end, fingers crossed. To calm the nerves I managed a couple of card drawings this lunchtime. 

 

 

I've tried listing them in my Etsy/Folksy shops and even sending samples out to various real shops but so far no takers. Still, I'm determined to keep trying.
I did sell one of my paintings on Folksy though - yay!

almost ready for 'launch'

The y5's have been rigging their ships today. Once the 'seas' have been done they'll be off on their voyages of discovery - around the school. We are going to display them in small groups at ad hoc points around and about the school building and 'allow' the rest of the school to 'discover' them as they are moving between lessons. We intend to move them around from place to place to keep it all fresh. We'll have to try and find some unusual places in which to place them.

 

caves

Today we made caves. We started out by making thumb pots, before turning them on their sides and reshaping them into cave-like structures. For added effect we embedded stones and twigs. For 4/5 year olds I think they did really well. They will be used to enhance their literacy work - story-telling.

 

 

The y3's have completed their embroidered applique elephant designs. En masse, pinned up on the wall, they look very effective.

Globe update

Our model of the Globe Theatre is really beginning to take shape. Today we added floorboards (lollipop sticks) and railings.

 

 

When it's finished (hopefully in a couple of weeks!) it should stand about 50cm tall and be not far short of a metre in diameter.

pachyderms

Today has been 'elephant' day! The youngest ones pasted scrunched up paper onto a heavy card backing in anticipation of assembling the dried pieces into an elephant.

 

 

The Y3's completed their appliqued and embroidered Indian elephant motifs. We stitched on beads and washers (!) for leg jewellery.

clay people

Today the little ones (FS2, 4/5 year olds) made simple semi-relief clay figures. One chap even imprinted 'bones' onto his figure, having remembered the printed skeletons we did last week ! We have plans to either paint or collage tissue clothing onto them when they have dried out.

 

 

In Y2 we completed our 'stained glass' pieces by adding thin black strips. When they're dry we intend to display them altogether on a large window -I'll try and get a pic.

globe shaping up

Week 3 of our 'Globe' model. We've got as far as assembling the seating 'units'. Here they are glued and held together with bulldog clips. Each stack of 3 is about 30cm high. Stacked like this, even at this early stage, there's a semblance of similarity.

 

 

Once dry, the brown paper will be torn off and the boxes opened up. Next week we plan to floorboard and attach the front railings. Keep watching this space.