JOINT Lesson of the week

This was an instant favourite last year and became a set lesson in my eyes.

 

Year 6 were down to do Aboriginal art but they already looked at that in year 3. I like to vary it up a bit and so introduced Maori Art (see here). We ran out of time last term to finish these activities so it's a must-do at the start of spring. Last week they made their Moko masks and this week were introduced to charcoal, focussing on light, mid and dark tones.

 

They were to draw their mask concentrating only on the tones, not the outline. I had found a great lesson from Paul Carney which gave me the basis. It was not an easy task and I told them as such. They felt suitably challenged and proud at the end that they had achieved something new.

 

A couple of kids struggled with what to look for, and were still looking for the basic shape of the eye to draw for instance, but they did show progression (see first picture). remember my camer a angle is different to the artist's angle of view...

 

 

Art Lesson of the Week

Year 6 - charcoal

A new technique for year 6. They thoroughly enjoyed this. This was the first time they had used charcoal. I had the pencils in my room but I brought the willow charcoal along, the stuff that I used as a schoolgirl and loved it. I remember the feeling it gave me, I felt like a proper artist, using a proper tool, so I wanted and hoped they would feel the same too.

We had made clay masks based on our Maori designs we had been working on. As far as the charcoal was concerned we focused on building up the picture by tone - light, mid and dark - rather than drawing an outline and filling it in. This was a challenge for most but they did really well when it clicked what they were looking for.

I will miss this class. They embrace every technique, they try everything, they ask questions, they put their own style on the technique. They want to be there in my lesson and I love seeing them working!