A sculptural challenge to encourage the exploration of colour, light and form.

Questions for Children:

Can you imagine what it would be like to be in a room with the installations in the videos above? How would it make you feel? What do they remind you of?

How do you think the colour affects the mood?

Sculptural Challenge! 

Using the artwork in the videos above as your inspiration, think about how you might design a sculptural installation which involves light, form and colour. 

You won’t be building a life-size sculptural installation (not today anyway!) but instead you can either make a model or create a piece of 2d artwork which shares your vision. Remember, because you are not creating the artwork then you can really be imaginative and dream!

Here are some clues, but you may have your own ideas too:

Use your sketchbook to “collect” colours that you like. Find them in magazines by cutting swatches out, find them by mixing paints, find them by mixing other materials. Record them, test them, label them, make notes (what colours did you mix?), name them (the names you give them might help you to describe the affect they have on you).

Think about the kinds of forms (shapes) you would like the coloured light to fall on to. Would you like the coloured light to surround a person, or would you like the person to pass near the objects? How would the person enter the space? Would the space be very small or very large? How would you want the person to feel? Again, use your sketchbook to plot and plan. 

Think too about the space you would like the coloured light to be in. Would you like it to be a dark space so that the lights show up against the darkness, or would you prefer a light space, so that it feels floaty and ephemeral? 

Think about how you would apply your colours to the walls? Would each wall be one colour? Would you introduce pattern? Images? Again, use your sketchbook.

Finally, either make a model using card, paint, fabric etc to share your vision, or make a 2d artwork. If you make a small space, you might like to be inspired by the Mini Art World Resource and use coloured filters and torches to replicate the space. 

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Pathway: Brave Colour

This is featured in the ‘Brave colour’ pathway

Talking Points: Carnovsky

Explore different colour profiles and see how light can transform art

Which Artists: Liz West

Find out how Liz West is inspired by light, colour and reflections

Talking Points: Olafur Eliasson

See how Eliasson uses elemental materials such as light, water, and air temperature

A collection of sources and imagery to explore the work of Olafur Eliasson.

Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control. 

Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate. 

We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks. 

*If you are having issues viewing videos it may be due to your schools firewall or your cookie selection. Please check with your IT department.*

This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.

Olafur Eliasson

Olafur Eliasson’s interest in light came from growing up in Iceland, where for half of the year the country is in darkness. 

Olafur is known for sculpture and large-scale installation art employing elemental materials such as light, water, and air temperature to enhance the viewer’s experience.

Explore more of Olafur’s work here.

Questions to Ask Children

Describe what you see.

How does this make you feel?

How would it feel to be in that space, interacting with the light?

How do you think the artist creates these playful light installations?

Questions to Ask Children

Describe what you see.

How do you think it would feel to interact with the light installations?

Does it make you think about space and colour in different ways?

This Talking Points Is Used In…

Pathway: Brave Colour

This is featured in the ‘Brave colour’ pathway

using sketchbooks to make visual notes

Find out how pupils can respond to artists work in sketchbooks

Show me what you see

Enable close looking and drawing with this exercise

A collection of sources and imagery to explore the work of Carnovsky.

Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control. 

Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate. 

We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks. 

*If you are having issues viewing videos it may be due to your schools firewall or your cookie selection. Please check with your IT department.*

This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.

Carnovsky

Carnovsky is a Milan-based art and design duo comprised of Francesco Rugi and Silvia Quintanilla.

RGB is a work about the exploration of the “surface’s deepness”. 

RGB designs create surfaces that mutate and interact with different chromatic stimulus.

Carnovsky’s RGB is an ongoing project that experiments with the interaction between printed and light colours. The resulting images are unexpected and disorienting. Colors mix, lines and shapes entwine and not completely clear. Through a coloured filter (a light or a transparent material) it is possible to see clearly the layers in which the image is composed. The filter’s colours are red, green and blue, each one of them serves to reveal one of the three layers. Carnovsky

Questions to Ask Children

Describe what you see.

How does it make you feel when you see the image change before your eyes?

How would it feel to be in that space, interacting with the sculpture?

What do you think the artists are trying to do through the artwork?

Why do you think that light has an effect of specific colours?

This Talking Points Is Used In…

Pathway: Brave Colour

This is featured in the ‘Brave colour’ pathway

using sketchbooks to make visual notes

Find out how pupils can respond to artists work in sketchbooks

Show me what you see

Enable close looking and drawing with this exercise

A collection of imagery and sources designed to introduce students to artist, Linda Bell.

Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control. 

Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate. 

We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks. 

This resource is free to access and is not part of the AccessArt Membership.

Linda Bell

“Linda creates large-scale, interactive, and performative sculptural works. Through her multifaceted, experimental approach, Linda explores the sensory nature of materials, such as foil, paper, and fabric. She transforms the materials as they are reshaped and assembled together. The tactile qualities of the materials are vital. Linda seeks out materials that satisfy her need to create certain movements and shapes, which she then repeats to create multiple forms that expand into larger work.

Linda then transforms the work through rigorous movement, interactions, and impromptu performance. Sharing the movement of her sculptural work and the performative experience is crucial to her practice, for Linda to explore the relationship between herself, her work and the viewer or collaborator.” – ActionSpace

Questions to Ask Students

What can you see?

What do you think Linda’s sculptures feel like to touch?

How does Linda’s work make you feel?

How might you interact with Linda’s work?

This Talking Points Is Used In…

Pathway: Playful Making

This resource is features in the ‘Playful Making’ pathway

using sketchbooks to make visual notes

Show me what you see

A collection of imagery and sources designed to introduce students to artist, Nnena Kalu.

Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control. 

Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate. 

We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks. 

This resource is free to access and is not part of the AccessArt Membership.

Nnena Kalu

Nnena is a practising artist at ActionSpace, a visual arts organisation that supports artists with learning disibilities.

‘Over the last two decades, Nnena Kalu has created a large body of sculptural and two-dimensional work and developed a live, performative element to her art practice, creating site-specific installations.

Nnena’s sculptural installations begin with compact ‘cocoons’ of textiles and paper tightly packed in colourful cellophane. Repeated forms then build with extensive binding and wrapping with layers of paper, tape and lines of unspooled VHS tapes. When exhibited these sculptural forms are created live in- situ, being made and remade throughout live installs.

Nnena’s two-dimensional works are sculptural explorations of space dictated by the length and reach of Nnena’s arms, as well as the size of the paper. In the making of these works, which are often produced in pairs, the second an echo of the first, a rhythm is built up and multiple layers constructed. As with Nnena’s sculptural works, the drawings are an exploration of continuous line, shifting and ever-evolving forms.’-  ActionSpace

Questions to Ask Students

Describe Nnena’s sculptural process.

When you look at Nnena’s drawings, what can you see? How does the rhythm and pace of the drawing effect the lines?

What do you like about Nnena’s sculptures / drawings?

If you were watching Nnena create a live installation, what kind of sounds might you hear?

Imagine you are interacting with the sculptures, what do you think the sculptures would feel like texturally?

How does Nnena’s work make you feel?

Do Nnena’s sculptures remind you of anything?

This Talking Points Is Used In…

Pathway: Playful Making

This resource is features in the ‘Playful Making’ pathway

using sketchbooks to make visual notes

Show me what you see

Adapting AccessArt: Playful Making Inspired by Nnena Kalu

A collection of sources and imagery to explore the work of Njideka Akunyili Crosby.

Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control. 

Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate. 

We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks. 

*If you are having issues viewing videos it may be due to your schools firewall or your cookie selection. Please check with your IT department.*

This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.

Njideka Akunyili Crosby

Njideka is originally from Nigeria but trained as an artist is America, which is where she now lives. This duality of experience has given Njideka a fresh perspective on the places and cultures that she has experienced.

Njideka’s paintings draw on art historical, political and personal references, Njideka Akunyili Crosby creates densely layered figurative compositions that express the complexity of contemporary experience.

Many of Akunyili Crosby’s images feature figures – images of family and friends – in scenarios derived from familiar domestic experiences: eating, drinking, watching TV.

While the artist’s formative years in Nigeria are a constant source of inspiration, Akunyili Crosby’s grounding in Western art history adds further layers of reference.  – Victoria Miro Gallery

Watch the videos below to find out more. 

Apologies if you cannot watch one of the videos because your school has blocked YouTube. 

Questions to Ask Children

Pause the video at various points where you can see details of Njideka’s paintings, or find an image on Njideka’s website and discuss the following questions…

Describe what you think is happening in this painting/this detail. 

What do you think the person in the painting could be thinking about?

How does Njideka use layers in her work to help her create imagery. 

How does this painting make you feel?

How might the painting reflect Njideka’s identity?

This Talking Points Is Used In…

Pathway: Exploring Identity

This is featured in the ‘Exploring Identity’ pathway

using sketchbooks to make visual notes

Show me what you see

A collection of sources to explore Chauu masks in performances.

Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control. 

Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate. 

We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks. 

Chhau Masks

Chhau dance is a semi classical Indian dance with martial and folk traditions. It is found in three styles named after the location where they are performed, i.e. the Purulia Chau of West Bengal, the Seraikella Chau of Jharkhand and the Mayurbhanj Chau of Odisha.

The dance ranges from celebrating martial arts, acrobatics and athletics performed in festive themes of a folk dance, to a structured dance with religious themes. The costumes vary between the styles, with masks being used to identify the characters.

The stories enacted by Chhau dancers include those from  Indian literature.

Find out more about the “Craft of Accessorising for Chhau dancers” and “How the Craft of Mask Making Transforms the Dancers” with Google Arts and Culture.

Click on the image above to find out more about Seraikella Chhau Dance.

Questions to Ask Children

How do the masks make you feel?

How do you feel watching parts of the performance?

How would you describe the colours?

What kinds of materials are used to make the masks? 

A collection of sources to explore contemporary artists who create masks.

Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control. 

Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate. 

We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks. 

Romuald Hazoumè

West African artist Romuald Hazoumé creates contemporary African masks made using discarded plastic containers, in particular petrol canisters. The petrol canisters are used by lots of people in West Africa and represent the artist’s heritage. They also represent his critical vision of political systems.

“I send back to the West that which belongs to them, that is to say, the refuse of consumer society that invades us every day.”

Questions to Ask Children

How do the masks make you feel?

Do you like the masks? Why?

What do you think the artist is trying to say through the artwork?

What other recycled or waste materials could we use to make masks? 

Damselfrau

Damselfrau focuses on play and make as few conscious decisions as possible to let the materials lead. Damselfrau design the masks as she makes, responding to materials as opposed to a drawn design.

The masks are perhaps more accurately described as wearable sculptures. The ornate creations fuse the boundaries between fashion and design.

Questions to Ask Children

How do these masks make you feel?

How do these masks compare to Romuald’s masks?

If you encountered someone wearing the of the masks how would you feel?

Thalassic Masks

The Thalassic Masks project focuses on rethinking the protective mask, transforming a medical product, born in a state of emergency, into a design statement expressing contemporary identities.

The artists Filippo Nassetti and Vincezo Reale believe that beyond Covid-19, further implications of climate change and the disruption of ecological environments, such as air pollution and transformations in the atmosphere, may see protective devices become more and more an essential extension of the human body.

Questions to Ask Children

Do you like the Thalassic masks?

How does the mask make you feel?

Do you think that it’s an improvement on the surgical masks you’ve had to wear over the past 2 years?

A collection of imagery and sources designed to explore different flip books.

Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control. 

Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate. 

We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks. 

*If you are having issues viewing videos it may be due to your schools firewall or your cookie selection. Please check with your IT department.*

This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt Membership.

Animate the Earth

Animate the Earth uses a book as the foundation for the flip book. Using an old book is a good way to make a flip book quickly. The background text can also add some character to the animation. You could even use the story line or theme of the book to inspire the storyline of your flip book.

Questions to Ask Children

Do you like the background of words on a page? Why?

What is your favourite part of the animation?

Do you think the artist planned what was going to happen next or was just playing with what is possible?

Colibri Flip Book

Graphite and coloured pencil on paper, stainless steel, delrin, motor electronics 10x10x12.7 CM.2011 By J. C. Fontanive

J. C. Fontanive

Fontanive invented the first flip book machine in his bedroom from old bike, car and clock parts and vinyl records. The invention explores moving image, form and structure. Multiple frames are shown in sequence to form the animation. The fluttering of the paper provides a natural soundtrack bring the still images to life.

Quiknesse, 2009 flipbook machine

Questions to Ask Children

What kind of bird do you think that this features in these flip book machines?

Which is your favourite and why?

Does the painted background of Quiknesse add anything to the flip book machine? If so, what?

What bird would you like to see in a flip book machine?

Volume 5 of Harumin Asao’s Cat series

Harumin Asao is a Japanese illustrator who uses flip books as a way to create short and playful animations.

Using small pages for flip books gives a nice control when flipping through as opposed to bigger thinner pages. 

Questions to Ask Children

What your favourite animal?

Think about how that animal might greet you when you get home.

Flip Book Within a Flip Book

The Flippist creates hand drawn flip books as a career, from engagement proposals to more commercial projects the Flippest has made a flip book for every occasion.

Questions to Ask Children

If you could make a flip book for any occasion what would it be?

Whats your favourite part of this flip book and why?

What other objects could replace the volcano and leak out of the flip book?

A collection of imagery and sources designed to introduce children to the process of linocut.

Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control. 

Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.

We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks. 

Linocut

Teachers Notes

Linocut print is a printmaking technique used for relief printing. The surface of the Linoleum is cut into with sharp V shaped tools to create a design.

Linocut originates from the technique ‘woodcut’. In this process a block of wood is used to carve from instead of linoleum. Woodcut is the oldest form of printmaking with records of its use on textiles from as long ago as the twelfth century.

Two maraboos (Twee maraboes) (c.1914) by Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita. Original from The Rijksmuseum. CC0

A collection of imagery and sources designed to introduce children to the process of letterpress.

Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control. 

Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate. 

We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks. 

This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt Membership.

Letterpress

Teachers Notes

Letterpress is a relief printing technique. For hundreds of years letterpress was the only way to create reproductions of text. The invention of the letterpress in the mid 15th Century meant that information could be more accessible to the masses. Traditionally, the letters are arranged, a roll is inked and the raised surface of the letters are pressed against sheets or a continuous roll of paper. 

Take a online tour of Robert Smail’s Printing Works in Scotland. Founded in 1866 and now part of the Scottish National Trust, the tour walks you through the rooms, different jobs and the machinery used in the victorian era.

A modern day letterpress process.

Theresa Easton, Photo-lithography, silk-screen and letterpress

Farewell Etaoin Shrdlu, a 30 minute documentary on the last day of typesetting at The New York Times in 1978, before the switch to computers. 

Features interviews for and against the incoming technology, plus a look at the end showing the contrast between the old typesetting methods and the new computerised version.

Talking Points

What sort of things was letterpress traditionally used for?

What do people still use letterpress?

What differences are there between designing on a computer nowadays and using old methods such as letterpress?

Why do you think there is still an interest in using old technology today?

Can you think of any other old techniques used to make art that are still being used?

Why is (or is?) it important to understand old techniques and ways of making things?

How have computers changed how we make art?

What do you think is next for printing techniques? What comes after computers?

A collection of imagery and sources designed to introduce children to the process of Collagraph.

Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control. 

Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate. 

We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks. 

This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt Membership.

Collagraph

A collagraph print is made from textured materials collaged together on a piece of card. Lots of materials can be used to make collagraphs including (but not limited to) sand, fabric, bubblewrap, string and cardboard.

The surface of the plate can also be cut away at or into to create different marks. 

Sinclair Ashman

Watch this video to find out about how printmaker Sinclair Ashman found his passion for collagraph.

Karen Wicks

RAF Tangmere by Karen Wicks Medium: Collagraph Paper Type: Fabriano Unica (250gsm) Year: 2022.

Explore this resource by Karen Wicks to find out how she makes her prints here.

A collection of imagery and sources which you can use to prompt drawing in schools and community groups. 

Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control. 

Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate. 

We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks. 

‘In the 19th century the coal mines of Great Britain provided the primary source of energy for the industrial revolution.  Coal powered the steam locomotives, ships, steam engines in mills etc.  It also generated heat and light in the form of coal gas and later electricity. Coal processed into coke made blast furnace production of iron and other metals possible. Coal did much of the work then that oil and natural gas do now, including as a substitute for the growing chemical industry.’ – Working Class Museum Library

Use the film below to enable children to explore drawing coal-mines. Try to create a sense of momentum – for example you might pause the video 4 times and ask the pupils to make a 1 minute, 2 minute, 3 minute and 4 minute drawing at each pause. 

Encourage close and slow looking by talking as they draw – use your voice to attract their attention to qualities of the coal-mine.

Try some different exercises- 

Cover the page with charcoal, use an eraser to draw detail and capture lighter tonal areas.

Blur the image by squinting your eyes. Using the side of the charcoal, pick out the different areas of tone and loosely block them out on the paper.

Begin the video at 02.50 to avoid showing images of animal carcasses. 

Miner

Click here to watch a 1950s coal-mining documentary made by the British Film Institute.

Watch the first 20 minutes to understand the processes and roles involved in coal-mining.

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Pathway: An Exploration of coal mining Inspired by henry moore

Featured in the ‘An Exploration of Coal Mining’ pathway

Pathway: How Can I Use Light & Dark To Create A Sense Of Space, Inspired By The Coal Mining Drawings Of Henry Moore?

For ages 11-14, explore this pathway inspired by Henry Moore’s coal mining drawings

Show me what you see

using sketchbooks to make visual notes

A collection of imagery and sources which you can use to prompt drawing in schools and community groups. 

Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control. 

Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate. 

We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks. 

This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.

Ancient Greek Architecture

Use the film below as source material to enable an exploration of drawing Ancient Greek architecture.

Pause the footage at points which catch your eye and invite the children to make timed drawings – 15 minutes, 10 minutes, 5 minutes, 2 minutes or 1 minute. 

Vary the drawing materials you use and work in sketchbooks or sheets of paper of different sizes and textures. You may also like to make multiple line drawings over one page – each with a different colour or line weight, to describe different pause points in the same film. 

Explore Ancient Corinth in 3D.

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AccessArt Olympics Resources

Explore projects to celebrate the 2024 Olympics

Visual Notes

Find out how pupils can respond to artists work in sketchbooks

Show me what you see

Enable close looking and drawing with this exercise

A collection of imagery and sources which you can use to prompt drawing in schools and community groups. 

Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control. 

Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate. 

We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks. 

Ice

Use the film below to enable children to explore drawing icy landscapes. Try to create a sense of momentum – for example you might pause the video 4 times and ask the pupils to make a 1 minute, 2 minute, 3 minute and 4 minute drawing at each pause. 

Encourage close and slow looking by talking as they draw – use your voice to attract their attention to features of the landscapes.

You May Also Like…

Pathway: Life on ice

This is featured in the ‘Life on Ice’ pathway

using sketchbooks to make visual notes

Find out how pupils can respond to artists work in sketchbooks

Show me what you see

Enable close looking and drawing with this exercise

Handmade plasterboard

Making Painted and Sewn Landscapes

Ice Worlds

A collection of imagery and sources designed to introduce children to artist Frances Hatch and her book, Drawn to Antarctica.

Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However, external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control. 

Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate. 

We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks. 

*If you are having issues viewing videos it may be due to your schools firewall or your cookie selection. Please check with your IT department.*

This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.

Drawn to Antarctica by Frances Hatch

Drawn to Antarctica is a book about a journey made by artist, Frances Hatch, who turned 50 and knew she needed to see Antarctica. The trip only lasted a fortnight and yet years on she is still pondering the significance of what she witnessed. Information is gathered here from notes in sketchbooks, photographic records, paintings and drawings.

Current information about Frances’ work as artist and art educator can be found in her website.

Iceberg Collages

Questions to Ask Children

What colours and shapes can you see? 

What time of day might it have been when Frances made the collage? Why do you think that?

How do you feel when you look at the artwork?

Compare two of the artworks. What are the differences and similarities? Which do you prefer and why?

Water

Questions to Ask Children

What colours can you see in the water?

What different marks can you see?

Why do you think there are so many colours in the water?

What do you think the weather was like that day?

Imagine you are in the painting. What can you hear, smell, feel?

Which is your favourite and why?

Penguins

Questions to Ask Children

What different lines and marks can you see?

Is this a landscape you’d expect to see penguins in? Why?

How has Frances captured perspective?

How has Frances captured a sense of movement in the drawing?

This Talking Points Is Used In…

Pathway: Using Art To Explore Global Issue

This is featured in the ‘Using Art To Explore Global Issue’ pathway

using sketchbooks to make visual notes

Show me what you see

Pathway for Years 3 & 4

Disciplines:
Drawing, Sketchbooks, Sculpture

Key Concepts:

• That artists can learn from the world around them. That artists can draw parallels with other beings/events to help us understand things about ourselves.

• That artists take creative risks. That artists try to say new things by manipulating and representing the materials of the world.

• That we can feel safe enough to take creative risks in our own work. That we can explore materials and ideas feeling free from criticism.

• That we can express our personality through the art we make.

• That we can use materials, tools and the ideas in our head to explore line, shape, form, balance and structure.

• That making art can be hard, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t doing it right or aren’t good at it. It just means we are doing it.  

In this pathway children explore formal drawing and sculpture skills like line, mark making, shape, form, balance and structure, but they also just as importantly explore how it feels to make art. They explore how they can appreciate a sense of challenge, and a feeling of trying things out without fear of failure or “wrong or right”.

Pupils start by seeing how artists sometimes help us learn about ourselves by drawing parallels with other lives. Pupils apply this knowledge by looking at how birds build nests – what can we learn from them about the traits we might show when we make experimental drawings and build sculpture?

Medium:
Various Drawing Materials, Construction Materials 

Artists: Marcus Coates

This pathway will take approximately half a term, based upon a weekly art lesson. 

If you use this resource in your setting, please tag us on social media: #InspiredBy @accessart (facebook, twitter) @accessart.org.uk (instagram) and share the url. Thank you!

Teaching Notes

Find the MTP for this pathway here.

See the recording of the hour long zoom CPD to introduce teachers to this pathway.

Curriculum Links

Geography: Link with birds and migration via the North and South hemisphere.

Science: Language to support understanding of materials, habitats.

PSHE: Supports Responsibility to the planet, Collaboration, Peer Discussion.

I Can…

• I have seen how we can learn about ourselves through art.

• I can feel safe to take creative risks when I work. I can enjoy the feeling of experimenting with materials.

• I can feel ok when I am being challenged by materials and ideas. I can feel ok when I don’t know exactly what I’m doing.

• I can use a variety of drawing materials to make experimental drawings based upon observation. 

• I can construct with a variety of materials to make a sculpture. 

• I can see my personality in what I have made.

• I can talk about the work I have made with my classmates, sharing the things I thought were successful and thinking about things I would like to try again.

• I can appreciate the work of my classmates and I can share my response to their work, identifying similarities and differences in our approach and outcomes. 

• I can take photographs of my work thinking about presentation, focus and lighting. 

Time

This pathway takes 6 weeks, with an hour per week. Shorten or lengthen the suggested pathway according to time and experience. Follow the stages in green for a shorter pathway or less complex journey.

Materials

A3 cartridge paper, soft B and hard H pencils, ink, graphite sticks, water soluble graphite, wax crayons, water colour.

Construction Materials (see list here )

Pathway: Sculpture, Structure, Inventiveness & Determination

A PDF of this pathway can be found here.

• Aims of the Pathway

  This pathway aims to provide children with the opportunity to connect drawing and making, encouraging the freedom to be inventive and exploratory. 

  The processes involved ask children to take creative risks, and to feel ok if they feel challenged by creating art. 

• Week 1: Introduce
  

  Introduce artists who are inspired by things that birds can teach us

  

  Use the free to access “Talking Points: What Can We Learn From Birds!” resource to explore how artists draw parallels with other beings so that we can learn about ourselves. 

• Weeks 2 & 3: Exploratory Mark Making
  

  Drawing Nests

  

  Use the “Drawing Nests” resource to explore how pupils can use a variety of media to create observed and expressive drawings of nests. 

  The resource explores how their drawings might feel relatively “neat” or might feel “messy” – both are fine! We are able to express our personality through art!

  Use sketchbooks to test materials. If children need drawing source material use our free to access “Drawing Source Material: Nests” resource. Invite children to create their own “Experimental Mark Making Tools” to create expressive and personal drawings.

  Stop at the making activity (you will do that next week).

  Explore the resource below to see a similar activity in a school:

  Nests: Materials, Tools, Testing & Sketchbooks

  Nests: Observational Ink Drawing

  Nests: Wet and Dry Media

  

• Weeks 4 & 5: Making
  

  Making Nests

  

  Use the “Perseverance, Determination and Inventiveness: Building Nests” resource to encourage children to explore how we practice and nurture valuable life skills when we make sculpture. The resource takes its starting point from what it must be like to be a bird, and place those first tentative twigs in place when nest building begins. How can children use their own instinct and intuition to make sculpture?

• Week 6: Present & Share
  

  Share, Reflect & Discuss

  

  Use the “Crit” resource to help you run a class critique. 

  Clear a space and present drawings, sketchbooks and sculptures made.

  Walk around the space as if it were a gallery. Enable a conversation about the journey and skills learnt (personality traits as well as technical skills). 

  Take photographs of the work. Explore how children can take high quality photographs of 3d artwork with this resource.

See the Pathway Used in Schools…

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