Charcoal Cave

By Rachel Thompson.

A box lined with charcoal marked paper

In this post, AccessArt team member and Artist Rachel Thompson shows how to manipulate charcoal marked paper to create a cave-like space in a box. The aim of the activity is to explore light, dark and shadows through 3D work. It can also be followed by observing and drawing the light and dark areas created, encouraging children to think about mood and atmosphere when drawing.


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AccessArt is a UK Charity and we believe everyone has the right to be creative. AccessArt provides inspiration to help us all reach our creative potential.



See This Resource Used In Schools…

Year 6, Ruth at Carden Primary School
Year 6, Ruth at Carden Primary School
Year 6, Ruth at Carden Primary School
Year 6, Ruth at Carden Primary School
Year 6, Ruth at Carden Primary School

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Pathway: Gestural Drawing with charcoal

This is featured in the 'Gestural Drawing with Charcoal' pathway

This is featured in the ‘Gestural Drawing with Charcoal’ pathway

Talking points: Edgar degas

"Edgar Degas (1834-1917), Intimacy, c. 1877-80. kks9159, kks9159" by SMK Statens Museum for Kunst (officiel) is marked with CC0 1.0.

Talking Points: What is Chiaroscuro?

Strange Flower (Little Sister of the Poor) (1880) by Odilon Redon. Original from the Art Institute of Chicago

Pathway: Cave Art

Chauvet Cave https://vimeo.com/171478742

Session Recording: exploring Charcoal

Compressed Charcoal Using Point By Lancelot Richardson


Pathway: Telling Stories Through Drawing & Making

Pathway for Years 3 & 4

Disciplines:
Drawing, Sculpture, Sketchbooks

Key Concepts:

  • That we can take inspiration from other artforms such as film and literature and make work in 3 dimensions in response.

  • That through making work in another medium we can make the work our own, re-interpreting and re-inventing. 

  • That we can explore character, narrative and context and create objects (sculptures) which convey these qualities through their form, texture, material, construction and colour. 

In this pathway children are enabled to make sculptural equivalents of characters from film and literature. 

The pathway begins with an introduction to the work of two artists who use their sketchbooks to help them make the transition from words/film to image/object.

Pupils then use their own sketchbooks to explore their response to the original stimulus, and then go on to develop and make a sculptural character. 

The pathway is easily adapted to which ever books/films you are studying in class. 

Medium:
Paper, Drawing Materials, Modelling & Construction Materials (Modroc, clay, plasticine etc). 

Artists: Rosie Hurley, Inbal Leitner, Roald Dahl, Quentin Blake

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!

Alfie from Esio trot by Louis, year three
The BFG by Portia
Mr Hoppy with Gardening with Tortoises by Rosie Hurley
ages 5-8
ages 9-11

Teaching Notes

Find the MTP for this pathway here.

Find the Zoom CPD session recording exploring Figure Drawing here.

Find the Zoom CPD session recording exploring Modroc here.

 


Curriculum Links

English: Link to “character” books such as Roald Dahl’s Esio Trot, Dirty Beasts, The Minpins or James and the Giant Peach to inspire making.

Science: Materials, animals, micro habitats.

Maths: 2D/3D shapes, measuring, weight.

PSHE: Responsibility to the planet, collaboration, peer discussion.


I Can…

  • I have seen how artists are inspired by other artists often working in other artforms. 

  • I have understood how artists sometimes use sketchbooks to understand and explore their own response to an artists work. 

  • I can use my own sketchbook to explore my response to the chosen book/film, making visual notes, jotting down ideas and testing materials.

  • I can make a sculpture using materials to model or construct which is inspired by a character in a book or film. 

  • I can reflect and share how the way I made my sculpture helps capture my feelings about the original character. 

  • I can enjoy looking at the sculptures made by my classmates and see ways in which they are different and similar to each other and to the original character. 

  • I can share my feedback about my classmates work. 

  • I can take photographs of my work thinking about focus, background 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

Soft B pencils, coloured pencils, oil/chalk pastels, handwriting pens, A3 or A2 cartridge paper.

Option 1: Modroc or Clay Characters – Newspaper, masking tape, modroc, air dry clay, acrylic or ready mixed paint, brushes, trays.

Option 2: Plasticine Characters – A3 cartridge paper, modelling plasticine, constructed materials, corrugated card circles.

Option 2: Flying MinPin Characters – Air dry clay, wire, A4 or A3 cartridge paper, tissue paper, feathers, PVA glue.

Option 3: James and the Giant Peach Literacy Garden – assorted construction materials.

Pathway: Telling Stories Through Drawing and Making

A PDF of this pathway can be found here.

  • Aims of the Pathway

    This pathway introduces children to the idea that we can use literature and film to inspire our making, and that through making we can retell / re-invent stories. 

  • Week 1: Introduce

    Be Inspired by Artists and Illustrators

    Colour Test on Trees by Inbal Leitner

    Introduce the Illustrator Inbal leitner and hear how she used a sketchbook to develop characters and artwork inspired by a poem through the “My Tiger Sketchbook” resource. 

    Use the “Rosie Hurley: Esio Trot” resource to see how Rosie made a whole 3D set inspired by Roald Dahl’s book, and how she used sketchbooks to help develop and refine her ideas.

    Use sketchbooks for “Making Visual Notes” about techniques and ideas which seem important to the class. 

    Mr Hoppy and Mrs Silver on their Balconies by Rosie Hurley

  • Week 2: Exploring Drawing

    Using Quentin Blake’s Drawings as Inspiration!

    Use the “Inspired by Quentin Blake’s Drawings” resource to try three simple exercises to help children draw from life, and explore how we might use exaggeration as a tool to help us convey the intention of our drawing.

  • Week 3, 4 & 5: Find Your Focus

    Begin Making

    Choose a piece of literature or poem and take inspiration from one or more of the making resources below.

    Remember to use sketchbooks throughout, reminding children of the way Inbal Leitner and Rosie Hurley used their sketchbooks. 

    Use the “Play and Explore: The Ingredients and Elements of the Poem” resource to help support children translate text into imagery.

  • Option 1

    Modroc or Clay Characters

    Use the “Make a Roald Dahl Character” resource to make a 3d sculptural character. This resource uses modroc but you could also use airdry clay. 

    The BFG by Portia


  • Or…

  • Option 2

    Plasticine Characters

    Use the “Plasticine Models and Decorated Plinths inspired by ‘Dirty Beasts’” resource to create sculptures from plasticine and found materials.

     

    Student with her ant eater sculpture inspired by the Roald Dahl poem The Ant Eater


  • Or…

  • Option 3

    Flying Minpin Characters

    Use the “Flying Minpin Birds” resource to make hanging sculptures. 


  • Or…

  • Option 4

    James & The Giant Peach Garden

    Use the “James and the Giant Peach Garden” resource to explore making work in a variety of media around one text. 

    Cordelia "Doo" Spalding

  • Week 6: Reflect & Discuss

    Share and Celebrate the Outcomes

    Clear the space and display all work including sketchbooks so that pupils and teachers can appreciate the work.

     

    Literacy Boost Project: “James &The Giant Peach Garden” by Cordelia Spalding

    Use the resource here to help you run a class “crit” to finish the project. 

    If you have class cameras give pupils the opportunity to take photographs of their sculptures – thinking about how they can best present and light their sculptures. Explore how children can take high quality photographs of 3d artwork with this resource.

See the Pathway Used in Schools…

Shottermill Junior School Year 5 art work
Shottermill Junior School Year 5 art work
Shottermill Junior School Year 5 art work
Year 3, Haydon Wick Primary
Nine Mile Ride Primary School in Finchampstead in collaboration with South Hill Park Arts Centre
Nine Mile Ride Primary School in Finchampstead in collaboration with South Hill Park Arts Centre
Nine Mile Ride Primary School in Finchampstead in collaboration with South Hill Park Arts Centre
Nine Mile Ride Primary School in Finchampstead in collaboration with South Hill Park Arts Centre
Brindishe Manor, Lewisham
Brindishe Manor, Lewisham

If You Use AccessArt Resources…
You might like to…

Join our Facebook Group

Join the AccessArt Network group on Facebook and ask questions of others using our resources

Join the AccessArt Network group on Facebook and ask questions of others using our resources

Share and Tag

Share photos of work made by tagging us on social media

Share photos of work made by tagging us on social media

You May Also Like…

Making Papier-Mache Marionette Puppets Inspired by Characters in a Historical Painting

Investigate historical puppets and recreate characters from books or artwork

Investigate historical puppets and recreate characters from books or artwork

Pop-up puppets Inspired by Characters in a Historical Painting

Create puppets to help children engage and interact with the image and the narrative

Create puppets to help children engage and interact with the image and the narrative


Pathway: Storytelling Through Drawing

Pathway for Years 3 & 4

Disciplines:
Drawing, Sketchbooks

Key Concepts:

  • That we can tell stories through drawing.

  • That we can use text within our drawings to add meaning.

  • That we can sequence drawings to help viewers respond to our story.

  • That we can use line, shape, colour and composition to develop evocative and characterful imagery. 

In this pathway children explore how we can create sequenced imagery to share and tell stories. 

The pathway starts by introducing two artists: one an illustrator and the other a graphic novelist and author. Children use sketchbooks to gather ideas from the way the artists work. 

There is then a choice of two projects: the first explores the creation of an accordian book – inspired by a piece of literature, exploring how we can use drawing in an illustrative or even fine art sense to tell stories. 

In the other option children draw upon graphic novels and make a comic strip style telling of a piece of poetry. 

Medium:
Drawing Materials, Paper

Artists: Laura Carlin, Shaun Tan

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!

Jabberwock - Ellie Somerset
Finished page 1. Based on the poem "A Day in Autumn" by RS Thomas (c) Elodie Thomas. Art by Irina Richards.
A participant comic
ages 9-11

Teaching Notes

Find the MTP for this pathway here.


Curriculum Links

English: Use The Jabberwocky by Lewis Carol as inspiration for this pathway, or choose another story or graphic novel of your choice.

History: Create your own sequenced story inspired by an event in history ie from The Anglo Saxon, The Viking, Ancient Greeks, Ancient Egyptian or The Roman eras.

Science: Use language to support concepts around light and shadow, and how this can be explored on paper through drawing.

PSHE: Supports Collaboration, Peer Discussion.


I Can…

  • I have explored the work of artists who tell stories through imagery. 

  • I can respond to the work of illustrators and/or graphic novelists, “reading” the visual images and sharing my thoughts. 

  • I can work in a sketchbook to record my ideas and thoughts generated by looking at other artists’ work.

  • I can use a sketchbook to generate ideas about how I might respond to a piece of poetry or prose.

  • I can use line, shape, and colour using a variety of materials to test my ideas.

  • I can think about how I might use composition, sequencing, mark making and some text in my drawings.

  • I can create a finished piece which contains sequenced images to describe a narrative. 

  • I can share my work with others and talk about my journey and outcome. I can listen to their feedback and take it on board.

  • I can appreciate the work of my classmates and think about similarities and differences between our work. I can share my feedback on their work.

  • I can take a photograph of my work, thinking about lighting and focus. 


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.


Watch the “How do Non-Specialist Teachers Teach Art” video if you are a non-specialist teacher to understand how to model an open and exploratory approach.


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

Soft B pencils, handwriting pen, coloured pencils, oil/chalk pastels, charcoal, graphite, ink, paints, A2 or A3 cartridge paper (cut & into folded accordion books).


 

Pathway: Storytelling Through Drawing

A PDF of this pathway can be found here.

  • Aims of the Pathway

    This pathway aims to enable pupils to think about how they can create sequenced drawings to share or tell a story. 

  • Week 1: Introduce Two Artists

    Laura Carlin & Shaun Tan

    The Arrival by Shaun Tan https://vimeo.com/139679090

    Use the free to access “Talking Points: Laura Carlin” and “Talking Points: Shaun Tan” resources to introduce children to 2 artists that tell stories through imagery.

    Laura uses writers’ text to inspire her visuals, working as an illustrator, whilst Shaun Tan creates his illustrations for his own stories, in the genre of graphic novels. 

    Use the “Making Visual Notes” resource to students understand how they can use sketchbooks to gather ideas from the way other artists work, and store them for use later on. 

  • Week 2: Drawing Warm Up

    Drawing Stories

    Illustrations by Children

    Set the scene for the half term by inviting children to “Draw Stories“.  Use toys, poetry and their own text to create richly illustrated narratives, contained within a single drawing.

    Work in sketchbooks or on larger sheets of paper. 

  • Week 3, 4, & 5: Find Your Focus

    Choose your Project

    Choose one of the following projects. Each one enables pupils to explore how they can build and share a story through a series of images. 

  • Option 1: Accordian Book

    Illustrating The Jabberwocky

    Jabberwocky - mark making Ellie Somerset

    Explore the “Illustrating The Jabberwocky” resource. You can adapt the teaching ideas in this resource to any text, book, or poetry you choose, but it works best with writing which is rich in evocative imagery. 

    The resource provides plenty of opportunity for children to explore different materials such as charcoal, graphite, ink or pastel.

    Elie Somerset - jaberwocky


  • Or…

  • Option 2: Poetry Comic

    Explore Manga

    Finished page 3. Based on the poem "A Day in Autumn" by RS Thomas (c) Elodie Thomas. Art by Irina Richards.

    Use the “Creating a Poetry Comic” resource to enable children to explore how they might create a comic inspired by poetry. 

    Use sketchbooks to develop ideas. You may also like pupils to turn the comics into a folded zine. 

  • Week 6: Share and Reflect

    Present, Talk, Celebrate

    Illustrated poem Ellie Somerset

    End the pathway by taking time to appreciate the developmental stages and the final outcomes in a clear space.

    Pupils will display the work appropriately to fit with the chosen project including having open sketchbooks. Use the “Crit in the Classroom” resource to help you facilitate the session. 

    Encourage children to reflect upon all stages of the journey, and reference the artists studied. 

    If available, children can use tablets or cameras to take photographs of the work. 

See the Pathway Used in Schools…

Year 6, Welland Academy, Peterborough
Year 6, Welland Academy, Peterborough
Year 6, Welland Academy, Peterborough
Brindishe Manor
Year 4, Plymouth Grove Primary School
Year 4, Plymouth Grove Primary School
Year 4, Plymouth Grove Primary School
Year 4, Ashley Manor Preparatory School
Year 4, Ashley Manor Preparatory School
Year 4, Ashley Manor Preparatory School
Year 4, Ashley Manor Preparatory School
Year 4, Ashley Manor Preparatory School

If You Use AccessArt Resources…
You might like to…

Join our Facebook Group

Join the AccessArt Network group on Facebook and ask questions of others using our resources

Join the AccessArt Network group on Facebook and ask questions of others using our resources

Share and Tag

Share photos of work made by tagging us on social media

Share photos of work made by tagging us on social media

You May Also Like…

Make a dummy book

Develop ideas for an illustrated book by first making a dummy book

Develop ideas for an illustrated book by first making a dummy book

comics inspired by museum collections

Construct stories inspired by museum items

Construct stories inspired by museum items

ink collages inspired by the wolf wilder

Use a well loved children’s book as a starter for creating a collage

Use a well loved children’s book as a starter for creating a collage

3 panel drawing challenge

Use everyday objects to construct short stories

Use everyday objects to construct short stories

drawing storyboards

Use storyboards as a way of developing both drawing and visual story telling skills

Use storyboards as a way of developing both drawing and visual story telling skills


Pathway: Using Natural Materials to Make Images

Pathway for Years 3 & 4

Disciplines:
Cyanotype, Anthotype, Painting with Natural Pigments, Drawing, Sketchbooks

Key Concepts:

  • That we can use the world around us as “ingredients” with which to make art.

  • That photographs are created when a light sensitive surface is exposed to light.

  • That we can manipulate the world around us, transforming it into art.

In this pathway children are introduced to Cyanotypes, and the work of the first female photographer Anna Atkins. They are also introduced to artist Frances Hatch, who finds and makes pigments from the landscape she is drawing.

Children then go on to make their own imagery, choosing one or more methods, to make artwork which is rooted in the materials and place in which it was made. 

Medium:
Natural pigments from earth and plants, paper, light.

Artists: Frances Hatch, Anna Atkins

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!

Ingredients and plant materials for making Anthotype prints by Genevieve Rudd
Beetroot Pickle Juice and Potato Leaf Anthotype by Genevieve Rudd
3 flowers
ages 5-8
ages 9-11

Teaching Notes

Find the MTP for this pathway here.


Curriculum Links

Maths: 2D shapes, pattern.

Science: Wild and garden plants, trees, structure of plants, local environment, birds, every day materials and properties, planting and growing, the four seasons.

PSHE: Responsibility to the planet.


I Can…

  • I have explored how artists make art from natural materials around them, such as pigments from plants, the ground, and sunlight. 

  • I have understood how materials can be transformed through my actions.

  • I can reflect upon artists work, share my response and listen to the response of my classmates.

  • I can use my sketchbook to collect ideas. 

  • I can make visual notes about how artists have made images.

  • I can use my sketchbook to try out ideas and experiment.

  • I can make a finished piece, which might be part of a larger class artwork.

  • I can share my experience and artwork, talk to my classmates about what I like and what I would like to try again. 

  • I can use a camera or device to take photographs of my work.


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

Soft B pencils, coloured pencils, oil/chalk pastels.

Option 1: Cyanotypes – ‘Sun paper’ or cyanotype solution, found objects or natural forms.

Option 2: Primal Painting – Foraged plants or vegetables, rolling pins for mashing, paper brushes.

Option 3: Anthotypes – Plants, leaves, spices, rolling pins/masher, bowls, jars, water, fine sieve/coffee filter, watercolour paper, brushes, picture frame/clear perspex, flat object, such as pressed flowers.


 

Pathway: Using Natural Materials to Make Images

A PDF of this pathway can be found here.

  • Aim of the Pathway

    This pathway encourages children to explore how they can use materials found around them to make images. 

  • Week 1: Introduce Artists

    Frances Hatch

    Using burnt Gorse as drawing material.

    Introduce pupils to the work of Frances Hatch through the free to access “Talking Points: Frances Hatch” resource.

    Use the questions on the resource to stimulate a discussion about the way Frances employs curiosity about her environment to build her practice. Scroll down the images in the “Working WITH and In the Landscape” resource to explore with pupils. 

    Invite pupils to work in sketchbooks. Use the “Making Visual Notes” resource to get children to jot down and draw things of interest to them. 

  • Week 1: Introduce Artists

    Anna Atkins

    Achnanthes-longipes.-parasitic by Anna Atkins Gilman Collection, Purchase, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Gift, through Joyce and Robert Menschel, 2005Use the free to access “Talking Points: Anna Atkins” resource to introduce children to the work of the first female photographer who used cyanotypes. 

    Work in sketchbooks again using the “Making Visual Notes” resource to collect and consolidate information. Or use the “Show Me What You See” technique.

    By the end of the first session pupils should have two or more sketchbook pages full of visual notes. 

  • Weeks 2, 3, 4, 5: Find Your Focus

    Choose Your Project

    Choose one or more of the projects below to enable a practical exploration.

  • Option 1

    Making Cyanotypes

    Spiraea aruncus (Tyrol) by Anna Atkins Purchase, Alfred Stieglitz Society Gifts, 2004

    Inspired by the work of Anna Atkins, children will make cyanotypes.

    Use the free to access “Talking Points: What is a Cyanotype?” resource to explore what a cyanotypes is. 

    Use the “Talking Points: What is Negative Space” resource to explore the idea of negative space, and how we can use it in our artwork. 

    Use sketchbooks to plan and build. What will pupils collect to use on the cyanotype paper? What will the focus of the exploration be?

    Use sun paper as an easy way to make cyanotypes. Ask pupils to consider how they will display the results, bringing all images from the class into one artwork for display.

    TIP: When you expose your prints you can also use a sunny window – taping the paper and object to the window on the inside. 


  • Or…

  • Option 2

    Primal Painting

    Primal

    Inspired by the work of Frances Hatch, paint using natural pigments.

    Use the “Primal Painting” resource to enable pupils to be curious about the things around them. Forage in school grounds or your local environment. If you live in an urban environment you can bring in vegetables to supplement vegetation from local parks or pathways.

    Revisit the free to access “Talking Points: Artists as Explorers and Collectors resource”.

    Work in sketchbooks to define the focus of the artwork. Use sketchbooks to experiment, making notes about which materials they use and how.


  • Or…

  • Option 3

    Making Anthotypes

    7 Day Exposure Anthotype prints made from Red Berry Tea, Turmeric, Black Tea and Red Berry Tea by Genevieve Rudd

    Use the “Making Anthotypes” resource to understand how pupils can make images from the sun and things around them.

    Revisit the free to access “Talking Points: Artists as Explorers and Collectors resource.”

    Work in sketchbooks to define the focus of the artwork. Encourage children to use their sketchbooks to experiment, making notes about which materials were used and how.

    TIP: Use boxes with lids to keep the prepared paper away from the light, or use a heavy cloth over it. When you expose your prints, the above resource recommends you use glass and a frame to hold the image still – but you can also use a sunny window – taping the paper and object to the window on the inside. 

  • Week 6: Present and Celebrate

    Share, reflect, discuss

    Peer Assessing work

    Time to see the work which has been made, talk about intention and outcome.

    Invite pupils to display the work in a clear space, and walk around the work as if they are in a gallery. Give the work the respect it deserves. Remind the children of their hard work.

    If you have class cameras or tablets, invite the children to document their work, working in pairs or teams.

    Use the resource here to help you run a class “crit” to finish the project. 

See the Pathway Used in Schools…

The Cathie Family, Ages 8, 10, 12
Year 5, Sutton Valence Preparatory School
Year 5, Sutton Valence Preparatory School
Year 5, Sutton Valence Preparatory School

If You Use AccessArt Resources…
You might like to…

Join our Facebook Group

Join the AccessArt Network group on Facebook and ask questions of others using our resources

Join the AccessArt Network group on Facebook and ask questions of others using our resources

Share and Tag

Share photos of work made by tagging us on social media

Share photos of work made by tagging us on social media

You May Also Like…

Home made inks

Make your own inks from the plants around you

Make your own inks from the plants around you

Exploring Cyanotype by Maru Rojas

Artist and educator Maru Rojas shares how to create beautiful cyanotype images

Artist and educator Maru Rojas shares how to create beautiful cyanotype images


Pathway: The Art Of Display

Pathway for Years 3 & 4

Disciplines:
Sculpture, Creative Thinking Sketchbooks

Key Concepts:

  • That artists think carefully not just about what they make, but also how they present what they make. 

  • That when we view sculpture (or other art), the context (way it is presented) affects how we react to it. 

  • That how something will be seen can help us shape what is made.

  • That we can give thought to how we display the art we make, to help us understand how people will view our work. 

In this pathway children begin to think about two very important aspects of making art: context and presentation.

When we make art that others will see, it’s important that we understand how we present the work will influence the way people see the work. This pathway presents an opportunity for pupils to discover and question the role of the “plinth” in sculpture. 

Children explore how other artists use the idea of “plinth” to make work. There are then three choices of project. The 1st explores how we can present found objects to re-see them as sculpture, making a mini gallery. 

In the 2nd project children make sculptures of themselves, putting a version of themselves on a plinth, and in the 3rd children plan an artwork or performance for a fictional plinth in their school. 

Medium:
Clay, Paper, Drawing Materials, Various Modelling & Construction Materials

Artists: Anthony Gormley, Yinka Shonibare, Thomas J Price

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!

Photo of Fourth Plinth, Trafalgar Square, London by Andy Hay
Quick clay figurative sketch
Parkour person
ages 5-8
ages 9-11

Teaching Notes

Find the MTP for this pathway here.


Curriculum Links

English: Make ‘plinth people’ of characters from your chosen book. Explore how they can be displayed to interact with one another and tell the story. Use “plinth” to give voice/performance to narratives in English.

History: Create plinth people inspired by figures from your chosen civilisation topic e.g. the Ancient Greek gods and goddesses or Roman Emperors. Use “plinth” to give voice/performance to characters in history.

PSHE: Supports Collaboration, Peer Discussion.


I Can…

  • I have seen how some artists choose to display their work on “plinths” and I have understood how the way a work is displayed can affect the way the audience sees the work. 

  • I can use my sketchbook to collect ideas about how other artists consider how their work is displayed. 

  • I can use clay to make quick three dimensional sketches  of figures sitting on “plinths”. I can use the clay to capture  character/emotion of the body.

The following I Can statements are dependent upon project chosen.

Pocket Gallery:

  • I can find objects around me and think about how I can re-see them when I display them as art objects.

  • I can manipulate materials to make an environment for the art objects.

  • I can think about how the audience might react and capture this in my artwork.

The Fourth Plinth Challenge:

  • I can work as a small team and plan an art project around how we would use a plinth in our school, taking ideas of other people on board and contributing my own.

  • I can think creatively about art/object/performance/audience.

Plinth People

  • I can use my sketchbook to think about my interests/personality traits which I am proud of.

  • I can imagine how I could create a version of myself that I would like to see on a plinth.

  • I can make a sculpture/ plinth from construction materials which shows a version of myself, using things like body position, clothes, props and fine details to give the sculpture character. 

All Projects:

  • I can share my work with others, and talk about my response to the project, what worked well and what I would like to try again. I can listen to the response to my work from my classmates and take on board their feedback.

  • I can appreciate the work of my classmates, understanding where there are similarities and where there are differences. I can share my response to their work.

  • I can take photographs of my artwork, thinking about focus, lighting and composition. 


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

Clay, thick cardboard (cut up boxes), small wooden blocks (or lego).

Option 1: Pocket Gallery – Camera, printed photographs, white card, foamboard (or cardboard boxes turned on their side), a collection of small objects, torches, acetate filters or sweet wrappers, rubber bands, PVA glue, scissors.

Option 3: Plinth People – (for the pre made plinths), corrugated card, wire, fine casting plaster,

(for the figures) Wire, construction materials, fabric, glue.


Pathway: The Art of Display

A PDF of this pathway can be found here.

  • Aims of the Pathway

    This pathway aims to encourage pupils to think about how the way we present our art (the context) can change the meaning of the work we make, or change the way others see it. 

    Pupils explore “plinths” as a device, and use the exploration to inspire their own sculpture. 

  • Weeks 1: Introduce

    What is a Plinth?

    Silver-gilt mouthpiece late 6th–5th century B.C

    Use the free to access “Talking Points: What is a Plinth?” resource to introduce children to the concept behind “plinth” and to explore some of the artists who have contributed to the Fourth Plinth Project in London. 

    Invite children to make visual notes in their sketchbooks. Use the “Making Visual Notes” resource to help this process. 

  • Week 2: Introduce an Artist

    Talking Points: Thomas J Price

    Ordinary Men: Interview with Thomas J Price https://vimeo.com/366788282

    Explore the work of a sculptor who challenges ideas about who should be commemorated as sculptures in the free to access “Talking Points” Thomas J Price” resource. 

    You might like to use the “Making Visual Notes” resource to see how to encourage pupils to use their sketchbooks whilst looking at an artist or art work. 

     

  • Warm-Up

    Clay Figurative Sketches

    Seated figure

    Provide children with the opportunity to explore clay as a “short term” construction and modelling material through “Clay Figurative Sketches“.

    This activity will enable children to begin thinking about the distinctions between ‘audience’ and ‘art’.

  • Week 3, 4 & 5: Find Your Focus

    Explore & Make

    Choose one of the following projects to help focus and deepen children’s understanding of how context and presentation help define the meaning of artwork. 

  • Option 1: Become a Curator

    Pocket Gallery

    Pocket Gallery

    In the “Making a Pocket Gallery” resource,  children are invited to curate, photograph and build.

    Inspire children to be artists and curators. Encourage conversation about “intention”, “curating” and encourage reflection skills by making a “Pocket Gallery“.


  • Or…

  • Option 2: Plan an Art Event

    The Fourth Plinth Challenge

    The Fourth Plinth

    Invite children to work in small teams to respond to the Fourth Plinth Challenge found at the bottom of our free to access “Talking Points: What is a Plinth?

    Use sketchbooks to generate ideas, encouraging children to think as creatively as they can about how they might create and use a “plinth” in your school. 


  • Or…

  • Option 3: Build Sculptures

    Plinth People

    Finished "Runner"

    Enable children to make dynamic figures which stand on a plinth. Invite them to build up from a single wire to form “Plinth People“, thinking carefully about the position of their figures.

    Encourage children to make notes in their sketchbooks about their decision making. Include some swatches of fabrics and makes notes on why certain fabrics were/weren’t selected.

  • Option 4:

    Billboard Challenge

    Invite children to imagine they were given a billboard – what would they put on it? 

    Coming Soon

  • Week 6: Celebrate

    Share, Reflect, Discuss

    Pocket Gallery

    Time to see the work that has been made, talk about intention and outcome.

    Invite children to display the work in a clear space, and walk around the work as they are in a gallery. Give the work the respect it deserves. Remind the children of their hard work.

    If you have class cameras or tablets, invite the children to document their work, working in pairs or teams. Explore how children can take high quality photographs of 3d artwork with this resource.

     

    Use the resource here to help you run a class “crit” to finish the project. 

See This Pathway Used In Schools

Year 4 Whitchurch Primary School
Year 4 Whitchurch Primary School
Year 4 Whitchurch Primary School
Year 4 Whitchurch Primary School
Y4 Whitchurch Primary school
Y4 Whitchurch Primary school
Y4 Whitchurch Primary school
Y4 Whitchurch Primary school
Wadebridge Primary School
Wadebridge Primary School
Wadebridge Primary School
Wadebridge Primary School
Year 4, St Michaels Community Academy
Ruth at Carden Primary School
Ruth at Carden Primary School
Ruth at Carden Primary School
Year 4, St Mary's Hampton CE Primary
Year 4, St Mary's Hampton CE Primary
Year 4, St Mary's Hampton CE Primary
Year 4, St Mary's Hampton CE Primary

If You Use AccessArt Resources…
You might like to…

Join our Facebook Group

Join the AccessArt Network group on Facebook and ask questions of others using our resources

Join the AccessArt Network group on Facebook and ask questions of others using our resources

Share and Tag

Share photos of work made by tagging us on social media

Share photos of work made by tagging us on social media

You May Also Like…

The friendship tower

Create three-dimensional figures

Create three-dimensional figures

How To use Modroc

Find out how you can facilitate a mod roc led session

Find out how you can facilitate a mod roc led session


Pathway: Cloth, Thread, Paint

Pathway for Years 3 & 4

Disciplines:
Painting, Sewing, Drawing, Sketchbooks

Key Concepts:

  • That artists can combine art and craft using painting and sewing together to make art.

  • That when we use two media together such as paint and thread, we can use their unique qualities in different ways to build an image.

  • That the skills we learn in one medium such as mark making in drawing, can be used in another such as sewing.

  • That we don’t have to use materials in traditional ways – it is up to us to reinvent how we use materials and techniques to make art. 

In this pathway children are introduced to artists that combine paint and sewing, art and craft, to make work. 

Children explore how these artists use fabric, paint and thread to make work in response to landscapes (and sometimes the people within those landscapes). 

Children are invited to start by creating an underpainting on cloth, using paint in a fluid and intuitive way. They then go on to explore sewing not as a precise technical craft, but as an alternative way to make intuitive, textural marks, over the painted backgrounds. 

Sketchbooks and drawing are used as a way for pupils to discover their own personal response to the landscape used as stimulus, and as a way to explore mark making, colour and composition. 

Medium:
Fabric (Calico), Paint, Thread

Artists: Alice Kettle, Hannah Rae

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!

Acrylic Paint
IMG_0631 copy
Sea Figure by Alice Kettle
ages 5-8

Teaching Notes

Find the MTP for this pathway here.

Find a recording that supports the Finding Marks Made by Artists resource here.


Curriculum Links

Geography: Adapt your focus to create sewn landscapes/oceans according to topic.

History: Create a sewn scene inspired by a local history event.

Science: Explore habitats, Local environment, materials.

Maths: Pattern, measuring.


I Can…

  • I have explored how artists combine media and use them in unusual ways to make art.

  • I can share my response to their work.

  • I can use my sketchbook to make visual notes capturing ideas that interest me.

  • I can use my sketchbook to test ideas and explore colour and mark making.

  • I can use paint to create a background on fabric, mixing colours to create different hues, tints and dilutions.

  • I can use thread and stitching to create textural marks over the top of my painted canvas, creating interesting marks which reflect my response to the landscape. 

  • I can share my work with others and share my thoughts about the process and outcome. I can listen to their feedback and take it onboard.

  • I can appreciate the work of my classmates enjoying the similarities and differences between our processes and outcomes. I can share my feedback on their work. 

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


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

Soft B pencils, coloured pencils, handwriting pens, Calico or other neutral fabric cut into A4 or smaller rectangles, acrylic or poster paint, brushes, card for palettes, sewing thread, needles.

Volcano option: Large canvas sheet, white emulsion paint, acrylic or ready mixed paint, materials to create texture


 

Pathway: Cloth, Thread, Paint

A PDF of this pathway can be found here.

  • Aims of the Pathway

    This pathway aims to introduce children to how artists use textiles and sewing to make art. The pathway explores how we can use cloth, paint and thread to explore colour and texture, creating imagery inspired by land and seascapes.

  • Week 1: Introduce Artists

    Hannah Rae & Alice Kettle

    Odyssey by Alice Kettle, Odyssey, thread on canvas (2003)
    Odyssey by Alice Kettle, Odyssey, thread on canvas (2003)

    Introduce children to the work of textile artists Alice Kettle and Hannah Rae through the free to access “Talking Points: Alice Kettle” and  “Talking Points: Hannah Rae” resources.

    Use these artists to inspire class discussions about how artists use cloth, thread and paint to make work. 

    Use the “Making Visual Notes” resource to help children understand how they can use sketchbooks to collect, process and consolidate information absorbed while they look at artists work. 

    Textiles by Hannah Rae

  • Week 2: Develop Mark Making

    Finding Marks Made by Artists

    Van Gogh

    Use the “Finding Marks Made by Artists” resource to help pupils understand how artists use a variety of marks, and to develop their own mark making vocabulary. Choose a landscape based image from the resource as inspiration. The mark making that pupils develop will then be used later in the pathway when they work in stitch.

    Work in sketchbooks or on larger sheets of paper. Use sharp soft B pencils or handwriting pens. If you need a further challenge explore pens of different line weight such as sharpies and marker pens. 

    You can find a zoom recording of how to use the Finding Marks in Drawings Made by Artists here. 

  • Weeks 3, 4 & 5

    Find Your Focus

    Decide as a class if you’d like your theme to be land or water. Adapt the resources below to suit. You can also adapt the theme to suit a curriculum theme such as volcanoes (below). 


  • Start with the Canvas

    Painted Canvas

    Use the second part of the “Making Painted & Sewn Landscapes” resource and use stitch to create texture, marks and energy on the painted canvas. 

    Continue to use sketchbooks as a tool to experiment with mark making, looking back to the “Finding Marks Made by Artists” task earlier in the pathway. 

    Painted Canvas


  • Stitch!

    Use the “Making Painted & Sewn Landscapes” resource to enable an exploration of how to make painted and sewn squares. 

    Use sketchbooks as a tool to develop ideas, explore colour and experiment with mark making. 

    You may like to use the following free to access Drawing Source Material resources in your class:

    Wild Flower Meadow
    Drone Footage Natural Landscape
    Drone Footage Urban Landscape
    Moving Water 

    Or better still have the pupils explore their own environment and make work in response to the habitat/environment local to them. 

    Painted and sewn cloth

  • Adaptation

    Volcano Adaption

    If you wish to adapt this resource to a volcano theme:

    Begin by introducing children to the work of Frank Bowling with our free to access “Talking Points: Frank Bowling“. 

    Volcano Painting

    Explore the “Volcano Painting Inspired by Frank Bowling” resource and adapt to help you create a painted background. Use stitches to add lava/rocks etc thinking about energy and flow.

  • Week 6: Share & Celebrate

    Share, Reflect, Discuss

    Painted Canvas

    Tidy the room and make space to see the sketchbook work as well as the final outcomes. 

    Remind the pupils of the progress they made, and the artists they saw along the way. Invite them to make links between the work they made in sketchbooks, on drawing sheets and final pieces, and the work by artists. 

    Encourage them to feel safe to share how they feel about their own work, and nurture an environment where pupils feel able to comment on their classmates work, treating everyones work with respect.

    Use the “Crit in the Classroom” resource to help you. 

See the Pathway Used in Schools…

Year 3 Redesdale Primary
Year 3 Redesdale Primary
Year 3 Redesdale Primary
Year 3 Redesdale Primary
Year 3 Redesdale Primary
Year 3 Redesdale Primary
Year 3 Redesdale Primary
Year 3, Haydon Wick Primary School
Year 3, Haydon Wick Primary School
Year 3, Haydon Wick Primary School
Year 3, Haydon Wick Primary School
Year 3, Haydon Wick Primary School
Year 3 at The Holt Primary School Skellingthorpe Lincoln
Year 3 at The Holt Primary School Skellingthorpe Lincoln
Year 3 at The Holt Primary School Skellingthorpe Lincoln
Year 3 at The Holt Primary School Skellingthorpe Lincoln

If You Use AccessArt Resources…
You might like to…

Join our Facebook Group

Join the AccessArt Network group on Facebook and ask questions of others using our resources

Join the AccessArt Network group on Facebook and ask questions of others using our resources

Share and Tag

Share photos of work made by tagging us on social media

Share photos of work made by tagging us on social media

You May Also Like…

The AccessArt Village

Explore how to create a stitched house to make a village

Explore how to create a stitched house to make a village

Blood Bags

Link arts & crafts with science by creating textile blood bags

Link arts & crafts with science by creating textile blood bags

A Stitched house

Stitches and mark making

Stitches and mark making

Straight Line Drawings

Stitches and drawing

Stitches and drawing


Pathway: Stick Transformation Project

Pathway for Years 1 & 2

Disciplines:
Making, Drawing, Sketchbooks

Key Concepts:

  • That artists use their creativity to look at the world in new ways, and use their hands to transform materials into new things. 

  • That making art can be playful and fun. That we can create things for other people to enjoy/use.

  • That we can use our imagination to help us shape the world. 

In this pathway children are enabled to use their imagination and transform a familiar object (a stick) into new forms.

The pathway begins with a simple sculptural warm-up which encourages children to think creatively and laterally about how they can use materials to create a small sculpture. 

Depending upon project choice, children then go on to make stick people inspired by Guatemalan Worry Dolls, make a treehouse, or make a mask.

Sketchbooks are used throughout to help children brainstorm, record and reflect. 

Medium:
Twigs, Construction Materials, Paper, Wool, Drawing Materials

Artists: Chris Kenny

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!

Stick Man Worry dolls
Each child made their own treehouse
ages 5-8

Teaching Notes

Find the MTP for this pathway here.


Curriculum Links

English: Link to Julia Donaldson’s Stick Man.

PSHE: Collaboration, Peer Discussion, Ethnic Identity.


I Can…

  • I can take a familiar object like a stick, and use my imagination to think about what it might become.

  • I can use my sketchbook to generate ideas and to test ideas.

  • I can use a variety of materials to transform my object thinking about form and colour.

  • I can cut materials with simple tools and fasten materials together to construct my sculpture.

  • I can share my sketchbook and sculpture with the class and talk about how I made it and what I liked. I can listen to my classmates feedback about my work.

  • I can listen to my classmates talk about their own artwork and I can share my thoughts about their work.

  • I can take a photograph of my sculpture, thinking about focus. 


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

Roots and shoots materials such as a pebble, wire, tape, string, wool, paper, card, or other small found items and construction materials.

Project 1: Stick People – Sticks, string, wool, fabric scraps, tissue paper, glue.

Project 2: Tree house – Twigs, plant pots, newspaper, a stone, cardboard – brown corrugated card, coloured card, string, fabric, glue sticks, small pieces of wood (i.e. lolly sticks, coffee stirrers, match sticks etc) and other construction materials.

Project 3: Twig Masks – Twigs, masking tape, coloured tissue paper, glue.


 

Pathway: Stick Transformation Project

A PDF of this pathway can be found here.

  • Aims of the Pathway

    The aim of this pathway is to help children understand how artists use their creativity to re-see, re-invent or reimagine the world around them. 

    The pathway encourages children to look again at something they are familiar with – in this case a stick or twig, and think how they can use their creativity to  transform it. 

  • Week 1: Making and Playing

    Roots and Shoots

    Use the “Roots and Shoots” resource to start with a making warm-up exercise to encourage pupils to think creatively about the world around them.

    Let the process of playing and exploring with the materials lead children to the end result. Remember that the outcomes will be fragile and may not last due to the nature of the task, so be sure to take photographs of them at the end of the session to add to sketchbooks. 

  • Weeks 2, 3, 4 and 5: Choose your Project/s

    Find Your Focus

    Choose one or two projects from the options below depending on how much time you have and how slowly the pupils work. 

    Watch “Design Through Making” to remind yourself that it’s okay for children to  just make first!

  • Project One: Introduce & Create

    Stick People

    Stick Man Worry Dolls

    Follow the pathway below to make stick people out of found twigs!

    Watch this video of ‘Stick Man’ as a light hearted introduction to the idea that sticks and twigs can be reimagined into different things!


    "4 worry dolls at work" by Leonard J Matthews is marked with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

    Watch the free to access “Talking Points: The Craft of Worry Dolls” resource to understand the Guatemalan tradition of making worry dolls. 


    Twelve Twigs 2012 construction with twigs 22 x 22 x 3” by Chris Kenny

    In the first session take a look at the free to access “Talking Points: Chris Kenny” to inspire children to see how sticks can be reinvented as people.

    Take the children outside to find the perfect sticks and use our “Worry People” resource to create a class full of stick people.

    Use sketchbooks to design clothes and explore how the position of arms/legs/body affects personality of stick person. 


  • Or…

  • Project Two: Introduce & Create

    Tree House

    Sticks secured in pots and then "dressed" with inventive treehouse elements

    Transform twigs into trees and use them to ignite imagination and build playful treehouses. 

    Start by exploring the free to access “Talking Points: Treehouses” resource for some inspiration.

    Continue by using the “Treehouse Challenge” resource.

    Use sketchbooks throughout as a way to sketch out ideas and make visual notes. 

    Finished AccessArt Treehouse


  • Or…

  • Project Three: Introduce & Create

    Twig Masks

    Use sticks, masking tape and tissue paper to create these simple masks.

    Adapt the “Making a Mask from Sticks” resource.

    Link to an existing curriculum topic if appropriate, or consider using the free to access “Source Material: Oceans” to find videos to inspire an underwater theme. 

    Use the “Ruler Drawings” resource to help children capture what they are seeing in straight lines, pausing the videos and giving pupils time to work in their sketchbooks. This will help them when they are reimagining twigs.

    If possible, go outside and forage for twigs with the children.

    Spend the next two sessions creating your crustacean inspired twig masks. 

  • Week 6: Present and Celebrate

    Share, Reflect, Discuss

    Stick Man Worry dolls

    Time to see the work which has been made, talk about intention and outcome.

    Invite children to display the work in a clear space, and walk around the work as if they are in a gallery. Give the work the respect it deserves. Remind the children of their hard work.

    If you have class cameras or tablets, invite the children to document their work, working in pairs or teams. Explore how children can take high quality photographs of 3d artwork with this resource.

    Use the resource here to help you run a class “crit” to finish the project. 

See This Pathway Used In Schools

Year 2, St Clare's Primary School, Coalville, Leicestershire
Year 2, St Clare's Primary School, Coalville, Leicestershire
Year 2, St Clare's Primary School, Coalville, Leicestershire
Year 2, St Clare's Primary School, Coalville, Leicestershire
Year 2, Whitchurch Primary
Year 2, Whitchurch Primary
Jo Wilson, Beecroft Garden Primary School
Jo Wilson, Beecroft Garden Primary School
Jo Wilson, Beecroft Garden Primary School
Jo Wilson, Beecroft Garden Primary School
Jo Wilson, Beecroft Garden Primary School

If You Use AccessArt Resources…
You might like to…

Join our Facebook Group

Join the AccessArt Network group on Facebook and ask questions of others using our resources

Join the AccessArt Network group on Facebook and ask questions of others using our resources

Share and Tag

Share photos of work made by tagging us on social media

Share photos of work made by tagging us on social media

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Learning from Permaculture Design Principles

See how you can use materials in an environmentally friendly way during art lessons

See how you can use materials in an environmentally friendly way during art lessons

Nests: Materials, Tools Testing & sketchbooks

See how twigs can be used as mark making tools

See how twigs can be used as mark making tools


Pathway: Expressive Painting

Pathway for Years 1 & 2

Disciplines:
Painting, Sketchbooks

Key Concepts:

  • That artists sometimes use loose, gestural brush marks to create expressive painting. 

  • Expressive painting can be representational or more abstract.

  • Artists use impasto and sgraffito to give texture to the painting.

  • Artists sometimes use colour intuitively and in an exploratory manner.

  • That we can enjoy, and respond to, the way paint and colour exist on the page. 

In this pathway children are introduced to the idea that they can use paint in an intuitive and exploratory way. 

The pathway starts with an introduction to artists who use paint and colour to create exciting gestural and abstract work.

Children explore primary colours and secondary colours through expressive mark making, connecting colour, mark making and texture (of paint) through abstract work.

Pupils then explore the brush work of two old masters when we focus in on details of paintings to understand how they built the work.

Pupils then go on to draw from a colourful still life, finally making expressive and gestural paintings with acrylic paint. 

Sketchbooks are used throughout to record, experiment and reflect. 

Medium:
Acrylic Paint, Paper

Artists: Marela Zacarías, Charlie French, Vincent Van Gogh, Cezanne

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!

primary colours sketchbook page
Variety of mark making tools
deatil: Wheat Field with Cypresses (1889) by Vincent Van Gogh. Original from the MET Museum.
Detail: Houses and Figure (1890) by Vincent Van Gogh. Original from the Barnes Foundation.
ages 5-8

Teaching Notes

Find the MTP for this pathway here.

Find the Zoom CPD session introducing this pathway here.

See the recording of the Zoom CPD session exploring Colour Mixing.


Curriculum Links

Geography: After looking at the expressive landscapes by Van Gogh and Cezanne, be inspired by your local landscape (United Kingdom) and use gestural brush strokes to paint a scene you know or see, or explore weather, habitat, river or sea.


I Can…

  • I have seen how artists, contemporary and old masters, sometimes use paint in an expressive, loose way to create paintings full of life and colour. 

  • I can start to share my response to the work of other artists.

  • I can use my sketchbook to fill full of colour and brush marks, inspired by other artists.

  • I can recognise primary colours and mix secondary colours. I can experiment with hues by changing the amount of primary colours I add.

  • I can use various home made tools to apply paint in abstract patterns. I can be inventive.

  • I can make a loose drawing from a still life.

  • I can see colours and shapes in the still life.

  • I can use my gestural mark making with paint, and incorporate the colours and shapes in the still life to make an expressive painting. 

  • I can share my experiments and final piece with others and share what I liked and what went well.

  • I can enjoy the work of my classmates and I can see how all the work is different. I can share my response to some of their work. 

  • I can take a photograph of my final piece, thinking about 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

Soft pencils, handwriting pens, a selection of ‘found tools’ such as old shoe brushes, string, wire, rags, thick strips of card, cardboard (for pallets), acrylic or ready mixed paint, a selection of bright still life objects eg plastic blocks, cups, balls, colourful mugs etc, cartridge paper.


 

Pathway: Expressive Painting

A PDF of this pathway can be found here.

  • Aims of the Pathway

    The aim of this pathway is to enable children to explore expressive use of paint. This includes exploring colour, colour mixing and intention behind mark making. 

  • Week 1: Introduce

    Marela Zacarías & Charlie French

    Begin the exploration by introducing children to the work of Marela Zacarías and Charlie French. 

    Charlie French

    Use the free to access “Talking Points: Marela Zacarías” resource and the free to access “Talking Points: Charlie French” resource. 

    Use the questions on the resources to help guide a class discussion to explore the different ways artists might use colour and mark making to make art. 

    Have sketchbooks open and make time during the exploration for “Making Visual Notes

    They might for example use colour to note down the colours in the artists work, or try to copy the kinds of marks the artists use in their work. 

  • Week 2: Explore

    Expressive Painting & Colour Mixing

    yellow and blue on red

    Use the “Expressive Painting and Colour Mixing” resource to explore primary and secondary colours and mark making. 

    The resource explains how to explore on paper and then transfer to sketchbooks as a way of consolidating learning and reflecting. 

  • Week 3: Explore

    Brush Work of Van Gogh & Cezanne

    Wheat Field with Cypresses (1889) by Vincent Van Gogh. Original from the MET Museum.

    Use the free to access “Talking Points: Brush Work of Van Gogh & Cezanne” resource to enable an exploration of the way the artists used thick paint and loose brushwork to create expressive work. 

    Use sketchbooks for “Making Visual Notes“. For example make time for the pupils to use similar brush marks in their sketchbooks, or invite pupils to try to capture the colours in Cezanne’s work. 

    Invite children to create their own mark making tools. Take inspiration from the “Experimental Mark Making Tools” resource.

  • Week 4 & 5: Explore & Create

    Gestural Mark Making with Acrylic Paint

    Gestural Mark Making with Acrylics

    Use the “Gestural Mark Making with Acrylic” resource to enable an exploration of making gestural and expressive paintings. Children begin by working from a still life of colour and form, and progress to making abstract paintings. 

    If you are pushed for time miss out the collage step midway through. 

  • Week 6: Present & Share

    Share, Reflect, Discuss

    Repeated Acrylic Paint Finger Paints

    Time to see the work which has been made, talk about intention and outcome.

    Invite children to display the work in a clear space, and walk around the work as if they are in a gallery. Give the work the respect it deserves. Remind the children of their hard work.

    If you have class cameras or tablets, invite the children to document their work, working in pairs or teams. 

    Use the resource here to help you run a class “crit” to finish the project. 

See the Pathway Used in Schools…

year 2 @littletownschool sketchbooks
year 2 @littletownschool sketchbooks

year 2 @littletownschool sketchbooks
Stourfield Infant School, Year 2
Stourfield Infant School, Year 2
Stourfield Infant School, Year 2
Year 6
Year 6
Year 6
Year 2
Year 2
Year 2
Year 2
Year 2 Whitchurch Primary School
Year 2 Whitchurch Primary School

If You Use AccessArt Resources…
You might like to…

Join our Facebook Group

Join the AccessArt Network group on Facebook and ask questions of others using our resources

Join the AccessArt Network group on Facebook and ask questions of others using our resources

Share and Tag

Share photos of work made by tagging us on social media

Share photos of work made by tagging us on social media

You May Also Like…

Painting with Plasticine

Use plasticine to create images with texture and colour

Use plasticine to create images with texture and colour

Gestural Drawing

Use sharpie pens to create gestural layered drawings

Use sharpie pens to create gestural layered drawings


Trace Monotype

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Pathway: Exploring the world though mono print

This is featured in the 'Exploring The World Through Mono print' pathway

This is featured in the ‘Exploring The World Through Mono print’ pathway

Talking Points: Xgaoc’o Xare

Two giraffe and two birds II 50x65sm by Qhaqhoo Xgaoc'o X'are

Video enabled monoprint resources

Final Monotype by Tobi Meuwissen


Light-field Monotype


Light-field Monotype with Acrylic Paint


Dark-Field Monotype: Masking


Dark-field Monotype


Cut Out Typography

See the Resource Used in Schools…

Year 5
Year 5
Oxley Primary School Typography @oxley_primary
Oxley Primary School Typography @oxley_primary
Year 5, Bramber Primary School, Worthing
Year 5, Bramber Primary School, Worthing
Year 5, Bramber Primary School, Worthing
Year 5, Bramber Primary School, Worthing
Year 5, Bramber Primary School, Worthing
Year 5, Selborne Primary School

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Pathway: Typography and Maps

This is featured in the 'Typography and Maps' pathway

This is featured in the ‘Typography and Maps’ pathway

Talking Points: What is typography?

What is typography

Talking Points: Louise Fili

Louise Fili video


Pathway: Explore & Draw

Pathway for Years 1 & 2

Disciplines:
Drawing, Sketchbooks, Collage

Key Concepts:

  • That artists explore the world, seeing things around them in new ways, and bring things back to their studios to help them make art.

  • That we can go into our own environments, even when they are very familiar to us, and learn to see with fresh eyes and curiosity.

  • That we can use the things we find to draw from, using close observational looking.

  • That we can explore and use art materials, be inventive with how we use them, taking creative risks and enjoying accidents as well as planned successes. 

  • We can use the shape of the page, and the way we arrange elements on the page, to create compositions which we like. 

In this pathway children are introduced to the idea that artists can be collectors: they go out into the world, look at things in new ways, and bring things back to the studio to inspire their art.

Children explore observational drawing and experimental mark making, and think about how they can use composition to create their artwork. 

The exercises and projects in this pathway encourage children to begin to develop hand-eye coordination through slow and paced looking. This is balanced by encouraging children to nurture a playful exploration of media, a curiosity towards the world around them, and to begin to take creative risks/trust instinct. 

Themes:
Natural Forms, Seasonal Changes, Patterns, Symmetry

Medium:
Graphite, Handwriting Pen, Watercolour / Brusho, Wax Resist

Artists: 

Rosie James, Alice Fox

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!

Wax resist leaves by pupils at Dent School, facilitated by Rosie James
Leaf created with wax crayons and Brush ink with Rosie James
Drawing 1:1 ratio
ages 5-8

Teaching Notes

Find the MTP for this pathway here.


Curriculum Links

Geography: Adapt to explore habitats. 

Maths: Use language to develop understanding of patterns, sequence, symmetry, pictorial representation, repetition. 

Science: Identifying common and wild plants, trees, structures of plants, exploring local environments and habitats, seasons, planting and growing. 

PSHE: Peer discussion, Collaboration. 


I Can…

  • I have seen how some artists explore the world around them to help them find inspiration.

  • I can explore my local environment (school, home, etc) and collect things which catch my eye.

  • I can explore composition by arranging the things that I have collected.

  • I can talk about what I collected, and how and why I arranged the things I collected.

  • I can take photographs of my artwork and I can think about focus and light.

  • I can use careful looking to practice observational drawing, and I can focus for 5 or 10 minutes.

  • I can hold an object and I can make a drawing thinking about the way the object feels. 

  • I can combine different drawing media such as wax resist and watercolour, graphite and water, wax crayon and pencil in my observational drawings.

  • I can work small in my sketchbook and on large sheets of paper, exploring how I can use line, shape and colour in my work.

  • I can cut out and collage to explore composition.

  • 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.


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

Soft pencils, handwriting pens.

Project 1: Wax Resist Autumn Leaves – A3 cartridge paper, metallic wax crayons, brusho ink.

Project 2: Autumn Floor Drawings – Water colour, graphite, charcoal, soft B pencils, inks, A2 paper.

Pathway: Explore & Draw

A PDF of this pathway can be found here.

  • Aims of the Pathway

    In this pathway pupils are introduced to the idea that artists are inspired by the world around them. Children are empowered to go out into the world, re-see, collect and re-present through drawing. 

  • Week 1: Introduction

    Artists Are Collectors & Explorers

    Introduce children to the idea that artists are often collectors and explorers. 

    artists as collectors

    Visit the “Talking Points: Artists As Collectors & Explorers” resource and choose from one or more artists. Enable children to understand that by exploring our environments with “fresh eyes” and curiosity we can find inspiration for our artwork. 

    Use sketchbooks to make visual lists of places and things you could explore and collect in your school, home and area. 

  • Week 2: Explore and Collect

    Explore and Collect

    selecting the first twigs

    Get active and invite children to go outside into the playground or school area to collect and create “Patterns With Nature”.

    Play with the objects to create new shapes and patterns on the ground, around branches, and on logs. Be curious. Think about how even ordinary things like twigs and pebbles might be interesting when you really look at them.

    Gather the objects back to the classroom and explore composition and arrangements on paper and table tops. Don’t fasten anything down. Just play with the compositions you can make. Can you sort by colour, size, material, type?


  • Photograph Your Work

    Take photographs of the compositions. Ask the children to adapt and change how the objects are arranged or to photograph them from different angles or orientations.

    Remember to reflect on the different elements of the session: active gathering and careful documentation. Discuss how the children found these approaches.

    Create “Digital Collages” using this resource.

    A collage of different photographs.

    Print out the photographs and save them. They can be used later in the project.

  • Week 3: Sketchbook Work

    Two Drawing Exercises

    Working in a sketchbook and using a variety of media (handwriting pen, pencil), try the exercises below, drawing the things you collected the week before as individual items (i.e. not part of a bigger composition). 

  • Exercise One:

    Continuous Line Drawing Exercise

    Continuous line drawing

    Continuous Line Drawings are a great way to get participants to loosen up, get them to look closely, and make new and interesting marks on the paper. With younger children (6 to 10) we sometimes call them “squiggle drawings”.

    For full instructions visit the “Continuous Line Drawing” resource. 

  • Exercise Two:

    Feely Drawings

    Feeling objects behind back before drawing

    Make drawings inspired by sense of touch. This is a fun way to encourage children to be really curious about what they are drawing. How do they use the sense of touch to find the  information they need to make a drawing? Can you forget what you know by sight? And how does this make your drawings look?

    For full instructions visit the “Feely Drawings” resource. 

  • Week 4 and 5: Projects

    Choose a Project

    Choose one of the two projects below to explore how pupils can bring all their skills together into a finished drawing. 

  • Project One:

    Wax Resist Autumn Leaves

    Wax resist autumn leaves by year 3-6 pupils at Dent C of E Primary School in the Yorkshire Dales, Cumbria

    In the “Wax Resist Autumn Leaves” resource, children are introduced to wax resist techniques, inspired by the rich colours and shapes of autumn leaves.

    Begin with observational drawing techniques, using the objects you collected from your environment as subject matter, followed by an immersive exploration of colour and scale using wax crayons and Brusho Crystal Colours. If your pupils collected other objects rather than leaves, simply adapt the resource to suit. 

    You might also like to visit the “What is Composition?” resource to help pupils think about how they might build an awareness of composition in their artwork. 


  • Or…

  • Project Two

    Autumn Floor Drawings

    Squiggle Drawing & Autumn Floor Drawing - Free to Access

    Use the “Autumn Floor Drawing” resource which you can find as the second part of the resource. to give pupils the opportunity to continue practicing their observation and mark-making skills, this time bringing in two added elements:

    1) Thinking about composition. These drawings have no top or bottom as they are inspired by the fallen leaves and twigs on the ground. You might like to talk to pupils about composition using the “What is Composition?” resource. 

    2) Great experimentation with different media. Explore graphite, water soluble graphite, wax resist and watercolour or ink, or a combination of all those media. 


  • Reflect, Share, Talk

    Reflect, Share, Talk

    Time to see the work which has been made, talk about intention and outcome.

    Give the work the respect it deserves and clear a space to see all the work made, including the sketchbook work made earlier. Remind the children of their hard work and enable them to connect all the elements of their learning. 

    If you have class cameras or tablets, invite the children to document their work, working in pairs or teams. 

    You might like to assemble the drawings made in Week 2 and 3 into a “class” Backwards Sketchbook

    Use the resource here to help you run a class “crit” to finish the project. 

See the Pathway Used in Schools…

Penny Kemp, Teacher of Lower School of Inskip St Peters C of E Primary School, Lancashire
Larkfield Primary School
Larkfield Primary School
Larkfield Primary School
Emma Seaman @mysliceofschoollife and New Silkworth Academy
Emma Seaman @mysliceofschoollife and New Silkworth Academy
Emma Seaman @mysliceofschoollife and New Silkworth Academy
Emma Seaman @mysliceofschoollife and New Silkworth Academy
Ruth at Carden Primary School, Brighton
Ruth at Carden Primary School, Brighton

If You Use AccessArt Resources…
You might like to…

Join our Facebook Group

Join the AccessArt Network group on Facebook and ask questions of others using our resources

Join the AccessArt Network group on Facebook and ask questions of others using our resources

Share and Tag

Share photos of work made by tagging us on social media

Share photos of work made by tagging us on social media

Scroll drawings

Encourage children to experiment with size and ratio

Encourage children to experiment with size and ratio

Larger than life Scroll drawings

Explore drawing objects life sized, using a selection of media

Explore drawing objects life sized, using a selection of media

Help children to draw larger

Explore a more gestural approach

Explore a more gestural approach


Screen Printing In The Classroom

See the Pathway Used in Schools…

By @QuintaElsinor Screen Printing Hack, Year 4
By @QuintaElsinor Screen Printing Hack, Year 4
@QuintaElsinor Screen Printing Hack, Year 4

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