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!
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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
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.
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 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”.
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
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
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
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.
