For the less confident drawers among us there are a lot of useful drawing lessons on the Drawspace website. All of them have been created by Barbara Hoddinott and Drawspace instructors and then divided up into Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced levels. They have also been well-indexed to help you find help on whatever you need. It is free to register to view the lessons on line (though you have to pay to be able to download and print them off).
One of my favourites is the lesson on how to draw a dog's nose - surreal until seen in context of the whole dog!
You can now get to Drawspace in links.
Tuesday, 22 April 2008
The Big Draw
I've added another useful link - this time to the Big Draw over at the Campaign for Drawing website. Or you can just click here.
October 2008 will see the ninth running of the Big Draw and over 1000 venues across the country will be taking part. According to the booklet I received, schools are certainly eligible to take part and if you register yours with them you will get a Best Practice CD full of advice , which will tell you everything you need to know about running an event. You can also download resources in pdf format from the website, which will give you, among other things, ideas for drawing activities.
Big Draw Day itself is on 11th October 2008 but you may prefer to do some drawing before then and just hold an exhibition on the day itself.
October 2008 will see the ninth running of the Big Draw and over 1000 venues across the country will be taking part. According to the booklet I received, schools are certainly eligible to take part and if you register yours with them you will get a Best Practice CD full of advice , which will tell you everything you need to know about running an event. You can also download resources in pdf format from the website, which will give you, among other things, ideas for drawing activities.
Big Draw Day itself is on 11th October 2008 but you may prefer to do some drawing before then and just hold an exhibition on the day itself.
Circle Circus
Let's go cross-curricular again by mixing some art, some mathematics and some French. Why not challenge your children to see what pictures they can make using a single shape repeated over and over again in different sizes. To inspire them, just show them the following French song and animation I found on YouTube entitled "Circle Circus". Or, just watch it yourself for fun. Altogether now: "Shebam! Pow! Plop! Whizz!".
Monday, 7 April 2008
Create Your Own Masterpiece
Another goody obtained during my recent visit to the Royal Academy is the book Color Your Own Modern Art Masterpieces by Muncie Hendler. Published by Dover Publications Inc. in 1996, it's a useful resource book for introducing children to colour in modern art, with both black and white images that can be coloured and already-coloured images for reference. Some of the paintings, such as those by Willi Baumeister (1889-1955) and Auguste Herbin (1882-1960), would also be excellent for discussions on shapes (and hence could be linked to numeracy sessions).
Remember, it's not colouring in - it's creating your own masterpiece!
To see an example of why Herbin's works are so useful for any consideration of shape, take a look at his Nude of 1960 in Tate Modern, which you can find here.
Remember, it's not colouring in - it's creating your own masterpiece!
To see an example of why Herbin's works are so useful for any consideration of shape, take a look at his Nude of 1960 in Tate Modern, which you can find here.
Friday, 4 April 2008
"I can't draw!"
One of the problems I have encountered in trying to teach art in primary schools is in having to overcome an attitude of "I can't draw!". On a recent visit to the Royal Academy in London I came across a delightful storybook that addresses this very problem. First published by Walker books Ltd in 2003, award-winning children's author and illustrator Peter H. Reynolds's "The Dot" is the delightful story of how Vashti starts with this exact attitude but goes on to exhibit at the school art show. What makes the difference for Vashti is the value her teacher places on her 'dot'. This book is really a great example of how to inspire creativity in others.
If you are experiencing just this kind of resistance to art-making in the classroom, why not start an art lesson with a reading of this book and then challenge the children to make their own marks in art!
By the way, not only is this an inspirational book (both for pupils and teachers) but the author's own website is something of an inspiration itself. Check it out here and let your own creativity loose.
If you are experiencing just this kind of resistance to art-making in the classroom, why not start an art lesson with a reading of this book and then challenge the children to make their own marks in art!
By the way, not only is this an inspirational book (both for pupils and teachers) but the author's own website is something of an inspiration itself. Check it out here and let your own creativity loose.
Thursday, 20 March 2008
Images and Clips of the Natural World
Well I'm back... from outer space... I just walked in...
I'll start up again with a website that is extremely useful for cross-curricular links between art and science.
If you are looking for images or even movie clips of plants and animals to inspire children to produce their own pictures then the best place to go is here. ARKive describes itself as a "Noah's Ark for the Internet era - a unique global initiative, gathering together into one centralised digital library, films, photographs and audio recordings of the world’s species." It has been designed to be child friendly, which also means that it is easy for adults to use and to find things.
ARKive also has a site for teachers with some useful science resources, so don't forget to check this as well.
I'll start up again with a website that is extremely useful for cross-curricular links between art and science.
If you are looking for images or even movie clips of plants and animals to inspire children to produce their own pictures then the best place to go is here. ARKive describes itself as a "Noah's Ark for the Internet era - a unique global initiative, gathering together into one centralised digital library, films, photographs and audio recordings of the world’s species." It has been designed to be child friendly, which also means that it is easy for adults to use and to find things.
ARKive also has a site for teachers with some useful science resources, so don't forget to check this as well.
Monday, 11 February 2008
Visual Arts Data Services
Another new link has been added, this time to the Visual Arts Data Services (VADS), which is a gateway to digital images for use in arts education.
Based at the University College for the Creative Arts in Farnham, the VADS have over 100,000 images on line that are freely available and copyright-cleared for use in teaching and learning in the UK. Their images cover almost everything you can think of including: ceramics, furniture, glass, jewellery, textiles, architectural drawings, public monuments, religious buildings, urban design, fashion design, graphic design, industrial design, interior design, product & packaging design, drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture and photography. This means that they will be useful not only in art lessons but also in D&T, History and RE. For example, through the VADS, you can gain access to over 7000 war posters from the collection of the Imperial War Museum. Check it out - you'll be spoilt for choice.
Based at the University College for the Creative Arts in Farnham, the VADS have over 100,000 images on line that are freely available and copyright-cleared for use in teaching and learning in the UK. Their images cover almost everything you can think of including: ceramics, furniture, glass, jewellery, textiles, architectural drawings, public monuments, religious buildings, urban design, fashion design, graphic design, industrial design, interior design, product & packaging design, drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture and photography. This means that they will be useful not only in art lessons but also in D&T, History and RE. For example, through the VADS, you can gain access to over 7000 war posters from the collection of the Imperial War Museum. Check it out - you'll be spoilt for choice.
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