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USING MATERIALS, TECHNIQUES, SKILLS AND MEDIA
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Investiga-
ting visually and recording
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With support from the teacher, pupils should experience drawing
in a range of media, eg. crayons, chalks, felt-tips. They
should paint, model and construct from observed sources, eg.
toys, each other, the school and surroundings.
The teacher can devise stimulating situations which will encourage
observing and recording, eg. ‘Dressing-up’; ‘Some
things I brought from home’.
Pupils should be encouraged to observe and record (in school and
at home) and should see this as a normal on-going activity, which
at times may be linked to activities in other curricular areas,
eg. environmental studies, mathematics.
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Objects which are familiar to pupils, eg. plants, items from
home, sportswear, should be observed, drawn, sketched and
modelled in a variety of media, with discussion and reference
to terms, eg. line, colour, tone, pattern, texture, shape.
Pupils should be encouraged to draw and model at home, for personal
pleasure, and some of this work incorporated in classroom activities,
eg. a view from a window at home being used in a painting in school;
drawings of the local shop-fronts being used in a wall panel assembled
in school.
Observing and recording should occur with regular frequency.
Links with activities in other curricular areas should be maintained
and developed.
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Pupils should regularly explore a range of drawing techniques
using a variety of materials, eg. pencil, felt-tip, computer
software. In investigating and recording, pupils should be
encouraged to explore the structure of natural and man-made objects,
eg. feathers, shells, plants, clockwork mechanism, tools, bicycles.
Emphasis should be placed on the basic shapes of objects
and surface decoration, with the quality of line (heavy, light,
broken) being a major consideration.
Exploring structures by observing and recording can readily be
linked to cross-curricular activities such as descriptive language
work or environmental studies, eg. pupils can be encouraged
to ‘draw for information’ using found objects or by
reference to illustrated material.
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Pupils should study visual elements when investigating and recording;
and a variety of activities should be designed to explore the
range of line produced, eg. by pencil, pen, chalk, charcoal,
computer software.
Pupils should be encouraged to investigate the range of tones
which can be produced by the combined use of light and dark chalks,
and the combined use of hard and soft pencils. Other methods of
investigating and recording should be considered, eg. photography
or taking rubbings from texture surfaces; and these may be
developed in relation to activities in other curricular areas.
Pupils should also consider using these studies to enhance other
Art and Design work, eg. using a collection of rubbings in
a large panel, using a detailed drawing of a feather in a poster.
Observing and recording should be promoted as the main research
activity for most other Art and Design work.
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Pupils should investigate visually and record a range of subject
matter using techniques from previous experience. They should
be involved in objective recording of personally chosen subjects,
and encouraged to collect reference material, eg. sketches,
drawings, photographs, video, computer printouts.
By this stage, pupils should become aware of the process of forming
their own reference material observing and recording, developing
this in further work, eg. landscape painting or a collection
of detailed reference drawings of grasses and wild flowers. Pupils
should be encouraged to use observing and recording as a means
of supplying reference material for further work in relation to
both Art and Design and the wider curriculum.
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USING MATERIALS, TECHNIQUES, SKILLS AND MEDIA
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Using media
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This is a time of natural exploration and discovery through play
for the pupil, and a range of media and materials should be made
available for investigation, so that working in a free and spontaneous
way is encouraged.
In addition to painting and drawing media, simple print making
should be explored and the pupil encouraged to investigate the
printed marks produced from various sources, eg. potato, sponge,
crumpled paper.
Additionally this is an appropriate level for the teacher to encourage
modelling and constructing in simple materials, which will introduce
pupils to 3-dimensional work and the concept of form.
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The teacher, by group and individual study and practice, should
encourage pupils to explore and subsequently identify the varying
characteristics of a given range of materials, eg. paper, light
card, clay, textiles, yarns and string. Exploring these materials
and how they are cut, shaped, joined and decorated, should be
an opportunity for the class teacher and pupils to plan, organise
and control a meaningful sequence of activities, some of which
will relate to on-going topics across the curriculum.
In many instances the most appropriate context is the child’s
home and environment.
Encouragement to explore colour should be given in activities
which promote colour-mixing, eg. landscape painting, large
group murals, painting from the environment.
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At both levels C and D: the teacher can offer some
guidance in the use of media and the selection of materials.
Painting activities should be planned which encourage use of a
range of techniques, eg. using paint in a thin/runny way (misty
mornings, wet days), in a thick/vigorous way (stormy skies, stone
walls). Additionally, pupils should explore the use of rollers,
sponges and the edge of card, as alternative means of applying
paint.
Creating an image from the same subject, eg. ‘The house
across the street’, in a range of media (drawing,
painting, print-making), will alert pupils to the unique characteristics
of each medium, and will promote discussion regarding selection
of media and materials. Fabric and textile materials should be
investigated, eg. in collage and puppetry.
Three dimensional work involving construction techniques should
be explored, eg. making a simple container from a rolled out
slab of clay, making a paper-spill mask. Other modelling and
constructing activities should be undertaken as group enterprises,
at times contributing to on-going topic work.
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As a result of planning by the teacher, pupils should explore
image-making in a range of media, including working in mixed-media,
eg. applying paint to a waterproof ink drawing; using the resist
quality of wax crayon in a painting, using various wools and fabrics
in a collage.
A range of processes should be explored and pupils encouraged
to discuss and share techniques which have been developed.
Personal selection of media should be evident, as suits the task,
eg. the delicacy of pen and pencil line as opposed to the solidity
of chalk and charcoal line; the texture surface of a painting
as opposed to the flatter surface of a print.
A range of activities should be investigated, eg. collage,
batik, tie-dye, block-printing, screen-printing, 3D sculpture
in clay, assembling from wood off-cuts and other found materials,
and where appropriate, computer-aided design and photography.
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