Year 6

Term 1

We read the story Moth by Isabel Thomas and talked about evolution and how moths have adapted over time to enable them to remain camouflaged and agreed to do some art work linked to this topic. We learnt a method for mono-printing where we had to put a sheet of acetate over a photo of a moth or butterfly, paint over it and then print onto another piece of paper. We also learnt how to do foam printing and created our own designs remembering that the images would be back to front when printed.

After that we looked at creating backgrounds for our work by layering different materials and acrylic paint and we also looked at applying the paint by spreading it over the page, rather than using brushes. We then designed butterflies and moths which we printed onto the backgrounds. Finally we talked about how to embellish our work so everyone chose different ways. We did sewing, weaving, layering, drawing and printing using stampers.

Term 2

This term Year 6 have been developing their drawing skills. They looked at photos of graveyards and then watched a video on Youtube showing them how to use chalk, charcoal and black and white pencils to make their drawings look 3D and give them a sense of perspective. Finally they produced their own preparatory sketches and selected their favourite composition ready to do their final piece.

Term 4

This term we have been looking at the artist Jacqueline Hurley. She creates paintings depicting scenes from World War 1 and 2 with bright red poppies in the foreground. We started off by creating a page in our sketchbooks all about her work and talked about the historical significance of her work. We then designed our own paintings, inspired by her work.

We were then given canvases and learnt how to use modelling paste to make the poppies 3D. We then had the choice of acrylic or ready mixed paints and we painted our scenes, starting with the backgrounds and finishing with the bright red poppies. We were happy with our finished art.

Term 5

This term we have been researching rainforest animals and thinking about the use of colour and composition to create eye-catching work.

We learnt about the rule of thirds and also discussed leaving space in front of the animal or bird so that it looks like there is space for it to move in to. We also looked at drawing the animal as a close up or further away and talked about how diagonals can be used to indicate depth or movement.

We also looked at hues which are any colour on the colour wheel so primary, secondary and tertiary colours and discussed adding black to a hue to make shades.

After that we sketched some ideas in our art books and chose our favourites to make an oil pastel drawing. We started with the background first and finally coloured the animals in the foreground.

Term 6

This term we have been learning about the Mayans. For homework we had to research the reasons and occasions that the Maya used masks. This included to adorn the faces of the dead, to be worn at important events and to be worn during battle. We drew sketches and wrote notes about them and then had to choose a type of mask and create a design of our own.

We used newspaper and masking tape to add on any parts of the mask that needed building up. We then had to do several layers of paper mache to hold all the newspaper in place and to make the masks strong enough. Finally we were given the choice of acrylic or poster paints to decorate our masks and used tiny brushes to add on any detail at the end.