News from Art 

Prep students have been refining their drawing skills with a series of guided drawing lessons. Not only do these activities improve the children’s ability to draw, but they also develop listening, observation and comprehension skills. Students are shown an example of the illustration they will be drawing and they are then guided through the drawing with explicit instructions and familiar language. Some of the language used relates to the different kinds of lines students have learned about in Art lessons as well as shapes that they have learned during Maths lessons. Some of the drawings students have created so far include delicious milkshakes, colourful chameleons and a sly fox from the story Rosie’s Walk by Pat Hutchins.

JLC students love undertaking guided drawing lessons and they demonstrate a great deal of skill and creativity with their drawings. The children hone their listening skills and follow instructions and a visual demonstration given by myself onscreen to complete a drawing. They are then able to add their own style and flair to their illustrations by adding detail, tweaking some of the basic features, such as facial characteristics and selecting their own colour palettes. 

So far students have completed some incredible drawings including crazy chameleons, marvelous milkshakes and a delicious hot chocolate with floating marshmallows.

The MLC students love to draw and colour and they are always excited to learn what they will be drawing in Art during online lessons. 

Guided drawings of food items are always popular with MLC and they particularly enjoy adding background detail and different styles of eyes and mouths to their quirky characters. Students were shown how to add detail to a milkshake drawing by adding lines to give the illusion of depth and thickness to a glass as well as adding highlights to cherries to show where the light is hitting. Students were also encouraged to add other details such as a bendy or curly straw instead of a straight one.

 The biggest challenge thus far was last week’s lesson where students were guided in the drawing of a chihuahua in honour of Mr Brophy’s pet, Momo. These drawings produced a new breed of dog called a Dashua, a cross between a dachshund and a chihuahua and demonstrated the children’s perseverance and determination in the face of a challenge.

At the beginning of remote learning, SLC students were given the topic “Who You Are in a Jar”. This task was an opportunity for students to express themselves and display things about themselves to create a visual representation of their personality. Their jar could be any shape they liked but had to include their name and several illustrations depicting their likes and dislikes, who they are as a member of their family, a member of the St Bridget’s community, their sporting team and other groups. It was inspiring to see the levels of artistry and creativity amongst the students and how they see themselves as individuals.

Kind regards

Miss Carly Wills

Visual Arts Teacher