Art News 

Errol St Campus

From Tess Vu, Senior school Art teacher

Year 4

Students are currently in the process of creating their reverse acetate bug artworks. They began by sketching their own insect designs and have been focusing on the design elements of balance and repetition to create strong compositions. Students then traced their sketches onto laminating pouches and are currently painting the reverse side using paint pens, carefully layering colours and details.

As part of this project, students explored the pattern artworks of Aboriginal artists Agnes Wotton and Jo Wilson. The pattern papers used in this project were created by the artists specifically for crafting and art making purposes, allowing students to respectfully collaborate with the artists and their work. Students selected one of these designs as the background for their insect artwork. 

They also learned about the stories and meanings behind the artworks and thoughtfully incorporated these ideas into their own creations.

Throughout the unit, we discussed the importance of respecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and considered whether it is appropriate to copy Aboriginal symbols in our own artwork. This led to valuable conversations about cultural respect, inspiration, and acknowledging the work of artists while developing our own ideas.

Year 5

This term, Year 5 students have been exploring the artwork and legacy of Albert Namatjira. Through studying his iconic paintings of Central Australia, students have developed their understanding of how artists create the illusion of depth and distance in a landscape.

Students have been learning about perspective, including the use of horizon lines and vanishing points, and have practised a variety of sketching techniques to improve their observation skills. They have focused on using value to create contrast and form, while also experimenting with expressive mark-making to capture the movement and textures found in the Australian landscape.

Students are now completing their final landscape drawings, inspired by either the Northern Territory environments featured in Namatjira's artworks or their own imagined Australian scenes. They are in the process of adding  watercolour crayons to add texture and atmosphere to their finished compositions.

Art Club

This fortnight, Art Club students acknowledged and reflected on National Reconciliation Week by creating colourful hand artworks. The hands symbolise everyone taking part and working together to create positive change.