Visual Arts

Communicating with the Specialist Team

We look forward to partnering with you in 2025, and welcome your input:

Danielle Haines (Visual Arts)  danielle.haines@education.vic.gov.au 

This week, Foundation students are learning about the elements of art to create a mixed media butterfly. Students have practiced drawing lines and patterns using markers to add decorations for the first layer. They spent time learning about the colour wheel and what it teaches us about colour mixing, and practiced cutting skills to cut out the complex shape. Students have started adding the final details to their butterflies, using watercolour paints to add bright colours while learning how to use tools correctly.  

Year One and Two students have thought about how they can represent all their favourite things and put them in their dream backpack. They coloured each space with pencils to represent animals, food, games, colours, and anything else they could think of. 

Over the last two weeks, students have been exploring abstract art and what makes it different to other styles. They engaged in discussions about the elements of art and how they are explored and experimented with, rather than used to represent something. Using the works of Melinda Harper as inspiration, students have used oil pastel and watercolour paints to create their own abstract art. Their goal is to fill the page with shapes and colours, controlling the brush to keep their colours clean and bright. 

Year Three and Four are exploring the art of zentangle, drawing lines and patterns to create intricate designs within the irregular shapes of their animal. Students consider how to create contrast with light and dark designs in different styles and paint the sections with watercolour paint to complete their artwork. Students have embraced the careful nature of this task, doing their best to slow down and concentrate on the little details. 

Year Five and Six are taking Zentangle design to the next level by taking it 3D. They are taking inspiration from Japanese artist, Liu Bolin, 'The Invisible Man', who camouflages himself into his photographs. Students are using line and pattern to draw on a mask and camouflage it into a background. This process takes care and planning to come up with a strategy before making marks on their mask. This artwork is expected to take several weeks of patience and care to achieve their goal.