Visual Arts 

Firstly, thank you to all the students and parents who have made me feel welcome as the new Arts teacher here at Cheltenham. I look foward to getting to know you and your artistic and creative talents through the year. We will alternate between Visual and Performing Arts each term, starting the year with Visual Arts. 

Term One's theme is "Making Your Mark", focusing on mark-making and drawing.

Foundation

We are focusing on drawing self-portraits in Foundation this term. We will experiement with different drawing materials, such as pencil, charcoal, crayon and markers. We will practise drawing facial features and adding recognisable details. Drawing skills will overlap with classroom fine motor skills and pencil control. 

Year 1 and 2

Junior students will be studying the work of Indigenous artist Jimmy Page, and using the themes and techniques in his work as inspiration. We will use a variety of suface media, including scratch boards and sandpaper. We will begin to develop our Art vocabulary to talk about how the elements of line, shape and colour help to express ideas in artwork.

Year 3 and 4

In the middle years, we are taking inspiration from the work of Vincent Van Gogh, using mark-making techniques to create different tones and textures. We will focus on some of his most famous works: "Starry Night" and "Sunflowers", exploring how to create similar effects in our own artwork. We will continue to build our Art vocabulary and understanding of how artists use tone and texture.

Year 5 and 6

This term we are embracing the bright and bold world of Pop Art. We are creating comic book onomatopoeia art in the style of Roy Lichtenstien, using knowledge of colour theory for greater impact. We will be looking at Andy Warhol's relationship with advertising and everyday objects, updating the items for our modern Australian audience. We will also be taking inspiration from Japanese artist, Yayoi Kusuma, contrasting detailed plant drawings with bold geometric backgrounds. We will discuss how artists are influenced by different ideas and reflect on the big question of what makes something art.

Nicola Lane

Arts Specialist