SPECIALIST 

FROM THE ART ROOM

Over the past four weeks in Visual Arts, each year level has been developing different skills and working on a range of projects. Students have experienced new techniques, challenged themselves and tried their best. They have produced some brilliant artwork and are very proud of what they have achieved!

PREP

Prep students have been learning about Indigenous symbols through a range of creative, hands-on experiences. They created watercolour paintings inspired by nature, considering the colours and environments in which different Australian animals might live. Students experimented with stencils and stamps to layer animal images and symbols over their watercolour backgrounds. Inspired by Claude Monet, they also created colourful lily ponds using paper plates, sponges and paint. Students explored dabbing, blending and layering colours to create interesting textures and effects.

YEAR 1

Year 1 students began the term by creating a textile artwork. They used fine-motor skills to weave different materials through plastic mesh, observing and discussing their tactile properties and how the materials behaved when woven. Students have also created printing plates by designing and etching patterns into foam. Next week, they will use foam rollers to transfer acrylic paint to their plates before printing their designs onto paper.

YEAR 2

Year 2 students began the term by learning about artist Judy Chicago and connecting their STEM topic of bush tucker with the creation of clay plates featuring bush tucker in the centre. They learnt clay techniques including pinching, etching, joining, smoothing and rolling, before painting their work with watercolours. Students are currently creating Jeff Koons-inspired balloon-dog collages. They have created a cityscape, sky and grass and painted their balloon dogs, ready to assemble the final collages.

YEAR 3

Year 3 students began the term by creating a textile artwork. They used the warp-and-weft process to create woven turtles from icy-pole sticks and wool, focusing on applying consistent tension. They are now producing day-and-night landscape paintings based on Vincent van Gogh’s 'Wheat Field with Cypresses' and 'The Starry Night'. Students completed their background details this week and will next adopt Van Gogh’s brushwork to create texture and movement.

YEAR 4

Year 4 students have been studying the work of Albert Namatjira, a prominent Aboriginal Australian artist. They have been learning to layer paint to create a background, middle ground and foreground in a landscape painting, mixing acrylic paint to create new colours and variations. Students have also explored positive and negative space through Notan artworks, cutting and flipping paper to create mirrored imagery.

YEAR 5

Year 5 students began the term by learning about street art and creating their own streetwear shoe designs. They created designs in their books before transferring them to shoes and finishing them with paint markers. Students have now begun their marketing unit, in which they are creating a digital logo and poster for their Innovation Day business.

YEAR 6

Year 6 students have been creating their own papier-mâché constructions inspired by artist Romero Britto. They layered newspaper and glue over a base structure before using patterns and bright colours to paint their sculptures once they were thick and sturdy.