Art

Through the study of Art, Craft and Design, our aim is to our aim is to foster a love for Art by offering students the freedom of creative expression, within a thought-provoking, safe environment. Through innovative schemes of learning, we want students to feel empowered to record their personal thoughts, ideas and experiences through the exploration and mastery of media and materials.

We encourage students to try new things, manage risk, and to handle failure. Our mission is to work collaboratively with students to support their creative aspirations, giving them the tools and techniques to effectively explore and understand today’s ever changing visual world. By offering inspiration from a wide range of contemporary and historical work, we aim to develop critical audiences who can respond creatively to social issues and abstract concepts, from a broad cultural perspective. We want students to express their opinions confidently, using a rich visual language and to gain the confidence to excel in the creative industries.

The art department consists of enthusiastic, experienced and committed professionals. Exemplar art made by staff gives clear aspirational quality that students can work towards. Alternative techniques are demonstrated by teaching staff to make the art activity accessible to all. Discreet ‘challenges’ are introduced in our Schemes of Learning to challenge students already comfortable with their creative process. We aim to inspire and encourage each student to achieve the very best of their ability.

Our art curriculum aims to ensure that all students:

produce creative work, exploring their ideas and recording their experiences
become proficient in drawing, painting, sculpture and other art, craft and design techniques
evaluate and analyse creative works using the language of art, craft and design
know about great artists, craft makers and designers, and understand the historical and cultural development of their art forms.

Key Stage 3:

Year 7

Portraiture
Students will learn how to draw the face in sections, identifying proportion and symmetry. Students will then apply these drawing skills to complete a full self-portrait. Students will learn about tone via chalk and charcoal. They will apply tone to the self-portrait to create realism.

They will study two artists and learn how to draw inspiration from their style and incorporate it into their own work. Students will produce a self-portrait in the style of Kehinde Wiley, complete with painted patterned background juxtaposed with a realistic hand-drawn portrait.

Students are assessed on how they apply line, tone and pattern in their portrait and background.

Masks
Students will look at how the face changes to warp and alter expression by first-hand drawing. Students will explore the idea of masks by discussing how masks are used for function as well as form. Students will then create observational drawings from African masks and independently research masks from around the world.

Inspired by The Lion King at the West End, students will create masks based on the animal characters. They will consider how texture and colour are important to create impactful masks. Students will look at animal photos and props in the classroom to create a mask design representing animal features.

Creepy Crawlies

Looking at the natural world for inspiration, students will discover pattern and symmetry. Students will produce a drawing of a beetle and butterfly using line, tone and shape. Then students will use mono-print techniques to create a bug kaleidoscope.

Students will create a collagraph print using cardboard, string and glue. At first students will draw their butterfly or beetle on cardboard, before texture is applied using string. Students will learn how to use the printing press and inking rollers to create multiple prints of their work.

Year 8

Day of the Dead
Students will research this vibrant Latin-American festival. They will produce research pages and identify key visual features to inspire their own ‘Day of the Dead’ sugar skull design. Students will further develop their ‘Day of the Dead’ sugar skull through peer assessment before transferring their design onto square pieces of lino.

Students will apply mark-making techniques to produce a striking lino print. Students will be introduced to colour theory in the printing process. Students will apply complementary colour theory into their printmaking techniques.

Sculpture and Movement

Students will create line drawings from first-hand observations. They will transfer these drawings into wire sculptures in the style of Alberto Giacometti.

Sculpture and Henry Moore

Students will produce a research page on Henry Moore. Observational drawings on shells and bones produced to understand the influence of nature on Henry Moore’s work. Sculptures are designed before clay construction.

Year 9

Art Elements
Students will be introduced to all of the elements found in art, craft and design. Students will experiment with new techniques in painting and deepen their knowledge of colour theory. Students will be assessed via verbal feedback and self-assessment. We will end the project on drawings that focus on form to support the form design in ‘Fantastic Beasts’.

Fantastic Beasts and where to find them

Students will research creative professionals in the film and television industry who make the props, designs and background.

Students will utilise their drawing and painting skills to design a ‘Fantastic Beast’. This will be composed of three or more animal combinations.

Students will be introduced to the sculpting properties of newspaper, wire and Modroc combined. Students will create a sculpture based on their designs. Students will then paint their ‘Fantastic Beast’.

Students will also photograph their 'Fantastic Beast' in a group with other beasts working together to create a narrative. This will be then printed, annotated and put into their sketchbooks.

Students will be assessed on the quality of their research drawings and the individuality of their 'Fantastic Beast' design. Sculptures will be assessed on their painterly finish, their expressive embellishments and the solidity of the structure.

Japanese Art

Students will look at the art of Hokusai and produce a research page. They will look at techniques of brush-painting and watercolour. Students will also look at Shiburi dyeing techniques. Students will be assessed on their research, experiments and opinions in their research page.

Key Stage 4:

Topic: Food and Drink

GCSE coursework

Students will explore the theme of ‘Food and Drink’ through printmaking, painting and sculpture. Students will research a diverse range of artists such as Sarah Graham, Wayne Thiebaud and Claes Oldenburg and produce three essays. Students will discuss and describe how they will be influenced by the aforementioned artists in their art essays. Students will then identify the visual key features of their work that link to the 'Food and Drink' theme. Over the course of this term students will make the following: a lino print inspired by Sarah Graham, a cake painting inspired by Wayne Thiebaud and a cupcake Modroc sculpture inspired by Claes Oldenburg. Students will now reflect and respond to their research and experiments in painting, sculpture and print-making. Students will start to refine and develop their ideas that will be summarised in a final piece of art.

Topic: My Identity
Students will explore the theme of ‘Identity’ through their own personal skills and interpretation. Students will select three references from a myriad of artists, photographers, designers and sculptors. They will develop their understanding of their artist through experiments and producing work in the same medium and style of their artist. Students must write an essay on each artist, identifying their aesthetic and annotating how these artists will influence the students’ work. Students must make artist copies and artist responses for each artist in their sketchbook.

Student-led theme

GCSE Coursework

Students will select a theme from a teacher-curated list. Students will pick their own artists (minimum of three, maximum of six) and write an essay on each artist, identifying their aesthetic and annotating how these artists will influence the students’ work.

Students must make artist copies and artist responses in their sketchbook. Students will produce drawings, paintings or sculptures based on their selected artists’ styles.

Students will now refine their ideas to be summarised in a final piece. Students will annotate these experiments in their sketchbooks. Through these experiments, students will identify what they will make for their art exam. Students can start their final piece before the exam officially begins.

Enrichment:

Visit to Tate Modern
Harry Potter at Warner Brother studio trips
After school art clubs

Key Skills you will Learn:

to use a range of techniques to record their observations in sketchbooks, journals and other media as a basis for exploring their ideas
to use a range of techniques and media, including painting, drawing and sculpture
to increase their proficiency in the handling of different materials
to analyse and evaluate their own work, and that of others, in order to strengthen the visual impact or applications of their work
about the history of art, craft, design and architecture, including periods, styles and major movements from ancient times up to the present day.

Next Steps:

Courses:

A Level Art and design
BTEC foundation in art and design

Careers:

Architect, animator, auctioneer, art director, art gallery curator, graphic designer, fashion designer, fashion buyer, fashion and business, marketing, product designer, illustrator, tattoo artist, TV/Film editor, camera operator, prop maker, cinematographer, costume designer, video games designer, photographer, stylist, make-up artist, set designer, conservator, art therapist, art teacher.

Recommended Websites:

Contact:

Lead Teacher: Ms R Rowe - rrowe@qesluton.co.uk