Lesson video

Hello there, my name is Miss Davies, and your name is? Well, hello, and it's lovely to meet you if I haven't met you already, and welcome to unit two of art.

This unit, we are going to be going on a painting journey together.

Can you give me a wave in the air now if you love painting and you do it lots in your spare time, can you give me a wave? And can you give me a wave in the air now, if you don't really paint that much, maybe a little bit in school, can you give me a wave if that's you? And can you give me a wave if you've never painted before in your life? Give me a wave if that's you.

Well, I hope that you have had at least one painting experience, but whether you're completely new to painting or you paint every day, this unit is for everybody of all levels.

And hopefully by the end of it, you'll be able to say that for one, you love painting and you enjoy doing it, it makes you feel better.

And two, that you know a little bit more about mixing colours, using different techniques, and you can talk about the history of art.

Okay, let's see what we're doing today.

Let's get started.

In today's lesson, you are going to be making your very own paints with a parent or carer using some things you find in our cupboards or fridge.

Let's have a look at some of the equipment you're going to need to get now.

You're firstly going to need some thick card or paper.

Don't worry if you only have normal printing paper, that's fine, but it's just preferred that you use thick card or paper when we paint in this unit.

You're also going to need a paint pallet or some jars or pots to put your paints in when they're created.

And of course, you're going to need an apron or an old painting shirt.

I like to choose this shirt for me.

It's not something I wear out of the house, and I only use it when I paint, so it doesn't matter if it gets messy.

If you don't have an apron, maybe you could pause the video now and talk to your parent or adult about finding a painting shirt.

There are some other things you will need later on in the lesson when we actually begin to make our paints.

But you'll probably be in the kitchen for this, and I will tell you what the equipment is when you need it.

But you don't need anything else other than thick card or paper, paint palette, and an apron or an old shirt for now.

So pause your screen now to go and get it, and press play when you're ready to carry on.

Let's have a look at what we're going to get up to in today's lesson.

Firstly, we're going to look at our star words.

Then we're going to be learning all about the origins of painting.

And that means we're going to be looking at really old paintings to find out where painting really began.

After that, we're going to be watching how to make some paints at home, using things in your cupboard and fridge.

After that, with the help of a parent or carer, you will go off to make some of your own paints.

And finally, you're going to be using your paint to recreate a painting that you have seen in today's lesson.

Okay, it's time for our star words today.

I'm going to give you an action along with the star word, and I want you to repeat that back to me.

Do you think you can do it? Fantastic, sitting up straight.

First word, pigment.

Your turn, pigment, well done.

And a pigment is something that gives a particular colour.

Can you say that with me? A pigment is something that gives a particular colour.

One more time.

A pigment is something that gives a particular colour.

Well done.

Next word, liquid.

Your turn, liquid.

I'm thinking of a liquid, I'm thinking of the liquid milk.

Can you tell me the name of another liquid? Did you say one? Well done, next star word, crushing.

Your turn, crushing.

Fantastic, and last one, mixing.

Your turn, mixing.

Fantastic, and crushing and mixing, crushing and mixing, they're both doing words, they are both action words and they're actions we're going to be using today to create our paints.

To begin our lesson, I said we're going to be learning about the origin of painting.

And this meant that we're going to be looking at some really old paintings, and these are thought to be the first paintings ever created.

To do this, we need to go in a little bit of a time machine.

So I'm going to ask you to close your eyes just for a moment, and I'm going to tell you when you can open them again.

So keep your eyes closed.

And I want you to picture a time and a world when there wasn't any phones or tablets or computers, there wasn't any televisions or lights or electricity or cars, and there definitely wasn't any houses or roads.

Are you picturing that world? Fantastic, we're talking about a time over 40,000 years ago.

Wow, that's a really long time ago.

And now I want you to open your eyes and have a look at the painting in front of you.

This is a painting that is thought to be over 40,000 years old.

And the reason that it still exists today is because they are hidden deep, deep inside the middle of caves.

Most of them have only been discovered in the last 100 years.

Let's have a look at some more of these cave paintings together.

Have a look at this next cave painting on your screen.

Tell me something you can see.

Did you spot the animals in the cave painting? You did? Can you point to the biggest animal that you can see painted on the wall? Well done, and can you find and point to a really small animal painted on the wall? Did you see one? Fantastic, and did you also see some paintings that look like maybe bodies of a human.

You did? Well, nearly all of the cave paintings found include pictures of animals.

They don't always include pictures of humans.

I'm going to tell you some of the most common animals painted on the walls, and I'm going to give you an action with it.

I want you to repeat after me.

Are you ready? Mammoths, horses, lions, deers, bisons.

Fantastic, we're going to go a little bit faster now.

Are you ready? Mammoths, horses, lions, deers, bisons.

Great job.

There are also so many paintings that include hands and symbols, and there are experts out there today researching in to whether these symbols might have been the first form of graphic communication.

Graphic communication is something we do every day today.

We do it with emojis and road signs and warning signs and pictures on food, containers and bottles that we drink.

Graphic communication is all around us, but it's thought that these early humans, 40 thousands of years ago might have been doing this themselves.

Let's have a quick recap question now.

Think back to the animals that I said were mostly painted on the cave walls.

Can you spot the odd animal out here? Which animal did I not say was mostly painted on cave walls? You've got three seconds to point to the one you think is the odd one out.

Three, two, one.

Did you point to the leopard? Fantastic.

Now, leopards were sometimes created and painted on cave walls but not as common as the other animals in this picture.

Can you have a guess now? What colour paint do you think that the early humans mostly painted with? Can you tell me the two colours from looking at this picture? Did you say black and red? Well done, good spotting.

And they would make these paints by finding something, an object or a material around them that had a pigment.

And this was a star word, wasn't it? And a pigment was something that gives a particular.

Did you say colour? Well done, you'd be right if you said colour.

So to make the black paint, they had to use charcoal, and they would crush the charcoal.

Can you show me crushing? They would crush the charcoal down to get the pigment, so the black colour from the material.

To make the red paint, they would use red stone and they would do the same thing, they would crush it.

Can you show me crushing action? Fantastic, and once they had crushed their pigment down, they had to mix it with a liquid to help get a paint solution.

And do you want to know what yucky liquids they used to make their paints? They used saliva.

So the spit in your mouth.

And they used animal fat as well.

How yucky is that? We're not going to be using animal fat or saliva to make our paints today, but I thought that was quite interesting to share.

So, to summarise, the early humans found a pigment, so something that would give them a colour.

Then what did they do? They crushed it down and they added and mixed it with a liquid.

And it might've been saliva, their spit or animal fat.

And once they did this and they mixed it, they got their paint.

So let's try to remember now a similar recipe and method that we can use to make our paints today.

Are you listening? 'Cause you're going to need to say it with me after.

Pigment plus liquid equals paint.

Can you say that with me? Pigment plus liquid equals paint.

And one more time, pigment plus liquid equals paint.

And a bit faster, pigment plus liquid equals.

Well done.

Well, I thought we could have a look at how I made one of my paints at home in my kitchen, and you're going to see a video of me making it in just a moment.

I found a pigment and my pigment was found by crushing some raspberries that I had in my fridge.

And then I mixed it with some liquid.

Remember, I said we're not going to use spit or animal fat today, but we're going to only really need to use a little bit of water, or if you want to be a bit experimental you can try to use some egg whites.

And once I mixed those together, I was able to create a paint.

Can you remember the two actions we're going to be using to make our paints today? If you can, I want you to listen out for all the possible answers I'm going to give you.

And if you think the answer is correct, I want you to give me a nod.

So remember, we're looking for two correct answers and give me a nod if you think it's the right one, okay? Are you ready? Melting.

Are we going to be doing melting today? Crushing, stretching, mixing, I'm going through it one more time.

So now you know the answers, and you're going to nod for two, ready? Melting, crushing, stretching, mixing.

Did you choose crushing and mixing? Gave me a big thumbs up and a pat on the back for you.

Well done, you have been listening so well so far.

I'm going to ask you to pause the video now to go and make sure an adult or a parent is with you for the next part of our lesson.

Press play when your parent or adult is with you.

So your aim for today is to make at least one natural paint using items found in your fridge or cupboard.

And I say aim to make one colour paint because you might only have one item in your house that will help give you a strong pigment for your colour of paint.

Instead of deciding what colours you like to choose what paints you're going to make, You need to think about what you have in your fridge or cupboard first.

Here are some examples of items that you might have at home that can give you a strong pigment for your paint.

The items highlighted in pink right now are items that may need to be stewed in hot water to release their pigment.

So a parent or carer will need to do this part themselves to keep you safe.

The same goes for if you're going to cut and chop any strawberries or other fruit or vegetables that you might be using today to help get your colour pigment from.

Please make sure the parent or carer does this part so you are safe.

For my paints, I use turmeric, leftover beetroot and some raspberries that I had in the fridge.

You're going to need a pestle and mortar.

If you don't have one of these, you can use a mixing bowl and a rolling pin or a wooden spoon.

You're also going to have to need a sieve, a measuring jug and a paint palette or some dust that you're painting.

Oh, and a spoon.

So first we need to crush down our item to release the colour we will use for our paint.

So crush, crush, crush, crush, crush, crush, crush, keep crushing until you end up with something like this.

And then you want to push whatever you crush through a sieve because you really don't want any lumpy bits in your paint.

It won't be as nice to paint with.

I like to make sure I scrape off any excess from the bottom of my sieve.

We don't want to leave any behind.

And then it's time to add our liquid, that is water.

And I just mix mix, mix all the spoon until I had a nice red consistency for my paint.

I did the same thing with my beetroot and I crushed it, crushed it, crushed it.

I would definitely recommend using smaller amounts if you're going to crush your beetroot because it was a lot puffy to crush than I thought it would be, I had to use a lot of my muscles.

And then I did the same thing, I pushed it through a sieve so I could drain the liquid out from the lumpy parts.

And I was left with a really strong red pigment.

Again, I added some water and mix, mix, mix, mix, mix, until I can see it's a nice, clear, and consistent colour.

Since the turmeric I use is already in a powder form, I don't need to crush it because it won't get any smaller since I had added it straight to my measuring jug and mixed it with water immediately.

I really liked this colour, it came out really nice and bright.

And there you have it.

Here are three natural paints I made in my kitchen, some items from my fridge and cupboard.

I have to have a go at creating my own pave painting inspired picture.

And reflecting on my paint making experience, I would say if I was to do this activity again, I would definitely only add a teaspoon of water because adding too much liquid can definitely make the colours feel less vibrant and more dull.

So I recommend that to you, add a small amount of water up first, and test out your paint to see if you're happy with it before adding more.

Pause the video now to complete your paint-making activity.

And after you've made your paint, I want you to complete a painting inspired by this picture on your screen now.

Or maybe you want to choose one of the cave paintings we looked at early on in the lesson.

Press play when you've completed all of this and you're ready to finish the lesson by talking about your experience.

Welcome back.

I'm going to guess that you've finished your cave painting and you're making paint activity.

And maybe you have your cave painting in front of you or it's somewhere else in the house drying.

And can you give me a big thumbs up or a big nod if you enjoyed that activity? Well, I really enjoyed making my paint.

I made the colours yellow and red.

Can you tell me a colour paint that you made today? Can you tell me now? And can you tell me what food item or something in your cupboard or kitchen that helped you get that pigment for your colour paint? Ooh, and can you also tell me if you drew an animal in your cave painting, what animal did you draw? And now I want you to have a little bit of a think and a reflection on the activity.

I know that when I reflected on my paint-making activity, I said that I think I added a little bit too much water.

And because I did this, I didn't get a really strong colour that I wanted in my paint.

Is there anything that you would do differently if you were to make your paint again? Maybe you can start your sentence with, if I did this again, I would.

Can you tell me now? Well, that was a lot of fun, and I really hoped you enjoyed getting stucking, crushing and mixing and making your own paint today.

Next lesson, you are going to need some actual paint with you, maybe some watercolour or poster paint, it doesn't really matter what paint you have, but make sure you have your paints with you for our next lesson and I'll see you there, okay? Bye bye.