Lesson video

Hello, everybody.

How are you doing today? I hope you're feeling really, really good.

My name is Ms. Afzal, and I'm feeling great today.

I'm gonna be your art teacher, and I love teaching art, so I'm so, so pleased about that.

Our lesson today is called Create a low relief ceramic tile: decorate and evaluate.

So there's a lot going on in our lesson.

As you can see already, we're creating, we are decorating, we are evaluating.

Our lesson comes from the unit of work: Views of a local landmark: ceramics.

I hope you have got some focus, some enthusiasm, and you'll be needing some materials.

We'll get to those in due course.

Let's get started.

The outcome for today's lesson is: I can decorate and evaluate my low relief tile.

We have some keywords in our lesson today.

Let's go through them.

My turn, your turn.

Layer.

Varnish.

Group critique.

That sounds good.

Let's find out what each keyword means.

Layer is placing one thing on top of the other, such as layers of paint.

Varnish is a clear coating that you put on artwork or objects to protect them.

And group critique is when a group of people share their thoughts and ideas about each other's artwork to help improve and learn from it.

These are our keywords.

Let's go through them one more time.

Layer.

Varnish.

Group critique.

Fantastic, I liked hearing those keywords.

Let's look out for them.

Let's listen out for them.

Let's think carefully about these keywords.

They will be coming up in our lesson today.

Our lesson is called Create a low relief tile: decorate and evaluate, and it contains two learning cycles.

First of all, layer and varnish a ceramic tile.

And next, participate in a group critique.

I wonder if you've ever done that before.

This is gonna be exciting.

So let's begin with layering and varnishing a ceramic tile.

Take a look at this amazing ceramic tile on the screen.

Wow, what a lot of work has gone into that.

And you might remember making your low relief ceramic tile, inspired by a local landmark.

Can you pause the video and tell someone nearby whose tile this is and what was this tile inspired by? Well done if you remembered that this is Izzy's tile, and it was inspired by the castle, which is a local landmark in Izzy's area.

And what we can do next to our tile is we can add surface decoration to clay when it has fully dried.

Izzy says, "I'm excited to decorate my clay tile!" I hope you're feeling excited about decorating your clay tile as well.

Sometimes artists use glazes to decorate the surface of their clay.

Glazes are special liquid colours that become hard and shiny when heated in a kiln.

That's a special kind of clay oven.

Wow, take a look at all of these pots that have been decorated with glazes.

Pause the video and tell somebody nearby which is your favourite design.

Thanks for sharing.

I'm really drawn to the one in the top row which is green, 'cause I really love green and I love nature, and it seems to have some beautiful leaves on that design there.

This artist is decorating the surface of this clay pot using a special tool to create detailed lines.

Wow, take a look at the enormous amount of detail on this clay pot.

That's really, really incredible.

This artist must have such a lot of focus and patience to create a design like this.

This artist is using a paintbrush to carefully decorate this bowl.

Pause the video and tell someone nearby your impressions of this design.

Thanks for sharing your ideas.

There are many different ways to decorate the surface of clay.

And here's Izzy again and her low relief clay tile.

The surface of this clay tile is textured as it is in relief.

This means that some parts are higher and some parts are lower.

Pause the video and can you tell someone nearby which parts of this clay tile are higher and which parts are lower? Thanks for sharing.

Perhaps you noticed that on the right-hand side, the lichen is higher, and Izzy decided that the windows would be a little bit lower.

Izzy says, "I would like to paint my tile to decorate it, but it might be difficult to paint smoothly." Hmm, good point, Izzy.

Painting a textured surface can be challenging for several reasons.

The textured surface makes it hard to paint smoothly.

The texture can make it tricky to mix and blend the colours.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Why can a textured surface be challenging to paint? Is it A, it is hard to paint smoothly? B, the paint dries too quickly? C, the paint may drip off the surface easily? Pause the video while you decide why a textured surface can be challenging to paint.

Well done if you selected A, it's hard to paint smoothly, and it can also be hard to blend colours on a textured surface.

So you might start like Izzy, by looking back at your design.

And Izzy says, "This will help me remember the colours I planned to use." Oh yeah, do you remember that? Back when Izzy decided she was going to use yellow for the lichen.

Izzy wants to give her tile a base coat.

This is the first layer of paint applied to a surface.

Remember, our keyword layer is when you put one thing on top of another.

A base coat provides a smooth foundation for additional layers of paint and helps the paint to stick better.

The base coat also means that their clay tile will be more protected against scratches and damage.

So we can see that there are plenty of reasons why it is worth giving your tile a base coat.

You can apply a base coat to the dried clay.

Izzy says, "I chose a colour that I can build my other layers of paint upon, as it's similar to the castle walls." So that's a really good idea.

You don't want to go in with something that it's too dark, then it might be trickier for you to add different colours onto later.

And also, yeah, I like how Izzy has chosen this colour which is really similar to the colour of the castle walls.

Let's have another check for understanding.

True or false? An artist might use a base coat to help paint to stick to a surface.

Is that true or false? Pause while you decide.

Well done if you selected true.

Now I'd like you to say a little bit more about your answer.

Pause the video while you do this.

Perhaps you said this means their clay tile will be more protected against scratches and damage.

After your base coat has dried, you can begin to paint your tile using a brush to evenly coat the surface.

Paint should be used in a thin layer.

Let's have a look at a video of an artist who is also painting their tile.

Hmm, take a good look at what they're doing.

What do you notice? Pause the video and share with someone.

Did you notice that the artist is turning their brush in different directions to paint the surface? So they're really taking such a lot of care with how they are painting and the direction in which they're using their brush.

Artists might choose to add a final layer to their tile by varnishing, another one of our keywords.

This provides a glossy surface like a glaze.

Artists might varnish because: It makes the surface of the clay shiny.

It protects the clay from scratches and dirt.

It can help to make the clay last longer.

So we can see there are plenty of good reasons for us to varnish our tiles.

Here's Izzy.

She's got some PVA.

What is she gonna do? When your layers of paint have dried, you can then varnish your tile.

Izzy says, "I'm using PVA glue as my layer of varnish." Let's have another check for understanding.

What happens to the clay after it is varnished? A, it gets softer.

B, it becomes shiny and lasts longer.

C, it breaks easily.

Pause the video while you decide what happens to the clay after it's varnished.

Well done if you selected B, it becomes shiny and lasts longer.

Varnishing clay also helps to protect it from scratches and dirt.

It's time for your first task.

I would like you to give your tile a base coat as your first layer of paint.

Use a brush to paint your tile, referring back to your design.

And then, coat your tile in a layer of varnish.

And you could use PVA glue to do this.

So pause here while you have a go at your task, and I'll see you when you're finished.

It's great to be back with you.

How did you get on? You might have created something incredible like this.

Maybe painted your tile, evenly coating the surface with paint.

Perhaps you used a layer of varnish to reduce the risk of scratches and dirt.

Maybe you used your paintbrush in different directions to evenly coat the surface.

These tiles are looking great.

Very, very well done, everybody, for completing this multi-stage task.

And now we are onto the next part of our lesson, where we will be participating in a group critique.

Hmm, what do these three pieces have in common? Take a good look at them and then share with someone nearby.

The local landmark is a common theme in all of the pieces.

Do you remember that this is Izzy's work, and her local landmark was the castle in her neighbourhood.

When an artist is making or finishes a piece of artwork, they might ask other artist to critique what they have done.

And there's critique, one of our keywords.

This means asking an artist questions and giving an artist feedback.

A group critique might also include giving an artist suggestions for what they might do next.

Artists might find a group critique helpful, as they can get new ideas or suggestions.

Let's have a check for understanding.

True or false? Artists have group critiques to just suggest ways to make an artwork better.

Pause the video and decide is this true or false.

Well done if you selected false.

And now I'd like you to explain your answer a little.

Pause the video while you do this.

Perhaps you said something like this.

Group critiques can be useful for an artist to get new ideas or suggestions, but are also useful for other artists to hear the reasons behind the artist's choices.

You might start a group critique by looking carefully at the artist's work.

So we need a group.

Here we have Sam, Alex, Jacob, and Sofia.

And we need the artist's work.

Here's Izzy's work.

Remember that crucial first stage of looking carefully at the artist's work.

Next, you could ask the artist a question.

Here's Sam.

"What inspired you to make your artwork?" That's a great question to begin with.

Here's another one.

"What parts of your tile are you most proud of, and why?" Love that two-pronged question there.

And now it's over to you.

What would you ask Izzy about her work? Take a good look at it, first of all.

Remember that crucial stage, and then think what question would you like to ask Izzy.

Pause the video and share with someone nearby.

Which questions could you ask about this artwork? A, what tool did you use to create texture? B, why did you choose this landmark? C, why is clay grey? Pause the video and show someone which of these questions could you ask about this artwork? Well done if you selected questions A and B, what tool did you use to create texture and why did you choose this landmark? The last question isn't so relevant.

Why is clay grey? This might not be a question that the artist can answer.

So back to a group critique.

You could offer the artist some suggestions or ideas to help them improve.

Ooh, let's see what the group have for Izzy.

Here's Sam.

"Perhaps you could use more texture next time." Yeah, that's a really good idea.

And Sophia.

"I wonder if you could try using a more vibrant yellow for the lichen." Yeah, sure, why not? What idea or suggestion do you have for Izzy to help her to improve her work? So again, take a good look at Izzy's work, and then share with someone nearby your idea or suggestion to help Izzy to improve her work.

And now it's time for your task.

Working in small groups, you will be exploring each other's work through asking questions in a group critique.

So here are some question starters that you might like to use.

What inspired you to.

Is there any part of the piece you feel could be.

Can you tell me about.

What part of your tile.

So pause here while you get into your small groups and explore each other's work through asking questions in a group critique.

I'll see you when you're finished.

Great to be back with you.

You might have asked questions like these.

Here's Sam.

"Can you tell me about the textures that you have used?" Alex.

"What inspired you to use this landmark?" And Jacob.

"Is there any part of the piece you feel could be improved or changed?" Really, really interesting questions there, which I'm sure will help Izzy to understand and even help her to improve her work.

And now for the next part of your task.

Working in small groups, explore each other's work through offering ideas or suggestions for improvement in a group critique.

Ideas you could share in a group critique.

Here are some sentence starters.

Perhaps you could.

Maybe you could add more.

I wonder if you used.

And next time, I wonder if you could try.

So get back into your small groups and explore offering each other some ideas and suggestions for improvement.

I'll see you when you're finished.

Good to be back with you.

You might have said something like this.

Here's Sophia.

"Perhaps you could use a more vibrant yellow on your lichen." Sam.

"Next time, I wonder if you could try making your main subject even bigger." And Jacob.

"I wonder if you used a different tool, you could make the texture of the bricks more realistic." Some really helpful suggestions there.

I think Izzy would probably be really happy to hear these and maybe take them on for her next artwork.

In our lesson Create low relief tile: decorate and evaluate, we have covered the following.

Artists can add layers of material to their clay tile, including paint and varnish.

Varnishing clay can help it to be more durable and better protected against scratches and dirt.

Artists participate in group critiques to share feedback and ideas, helping improve and learn from each other's work.

Well done, everyone, for all of your hard work in this lesson.

I love how you decorated your tiles, the base coat, the colours, the varnish.

It's really turned out to be something quite special.

And well done for joining in with the group critiques.

Offering feedback, encouragement, suggestions, it's all very helpful.

I hope you've enjoyed this lesson, and I look forward to seeing you at another art lesson soon.

Bye for now.