Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mrs. Tipping and I'm really looking forward to learning with you today all about hidden worlds, exploring collage and mixed media.

We're going to do lots of thinking, talking and exploring together in this lesson.

So shall we get started? Let's go.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to create a fabric collage inspired by a Petri dish.

Before we start, I would like to introduce you to some keywords.

We'll be using these keywords during the lesson, so it might be a good idea to write these words down.

The key words we'll be using today are colour palette, texture, background.

I'm going to say those again and I would like you to repeat them after me.

Colour palette, texture, background.

<v ->Good job.

</v> Now let's think in more detail about what these keywords mean by taking a look at their definitions.

A colour palette is a group of colours you choose for your artwork.

Texture is the feel or appearance of a surface.

Background is everything that is behind the main image or images in an artwork.

Pause the video here to make a note of these keywords and when you are ready to continue, press play.

These are the learning cycles I'll be working through together in today's lesson.

Preparing for a fabric collage and creating a fabric collage.

In the first learning cycle, we're going to prepare for a fabric collage.

Let's take a look at this image here.

This is an image of a Petri dish of microorganisms. What do you notice about the colours and textures in this image? Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think and press play when you are ready to continue.

What could you see? What different colours did you pick out or textures from these different microorganisms? Or before an artist begins an artwork, they might take time to observe the colour palette and textures that they see.

You might have noticed tints of colours, where white has been added or maybe shades of colours and that's where black has been added.

You can also see, maybe some hues of green.

Can you spot those in the image there of those microorganisms? I can see some up near the top and near the bottom.

Maybe you could see those oranges and yellows.

You can see that round yellow on there, on the edge.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding which image shows a tint of purple.

Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner and press play when you are ready to continue.

Which one was a tint of purple? If you said B, you are absolutely right and that's because white has been added to this purple to make a tint, Andeep is making a fabric collage inspired by this Petri dish of microorganisms. He says, "I'm going to find fabric in a similar colour palette to the ones I see in the Petri dish." So you can gather your fabrics before you start.

Maybe you've identified a nice green fabric that you like.

Maybe we're going to have a look at this purple and maybe there's a fabric that shows those two different types of purples, the darker shade or that lighter tone.

Maybe a nice yellow and also an orange.

Maybe the fabric represents both and finally, we've got some green, picking out different green for that microorganism there.

You might not find the exact colour palette you can see in the Petri dish, but identifying those different colours, you can find fabrics that are similar in colour palette.

So Andeep says, "The fabrics I have found are not exactly the same colours, but they are similar to the colours I can see in the Petri dish." His examples there that he's picked, they do look similar, don't they? To the colour palette around that Petri dish there.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

The fabric colour palette you find should be completely different to the colours in the Petri dish, exactly the same as the colours in the Petri dish, or similar to the colours in the Petri dish.

Which of these helps to finish the sentence correctly? Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think and press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said the fabric colour palette you find should be similar to the colours in the Petri dish, you are absolutely right.

You might not match the colours exactly, but should find colours that are similar.

What textures do you see here in this image of the microorganisms? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner about the textures you see and press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you discuss? Well, you might have noticed some feathery textures here.

Maybe you saw some bumpy textures like in this purple microorganism here.

Maybe you saw some smooth textures, some soft textures and maybe some fine textures like in this green microorganism down here.

You might gather materials that have similar textures to the ones you see in the Petri dish.

So here, Andeep says, "This green and yellow fabric might be useful for the soft textures." Looking at the fabric he's chosen, that does look soft, doesn't it? Andeep says, "I could use this woolly fabric for the bumpy textures." I think that's a good idea and it's a good shade of blue too.

What fabric might be useful for this texture here? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner and press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you think? What fabric might you use? Well, you might have gathered materials that have similar textures to the ones you see in the Petri dish.

So maybe like Andeep, you chose some of the red or ribbons for that feathery texture that we could see in that orange section there.

That's a good idea to use a material like that for that type of texture.

This now brings us to our first learning task.

I'd like you to choose the Petri dish that you would like to take inspiration from, like the example here.

So here's another one that you could look at or this one or even this one.

So choose the one that you would like to take inspiration from.

Then look carefully at the colours and textures that you see in the Petri dish and then select and gather your materials.

So pause the video here and give yourself enough time to first choose the Petri dish you'd like to take inspiration from and look carefully and observe the colours and textures that you see, and then select and gather your materials and press play when you're ready to continue.

How did that go? Did you find the materials you wanted for the petro dish that you took inspiration from? Do you find the right colours and textures? Well, you might have gathered different materials in the colour palette that you observed and different materials to show those different textures, whether they were soft or bumpy or maybe feathery.

Maybe you got those different blues or purples or those vibrant greens, you can see there.

Well done for completing that learning task, gathering your materials for your fabric collage.

We're now ready to move into the second part of this lesson.

We are going to create a fabric collage.

You could start your collage by cutting out a circle of cardboard for your background Andeep says, "I have used thick cardboard, so it'll be stable enough for my materials." You might then add a background layer in a dark colour.

This will provide contrast to the bright colours of your microorganisms. This means making the contents of the Petri dish more visible.

So Andeep says, "My microorganisms will show up much better against the dark background." So here we go.

We've got this cardboard.

Andeep says, "I have stuck a dark circle of fabric to my cardboard using PVA glue." So you can see that circle of cardboard there with that dark fabric attached to it.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Why might an artist use a dark background for their Petri dish? So they can use different materials to make the whole image darker.

To show contrast against the brighter colours.

Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think and press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said to show contrast against the brighter colours, you are absolutely right, well done.

Different fabrics can be combined in one artwork.

Artists might do this to create different textures in an artwork, to create a strong contrasting colours or to experiment with different visual effects.

So we've got some wall fabric here and some string and an artist might use both of these in the artwork.

You might cut flat shapes for your microorganisms from different fabrics.

Andeep says, "I'm selecting a few of the shapes that I saw in my Petri dish." Can you see those there? A green fabric and that yellowy orange fabric.

So here, this artist is rolling and glueing fabric to make their artwork more three dimensional.

Can you see they've added the glue on that one side of the fabric and then rolled it up, to create some 3D elements of their artwork.

So here, Andeep has done the same.

He says, "I've glued different fabric rolls to create a more three dimensional look to my artwork." What do you think? Can you see those dark blues and that orange.

It looks good against those flat shapes, doesn't it? You might add layers of fabric to create different effects.

So zooming in on this Petri dish here, looking at this element, you can see that Andeep has used some layers of thin fabric to create a different effect.

Can you see how he's layered those on top of the green and the orange there? You could use small pieces of string, wool or ribbon to add different textures.

So like this feathery texture here, Andeep says, "I think this string would be really good for this fine, thin texture." Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Which material would be best to use for this texture that's zoomed in on this image here? A, B, or C.

Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner and press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said B, you are absolutely right.

This material is fine and thin, so it'd be really good to use for this texture we can see here.

This brings us to our final learning task.

I'd like you to create a fabric collage.

So first of all, cut out a circle of cardboard, then glue a dark material to the cardboard for the background.

Then I'd like you to cut and glue flat shapes and then roll and glue fabric to make three dimensional shapes and finally, use things like string, wool or thread for those different textures.

So pause a video here to give yourself enough time to create a fabric collage based on your Petri dish and press play when you are ready to continue.

How did that go? Were you able to make sure that you cut out your cardboard, added your dark background, before cutting out those flat shapes and then doing the rolling and glueing of fabric to create 3D shapes and using those other materials for different textures? Well, you might have included things like this.

So taking a look at this example, you can see the dark material that's been attached to the cardboard for the background.

You can see how string, wool or thread has been added for different textures.

You can see those orange bits there, some pink and some yellow.

You can see the flat shapes there that are in the chosen palette, the greens and the oranges and you can see the rolled and glued fabric that make those three dimensional shapes.

So well done if you are able to create your fabric collage using these different materials and different techniques.

Well done for completing that learning task.

Before we finish this lesson, let's summarise what we've learned about the scrap fabric microorganism collage.

Artists might use the colours and textures that they observe in a subject.

They might use a dark background to provide contrast to the bright colours of their main subject.

An artist might use different types of fabric that can be combined in an artwork to create different colours or textures.

Thank you for joining me in this lesson today.

I hope to see you in the next one.

See you next time.