Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mrs. Mayes and I am so pleased you have chosen to learn with me today.

We are going to have a really exciting lesson.

I am here to support you for any challenges that you might encounter.

We are gonna have a really great time.

Let's get started.

Let's have a look at today's outcome.

"I can create and describe a wide range of textured marks with charcoal." This is one of my favourite materials, so I think we're gonna have a really good time today.

Here are some of the key words for today's lesson.

I'm going to say the word, and I would like you to say the word after me.

Let's have a go together.

Texture.

Excellent.

Charcoal.

Very good.

And frottage.

Wonderful, well done.

Let's have a look at the meanings of some of those words.

Texture means how something feels, or how something looks like it would feel if touched.

Charcoal is an art media made from burnt wood.

You might have seen this before.

And a frottage is making an artwork, by rubbing over a textured surface with a media, to see the pattern underneath.

Here are our learning cycles for today's lesson.

Let's have a look at our first learning cycle.

In our first learning cycle, we are going to identify and discuss different textures we might see around us.

Texture is the way something feels when you touch it.

Have a look carefully at this rock.

These rocks could be described as having a rough or bumpy texture.

Texture is not always rough, bumpy, and hard.

A teddy bear might feel soft and fuzzy.

A glass bottle might feel really smooth and cool.

And a slug might feel sticky and slimy.

All three of these objects have different textures, which are not rough, bumpy, and hard.

Which of these objects has a soft texture? Is it A, the rocks, B, the teddy, or C, the slug? Pause the video here to give you time to think really carefully about your answer.

Well done, that was some great thinking.

Let's have a look at the answer together.

It was B.

The teddy bear has a soft texture, whereas the rocks have a bumpy, rough texture, and the slug has a slimy and sticky texture.

Maybe you've touched one of those before.

"Izzy is Looking at these different objects.

Help Izzy to match the texture word to each object." Let's have a look.

We have a balloon, some bark from a tree, and a leaf.

Here are Izzy's words.

We have smooth, squishy, and scratchy.

Think carefully about which word matches the texture of which object.

That was some great thinking, well done.

Let's have a look at which word matches each object.

Our balloon can be described as squishy.

The bark might be described as scratchy, and the leaf can be described as smooth.

Imagine if we ran our hand along that leaf.

It would feel different from the balloon and the bark.

Izzy says, "The bark feels rough, dry, hard, and bumpy when I feel it with my hands." Now it's your turn for another question.

"True or false? Textures can only be rough, hard, and bumpy." Pause the video here to give yourself time to think really carefully about your answer, and I will pause too, to give you time.

Well done.

That was some great thinking.

Let's have a look at the answer together.

It was false, why? Textures can be rough, hard, and bumpy, but they can also be smooth, soft, and fuzzy, just like that teddy bear we looked at earlier.

"To show different textures, we can use our marks making in different ways to create lines and patterns." In this image, the artist has used lots of different styles of mark making, to show the different texture of the sponge.

We can see round marks, soft marks, lines and scratches, all to show you lots of different textures.

Sometimes an artist will repeat a line, to show a man-made texture, just like this over here.

Lucas says, "I have noticed that the lines on this metal grate are really straight, and there are lots of them." Perhaps you've noticed that too about metal grates when walking down the road.

"Sometimes artists will use spiky lines to show the texture of a shell, or a bumpy leaf." Andeep says, "This shell feels bumpy when I touch it.

The texture almost looks like waves." Yes, they do, the way they go up and down.

Now it's our turn to have a go.

I'm going to draw spiky lines to show a bumpy texture.

Here are my bumpy lines being drawn with charcoal.

They are spiky and bumpy.

Now it's your turn to give this a go.

You are going to draw spiky lines to show a bumpy texture.

You can pause the video here, to give you time to have a go at that task.

Well done, that was some great thinking.

Let's have a look at what your artwork might look like.

Here are some bumpy spiky lines.

They're showing a rough or spiky texture, one that might feel quite hard under our hand.

Spiky lines might be helpful when an artist is drawing a bumpy texture.

We can use blending, or light lines, to show a smooth texture.

"To make my drawing show the smooth texture of these conkers, I will use soft, blended lines." That's a great idea by Alex, isn't it? Let's have a look what that might look like.

I'm going to draw soft, light lines, for a really smooth texture.

Can you see how I'm using the side of my charcoal, rather than just the point of my charcoal and that helps to create those softer lines.

Now it's your turn to have a go.

You are going to draw soft light lines.

You could use the side of your charcoal for a smooth texture.

You can pause the video here, if you need some time to complete that task.

Well done, that was a great use of charcoal.

Your lines might have looked a little bit like this.

Soft, light lines might be helpful, when an artist is drawing a smooth texture.

Well done, some great thinking there.

Here is your first task of today's lesson.

Your task A, is to describe the texture of these three objects to your partner.

Task B, is to discuss what types of marks are going to be useful to draw these textures, thinking about what we've just looked at with those images.

Let's have a look at the textures you are going to describe.

We have some bricks that look like they've been broken.

We have a natural sponge or scourer.

And finally we have a glass marble.

So remember, your first task is to describe the textures to your partner of these three objects, and your second task, is to discuss what types of marks are going to be useful to draw these textures.

Your second part of this task, is to draw the textures.

You can use your sketchbook or even some sticky notes, to have a go at those using those marks that you have discussed.

You can pause the video here, or I will pause to give you time to complete that task.

Well done, that was some great thinking.

Let's have a look at what you might have said.

The sponge is bristly, coarse, prickly.

The bricks are bumpy, prickly as well, definitely rough under my hands, and scratchy.

And the marble is smooth, silky, and slippery.

Did you come up with those words, or did you have some other ideas as well? You may have drawn, straight and hard lines, scratchy and scribbly lines, and smooth, soft lines when you are drawing that glass marble.

Some really great work, well done.

Now it is time for our second learning cycle.

In this learning cycle, you are going to be exploring textures with charcoal.

Artists can use lots of different drawing tools to create texture.

Remember, that is how something feels when we touch it or look at it.

We might use straws, a pen, or a stick as our chosen drawing tool, but today, we are going to use charcoal.

Charcoal is a special type of black media made from wood.

It sometimes comes like a powder, and sometimes it comes in sticks that still look a little bit like the wood it was made from.

Wood is heated up in a special way where no air can get in.

When the wood gets really, really hot in the fire, it changes.

The water inside the wood disappears and the wood becomes light black and powdery.

This is our charcoal.

Charcoal is a useful tool for artists, because, it can be smudged and blended.

It can be used to create lots of different types of marks, like these swirls and dots in this image, and it can create both very light, and very dark lines by using more of it with more pressure or less pressure.

Now it's your turn to have a go at a question.

Charcoal is made from, is it A, wood, B, leaves, or C, ink? Pause the video here to give you time to think really carefully about your answer.

Let's have a look at what you may have thought.

Charcoal is made by heating up wood to a very high temperature, so charcoal is made from wood, answer A.

As it is soft, charcoal can be used to create textures using a frottage technique.

Remember that's one of our key words for today.

Frottage is when we create an artwork by rubbing over a textured surface to show the patterns underneath.

Here are some examples of Frottage drawings.

Here, I think we have a leaf texture.

Here's something which is a bit bumpier and rougher, and here I think this is a manmade texture, 'cause it has very even lines.

A frottage is made by placing paper over a textured surface.

Here, our frottage is being made on the ground over a metal grate.

An artist can then use charcoal to rub over the paper, so the texture appears on the paper.

It's a really magical process.

Charcoal works really well when creating a frottage as it is a soft material, so picks up those different textures.

When you rub the paper with charcoal, it shows all the little details of the texture.

Notice how we're using our charcoal on the side as well, to help us pick up all of those different textures.

Now it's time for you to answer a question.

True or false? Charcoal is a great material to create frottages from, as it is soft.

Is that true or false? Pause the video here, to give you some time to think carefully about your answer.

Let's have a look at the answer together.

It's true, why? Because it is soft, charcoal can show all the small textured details within a surface.

Did you get that right? Well done if you did, some really careful thinking there.

Izzy and Sofia are experimenting with charcoal.

Sofia says, "I'm going to create a frottage of this fabric.

I will need to rub really gently with my charcoal on the paper." Sofia looks at her work.

I think it's a great start, don't you? Sofia says, "I like my work! The charcoal showed up the texture really well.

But I wonder if I can add more to my drawing?" That's always a really good question, isn't it? What can I do to improve? Izzy looks at Sofia's frottage.

She has some suggestions.

"I think you could use charcoal to draw different lines over the top of your frottage.

Let's have a look.

Ooh, those lines really help to enhance her work, doesn't it? Sofia says, "Yes! Maybe I could add darker marks with the charcoal, picking out some of the different textures." It looks really good now, doesn't it, with those dark marks on top? Izzy has some more advice for Sofia.

She says, "What if you tried making another frottage over the top of your first one? So you would have two different textures." That could make the artwork really interesting, couldn't it? Here's her artwork now.

What other advice might you give to Sofia? Perhaps you noticed some of the space left, and thought about what she could do to fill it.

Let's have a look now at our second task of today's lesson.

Number one, explore textures using charcoal, creating frottage drawings from natural and human-made materials.

You might find a leaf, some bark, some fabric, some rocks, or bubble wrap.

Let's have a look at the second part of today's task.

You are going to use charcoal to add to your frottages by adding darker marks, or creating another frottage of a different texture over the top.

Have a look around you for some of the textures that you might see.

There could be some interesting textures in your home, or your garden, or in your classroom.

What materials have a really interesting feel that could enhance your work and your frottage drawings? You can pause the video here, to give you some time to think really carefully, and gather some interesting materials to create your drawings from.

I can't wait to see what ideas you come up with.

Let's have a look at what your artwork might have looked like.

Some great ideas there with lots of different textures.

Let's have a look in a little bit more depth.

You might have used charcoal, to show different textures layered one on top of the other.

You might have used rocks to find some bumpy textures, and created a frottage drawing from them.

You might have found different textures that are not from nature, such as a metal grid, some fabric, or some bubble wrap.

You might have found some natural textures, such as tree bark and leaves, and seen how they were different from those human-made textures that we talked about earlier.

Well done on all of your hard work into today's task.

There are some excellent ideas for your frottage drawings there, and some great exploration of charcoal as a material.

Let's have a look at what we have learned today.

We now know that when an artist draws a texture, they are trying to show how something feels.

We now know that we can use different marks and lines to show texture.

We know that because it is soft, charcoal can show all the small textured details within a surface.

And we know that artists, can use the frottage technique with charcoal, which is when we create an artwork, directly from a textured surface, just like you've done today.

Well done on all of your fabulous learning in today's lesson.

I hope to see you again soon.

Thank you so much for joining me.

Bye!.