Lesson video

Hello, everyone.

My name is Ms. Nicholson, and I'm so excited that you've joined me for this series of Art and Design lessons all about representing yourselves and others in art and design.

In this lesson, we will explore how to represent relationships through drawing and painting.

I'm so excited to get started and I hope that you are too.

Let's get going.

In this lesson, we're going to learn how to express feelings using colour, lines, and also shapes.

Let's take a look at our keywords for this lesson.

Repeat after me.

Abstract.

Great job.

Abstract is a type of art that uses shapes, colours, and lines to show feelings instead of drawing things exactly how they look in real life.

Take a look at the example.

We can't really make out exactly what is being painted.

This is abstract art.

Emotion.

Great job.

Emotion is a feeling that you have inside, like being happy, sad, angry, or even excited.

Relationship.

Great job.

A relationship is a special connection that you have with someone.

In the picture, you can see a special connection between the two people that have their arms around each other.

Composition.

Great job.

Composition is how an artist arranges different elements of an artwork.

In the example, you can see that the blue line has been placed beside the yellow squiggle.

Figurative.

Great job.

Figurative art is a type of art that shows things or people that are rarely there.

As you can see in this example, this is a painting of a person, and you can clearly see that.

This is figurative art.

This lesson has two cycles.

In the first cycle, we'll be learning about abstract art and composition, and then we'll move on to creating art to show relationships.

We'll, first of all, start off with abstract art and composition.

Take a look at these shapes.

If these shapes could talk, what would they say to each other? Use your imagination and think about how they're positioned on the page.

Maybe the lighter shape would say, "Thank you for being a great friend," and the darker shape might say, "I care about you very much." But why do we think that? These shapes are overlapping, so have a connection with each other.

They're close together, which might represent maybe hugging each other.

This is called composition.

Composition in art is how an artist arranges the different elements of artwork, such as the lines, the shapes, and also the colour.

In the example we, saw overlapping.

Overlapping shapes in art and design can create a feeling of connection, community, and it can also represent different relationships.

Now let's check for your understanding.

True or false? Composition in art is what the artist uses to create art with.

Is that true or is it false? You can pause the video here.

Have a think and rejoin once you're done.

How did you get on? Let's find the answer.

The answer is false.

Composition in art is how an artist arranges the different elements of an artwork, like the lines, the shapes, and the colours.

It is not what the artist uses to create the artwork.

Let's move on.

Artists and designers can express relationships and emotions through colour, lines, and shapes.

This type of art is called abstract art.

We've got colour, the lines, and also the shapes.

Here are some ways you can do this.

You can group the different shapes or you can enclose the different shapes and lines.

You can link some of the lines and shapes together.

You can create a flow of lines, or you can also separate the shapes.

Let's check for your understanding.

Look at the images below.

Which one of these examples shows linking? Tell a partner how you know.

Is it A, is it B, or is it C? Pause the video, talk to a partner, and rejoin once you're done.

Good luck.

How did you get on? Let's find out the answer.

The answer was C.

The two shapes are touching, which helps to show how they are joined together.

Jun and Aisha talk about which composition techniques they might use to show connection.

They thought about grouping, and Jun said, "The grouping of the circle makes me think of people working as a team and feeling supported." What kind of teams can you think of? Aisha said, "The grouping of the circle makes me think of a big family coming together." Maybe they might be having dinner together.

Artists and designers can choose different colours to show feelings in relationships.

Here are some examples of the different feelings each colour might represent.

It's important to remember that different colours represent different things for different people.

For example, red could represent anger or also love.

Orange and yellow could represent excitement.

Green might represent calm, thinking about the trees outside.

Blue can sometimes represent worry or sadness.

Sometimes purple might represent embarrassment too.

There is no right or wrong.

It's actually a personal choice.

For example, Jun said, "The colour red can sometimes mean love.

This could represent love in a big family." Aisha said, "The colour red can also represent danger or anger," and she is right.

Sometimes we see warning signs in red to represent danger.

Let's check for your understanding.

Artists can show relationships and emotions through colour, lines, and? Do you think it's A, words? B, shapes? C, music? Or, D, actions? Pause the video here.

Go and have a think and come back once you're done.

How did you get on? Let's find out the answer.

The answer is B, shapes.

I hope that you got that right.

If you didn't, don't worry.

Let's move on.

What does this abstract composition make you think about? This composition is called enclosing.

Jun says, "Enclosing means surrounding something or putting something inside another thing." And Aisha said, "I feel like this when I'm nervous." Aisha has connected the enclosing composition to how she might feel sometimes.

Alex, Izzy, and Sam share their thoughts about these abstract compositions.

We've got three examples.

Alex said, "This composition reminds him of playing with his best friend." Izzy said, "This composition reminds her of linking arms with her Gran." And Sam said, "This composition reminds her of running fast with her uncle." Now it's time to check for your understanding and have a practise.

I paint abstract lines, shapes, and colours to represent a relationship.

Here is my composition of abstract lines, shapes, and colours.

I might say I have used green and blue because they make me feel calm.

Now it's your turn.

You paint or draw abstract lines, shapes, and colours to represent a relationship of your choice.

Pause the video here and come back once you're done.

Have fun.

How did you get on? Did you manage to create abstract lines, shapes, and colours to represent a relationship? You may have used blue and green because they make you feel calm or you may have chosen something different.

Maybe you used red to show love.

Let's move on.

Well done.

Now it's time for Task A.

Create an abstract composition that represents your relationship with someone.

You could use paint, pens, pencils.

It's important to consider the lines, the shapes, and also the colour that you're using.

Here are some examples.

In the second part of Task A, you're going to talk about your abstract composition and the relationship that it represents.

You may use this sentence stem to help you.

You could say this composition represents something.

The colours I chose are something and something, where you will fill in your colours, which represent something and something, they could be the emotions that you're feeling.

Pause the video here.

Go and have a try at creating your abstract composition and then talk about which relationship it represents to you.

I look forward to seeing how you get on.

Good luck.

How did you get on? Did you manage to use paint, pencils, or pen to represent different relationships using lines, shapes, and also colours? You may have produced something like this.

You may have created swirly lines, straight lines, wiggly lines.

You may have overlapped the shapes or linked the shapes or placed the shapes on top of each other.

You may have even enclosed the shapes.

You may have used green to represent calm or you may have used yellow to represent excitement.

Well done at creating your compositions.

You may have talked about your compositions and why you created them.

You may have said, "This composition represents meeting someone new.

The colours I chose are blue and yellow, which represent excitement and worry." Meeting somebody new can be exciting, but also quite worrying as well.

Well done if you manage to talk about your abstract composition.

Great job.

Let's move on.

It's now time for cycle two and we're going to be creating art to show a relationship.

Take a look at this image.

How do you think these two people in this painting are connected? And how do you know? Have a think.

Jun said, "I think these people are friends because they have their arms around each other and are smiling." I agree with Jun.

What things can you recognise in this painting? You can see the trees, you can see the sky, you can see the flowers and the people.

This is an example of figurative art.

Figurative art is a kind of art that shows things we recognise, like people, animals, and also objects.

Here is an example of figurative art.

Lubaina Himid is an artist that creates figurative art of people that look like they could be real.

This is different to abstract art.

Abstract art is a type of art that uses shapes, colours, and lines to show feelings instead of drawing things exactly how they look in real life.

Here is an example of abstract art.

It uses shapes, colours, and lines, but you can't exactly see what it's representing in real life.

You can use your imagination.

Malin Gabriella Nordin creates abstract art that does not look like real people, animals, or places.

She uses shapes, colours, and also patterns.

Now it's time to check for your understanding.

Which of these images is not an example of figurative art? Is it A, is it B, or is it C? Pause the video here, go and have a think and then come back once you're done.

How did you get on? Let's find out the answer.

The answer was A.

This is an example of abstract art and not figurative art.

You can see the different lines and the different shapes and colours, but we can't identify a person or an object in the painting.

Great job.

Let's move on.

Figurative art does not always have to look exactly like the subject, but you should be able to tell what it is.

Let's find out what Aisha thinks.

She said, "I think that both of these paintings are figurative art because you can tell that the subject is a cat," and she's right.

In both of these pieces of art, you can clearly see that the subject is a cat.

Let's move on.

Aisha remembers how artists sometimes represent their subject as a silhouette.

A silhouette is like a shadow picture.

It's when you see the shape of something, but not the little details.

Take a look at this painting.

Can you describe the relationship between the people in the painting? Have a look at how they're standing.

What do you think? Jun says, "The silhouette shows people dancing.

I can't see their faces, but it looks like they are having fun together." Even though we can't see the people's faces, you can clearly see that they're having a great time.

Now let's check for your understanding.

A silhouette is when you see the shape of something and lots of detail.

Do you think that's true or false? Pause the video here, have a think and come back once you're done.

How did you get on? Let's find the answer.

This is false, but why? A silhouette is like a shadow picture.

It's when you see the shape of something, but not all the little details.

So this statement was false.

Great job.

Let's move on.

Some artists like to combine figurative and abstract art together.

This artist has used lots of different shapes and colours, but you can also see very clearly that there's two people.

This is a mix of figurative and abstract art.

Which abstract composition technique does this sculpture make you think about? Think back to some of those compositions you were practising earlier.

Which one does it make you think about? Is it linking, grouping, enclosing, separating, or flowing? Let's find out.

Jun said, "This sculpture makes me think about grouping and linking as the figures have their arms around each other," and I agree, you can really see that the figures have their arms around each other and they're actually grouped in a circle together.

Maybe they could be a family or friends.

Now it's time to check for your understanding.

True or false? Some artists like to combine figurative and abstract art together.

Do you think that's true or false? Have a think and come back once you think you've got the answer.

How did you get on? Let's find out the answer.

Answer is true.

Some artists like to combine figurative art, which shows real life things like people or animals, with abstract art, which uses colour, shapes, and patterns to show feelings or ideas.

They like to merge them both together.

How exciting.

Let's find out more.

To create art to show a relationship, you could brainstorm or have a think about how a person makes you feel.

Are they kind or caring? Did they help you with your homework? Are they loving? Do they make you smile? Think about the things that they do and how they make you feel.

Do you have somebody in your mind? How did they make you feel? Jun is now thinking about creating a piece of art to represent this person.

What abstract composition techniques could Jun use in his art to represent this person that is kind and caring and loving, makes him smile? Take a look at the examples below.

We've got overlapping, grouping, enclosing, linking, flowing, separating.

I wonder what he's going to use.

Jun said, "I think enclosing shapes represents my relationship with my sister because she makes me feel safe.

I will also use overlapping because my sister makes me feel loved." It's time for Jun to create his art.

Jun sketched out the basic silhouette shapes.

He said, "I used a light pencil grip to create sketching lines." Here are the basic silhouette shapes that Jun has created using a light pencil grip to create sketching lines.

Jun has used enclosing with the shapes.

He has one small shape inside a bigger shape, and he's also used overlapping as well.

The smaller shape overlaps the larger shape.

He then painted the silhouettes in his chosen colours.

Remember with a silhouette, you can't see all of the details.

It is just the basic shape.

Jun said, "I chose blue for calm and red and pink for love." This represents his relationship with his sister.

Now let's check for your understanding.

True or false? Colours represent the same feeling for everyone.

Is that true or false? Pause the video here, have a think, and come back once you're done.

How did you get on? Let's check the answer.

The answer is false.

Colours represent different feelings for different people depending on their own experience.

They do not represent the same feeling for everyone, so that answer was false.

Let's move on to the task.

You're now going to create silhouettes of two figures to show their relationship.

You could draw or paint these figures.

Consider the relationship you want to represent and also the composition of lines, shapes, and colour that we've covered today in the lesson.

This could be grouping, overlapping, separating.

It's completely up to you and whatever relationship it is that you want to represent.

Pause the video here, have a go, and I can't wait to see how you got on creating your silhouette of two figures to represent your relationship.

Have fun.

How did you get on? You should have created a drawing or painting to show relationships and here is an example.

Aisha said, "The colours make me think of feeling calm and loved.

The overlapping of the silhouettes also makes me think of a strong connection, like an older and younger sibling," and that's exactly the relationship that Jun wanted to represent.

Did you manage to represent a relationship with another person? Great job.

Well done.

It's now time to summarise our learning for today.

Composition in art is how an artist arranges the different elements of artwork, such as the lines, the shapes, and colour.

Today we looked at things like overlapping and enclosing different lines and shapes.

Abstract art is a composition of colour, lines, and shapes and can express feelings and emotions.

Today, we looked at a range of emotions, such as feeling calm, excited, and also safe.

And finally, figurative art is a kind of art that shows things we can recognise, like people, animals, and also objects.

I really hope that you've enjoyed representing relationships through art and design with me today.

Well done.

I've really enjoyed working with you.

I hope to see you next time.

Bye-bye.