Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mrs. Tipping and I'm really looking forward to learning with you today about reclaimed materials and looking at those through drawing, printing, and sculpture.

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 use a template to create a textured plaque from Play-Doh.

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

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

The keywords we'll be using today are template and perforations.

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

Template, perforations.

Good job.

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

A template is a shape or outline that you can draw around.

Perforations are a line of tiny holes that helps you to cut or tear something more easily.

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

Some more keywords we're going to use today are plaque and texture.

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

Plaque, texture.

Good job.

Now let's find out what these keywords mean by taking a look at their definitions.

A plaque is a flat shape with writing or a picture.

Texture is the feel or appearance of a surface.

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 that we'll be working through together in today's lesson: Using a template to create a plaque and Improving the texture of your plaque.

In the first learning cycle, we're going to have a look at using a template to create a plaque.

What do we call this style of image? Pause the video here and have a quick discussion with your partner, and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? Could you remember? Well, this is called a silhouette.

A silhouette is a shape that shows the outline of something but not the details inside.

Artists might use a silhouette as a template, and a template is like a shape or outline that you can draw around to help you make a copy.

Templates can also be helpful if an artist wants to make lots of copies of the same thing.

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

Templates should not be used to create more than one copy of something.

Is this statement true or false? 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 that's false, you are absolutely right, but why is that statement false? Pause the video here and can you explain to your partner, why this statement is false? And press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you discuss? If you said something like, "Sometimes artists will use templates to make several copies of the same shape or image or a single accurate copy," then you are absolutely right, well done.

Jacob is going to use a template with Play-Doh.

"I can use this template to make a plaque." A plaque is a flat shape with writing or a picture.

Jacob says, "I have seen plaques outside of buildings and also in museums before." Take a look at this example here of a Roman plaque.

You can see that there is a picture on it of some horses and some men and a chariot.

Have you seen this plaque before? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner, and press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you think? Have you seen this plaque before or something similar? Well, to make his plaque, Jacob starts by pressing down his Play-Doh until it is flat.

It needs to be about the same thickness as a five pence piece.

Jacob presses down his dough, checking it is not too thin.

"I don't want it to be too thin as it will break when I peel it off the table." Jacob makes sure his template will fit in the centre of the Play-Doh.

He says, "I'll leave a small border of Play-Doh around my template, so I won't cut too close to the edge." That's a good idea, but we don't wanna waste too much either, so try and get it with just a small border.

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

Which of these templates has been placed correctly? A, B, or C? 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 C, you are absolutely right.

This template has been placed in the centre of the dough.

This artist is using a tool to make perforations around their template.

A perforation is a line of tiny holes that helps you to cut or tear something more easily.

So Jacob makes perforations around his template and he's using a fork to make those perforations.

Can you see how he's gone all the way around his fox with his fork carefully? He can then use a cutting tool to cut out his plaque.

So he's gonna use the perforations to guide him.

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

Perforations help to: cut or tear something more easily; paint a picture; or create colour and pattern? 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 that perforations helped to cut or tear something more easily, you are absolutely right.

And perforations can be made with a special clay tool or a fork.

This brings us to our first learning task.

I'd like you to use a template to make a plaque.

Start by pressing down your Play-Doh until it is flat.

Then, check that it's not too thin.

We want it to be as thin as a five pence piece.

Then place your templates in the centre of the dough.

And then, use a fork to make perforations.

And finally, use a cutting tool to cut out your plaque.

Pause the video here and give yourself enough time to have a go at rolling out your Play-Doh and creating your plaque, and press play when you are ready to continue.

How did you get on? Shall we take a look at an example? Well, hopefully, you now have your plaque template cut out and you've used your template to create your plaque carefully and use those perforations around the outside of your template using a fork, and use your cutting tool to help you cut out your plaque carefully.

That looks like an excellent fox plaque, doesn't it? So hopefully, you did that with your animal, well done.

This now brings us to the second part of our lesson.

We're to look at improving the texture of your plaque.

Now what can you see in this plaque? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner, and press play when you are ready to continue.

What could you see? Well, the artist here has created detail by using shape and texture.

What do you think this plaque now needs? Pause video here and have a discussion with your partner.

What would you do here? And press play when you are ready to continue.

What do you think this plaque now needs? Well, Jacob says, "I think this plaque now needs some texture, to show what the fox's fur might feel like." So you can see some examples of texture there.

How do we create that? Adding texture can help an artwork look bumpy, smooth, soft, or rough just like in real life.

An artist can use lots of different tools to create texture in a material such as Play-Doh.

Special clay tools can be used to create some textures and here are some of the tools you can use.

Artists can also use everyday objects to create different textures like scissors.

Jacob says, "I could carefully snip at the Play-Doh to create small spikes.

I could pinch the clay with a peg to create a wobbly, thin texture." Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

What kind of texture could you make with this pencil? Pause a video here and give yourself a moment to think, and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? Well, Jacob says, "I could press the pencil into the clay to make small circles.

And this might be good to show the texture of scales or spirals." So well done if you thought of something similar that you could create with this pencil.

Now, once you've added some texture to your work, you might want to have a careful look to see what you could improve.

You might want to share some of the challenges you faced.

Jacob says, "I found it really hard to use scissors to snip at the dough without cutting away too much." And Sam says, "You could try using a different tool instead, and this tool might create a similar effect!" You might ask for some ideas about what to do next.

Jacob says, "I wonder if I should create more of a furry texture on the legs of the fox." And Sam says, "Yes! You could make it less bushy by using a pencil to make smaller lines." That's some good advice.

So after you've shared and received ideas, you can go back to your work to make improvements.

So Jacob is going to improve his work.

He says, "I will think about adding more fury texture to the legs and try using different tools." Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Once an artwork is finished, artists should never change or improve it.

Is statement true or false? 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 that's false, you are absolutely right, but why is that statement false? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner to explain why this statement is false, and press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you discuss? Well, maybe you said something like, "Looking at your work and finding ways you could improve it is an important part of being an artist," well done.

This brings us to our final learning task.

I'd like you to add texture to your plaque.

You might think about using clay tools, maybe a peg or scissors, or maybe pencils or brushes.

So pause the video here and give yourself enough time to have a go at adding texture to your plaque using any of the different tools, and press play when you are ready to continue.

How did you get on? Which tool did you choose to use? Were there any that you found tricky? Well, let's have a look at this example.

Here on this plaque, a peg was used to pinch the clay on the tail, and traditional clay tools were used on the fox's main body and on his head and ears.

And a pencil was used for making small holes or circles for the nose and the eyes.

And scissors were used for making careful snips here on the fox's front.

And a brush for soft textures was used on his legs.

So well done for having a go at using tools to create different textures.

This now brings us to the second part of this learning task.

I'd like you to talk to a friend about how you could make improvements to the texture of your plaque, and before making your improvements.

So think about maybe saying: I wonder if I should.

I found it really hard to.

I thought I could try.

So pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner about the different improvements you could make to the texture, and press play when you are ready to continue.

How did you get on? Did you have a good discussion? Well, maybe you might have said something like, "I wonder if I should have more texture to the legs and the head." Or maybe, "I found it really hard to only snip a small part of my dough with the scissors, so used a peg instead." And, "I thought I could try making small lines with the pencil rather than dots." So those are the things you might have said and the improvements you might want to make.

So well done for improving the texture of your plaque.

Before we finish this lesson, let's summarise what we've learned about creating a silhouette plaque.

Sometimes artists will use templates to make several copies of the same shape or image, or a single accurate copy.

And artist might make perforations to make cutting or tearing easier.

And artists can go back and make improvements to their plaque by adding to or changing the texture.

Thank you for joining me in this lesson.

I hope to see you in the next one.

See you then.