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 trace outlines and layer materials to make a silhouette scene.

Before we start, I'd 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 keywords we'll be using today are trace, outline, and silhouette.

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

Trace.

Outline.

Silhouette.

Good job.

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

Trace is when an artist follows the lines of a picture or shape.

Outline is the outside edge or border of the shape.

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

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

These are the learning cycles that we'll be working through together in today's lesson, tracing an outline of a nocturnal animal and creating a silhouette scene.

In this first learning cycle, we're going to have a go at tracing an outline of a nocturnal animal.

What is an outline? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? What is an outline? Well, an outline is a shape that is the outside edge or border of the shape.

So have a look at this fox here.

Can you see that purple outline has gone all the way around the fox? There it is.

Now we've got rid of the image, you can see just the outline.

So it's the outside edge or border of the shape.

An outline shows what the object or shape looks like, but it is just the line around it, it's not the inside.

So can you see that there? We haven't got any of the details of the fox, just the outline shape.

Artists can use outlines to clearly show the shapes of objects, like this example outline here.

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

Which image shows an outline? Is it A, B, or C? Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think, and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said it's A, you're absolutely right.

Image A shows the fox's outline.

Image B shows the fox's fur texture and image C shows the shapes inside the fox, like the circle for the tail, the rectangle for the leg, and the circle for the eye.

Sometimes artists can draw an outline without a guide.

For more complex shapes, it can be helpful to trace an outline.

Tracing is when you follow the lines of a picture or shape with your pencil, and you might use tracing paper or a thin paper to trace.

An artist is tracing the outline image of a hedgehog.

What do you notice? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner, and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you notice? Well, perhaps you might have noticed that the artist is going really slow and following the lines carefully.

They're also starting at the top and working their way down.

Maybe you also noticed that the artist is using their other hand and masking tape to hold the paper still, and they're also sometimes lifting their paper to check they are tracing the outline accurately.

So you can also use tracing paper to trace your outline of your nocturnal animal.

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

When tracing, it helps to go quickly.

Is this statement true or false? Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think, and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said that's false, you're 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're ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said something like, when tracing an outline, it is better to go slowly and follow the lines carefully so your outline is more accurate, you're absolutely right.

Well done.

This now brings us to our first learning task.

I'd like you to trace the outline of an nocturnal animal.

Now, you might think about going slowly and following the lines carefully, starting at the top and working your way down, using your other hand and masking tape to hold the paper still, and sometimes lifting your paper to check you are tracing the outline accurately.

So you might prefer to use tracing paper or maybe some thin paper, it's up to you, but pause the video here and give yourself enough time to trace the outline of your nocturnal animal, and press play when you're ready to continue.

How did you get on? Did you find the tracing paper okay or was it a little bit tricky to follow? Well, hopefully you remembered to go slowly and follow those lines carefully, and starting at the top and then working your way down.

You might have remembered to use your other hand and masking tape to hold the paper still and to lift the paper to check you are tracing the outline carefully.

And you see these outlines here.

Hopefully one of yours looks like this, whether you did the fox, the owl, the hedgehog, the bat, or the badger.

Remember, it's just an outline, so there shouldn't be no detail on the inside.

So well done for tracing the outline of your nocturnal animal.

This brings us to the second part of our lesson.

We're going to create a silhouette scene.

Some artists use outlines of objects to create silhouettes.

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

What is this silhouette of? Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think, and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think this silhouette was? That's right, the silhouette is of a fox.

You see its bushy tail there.

Silhouettes are often made from black card or paper, as this helps them show up against a light background, but they can be any color the artist wants.

So here's a traditional black one, but we could also have the black background with the white silhouette, or you could go for a purple color.

Ugo Mochi was an artist who became famous for making pictures using silhouettes.

He carefully cut shapes out of paper to show animals and nature in a special way.

Ugo Mochi used black paper to create detailed animal silhouettes, showing their shape and movement without using any colors or lines in inside.

He studied real animals closely so he could make their outlines look just right, even capturing tiny details like feathers or fur.

Instead of drawing or painting, Mochi used scissors or a knife to cut his designs, turning plain paper into art.

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

Silhouettes must be made of black card or paper.

Is this statement true or false? Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think, and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said this statement is false, you're 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're ready to continue.

What did you discuss? Maybe you said something like, silhouettes are often made of black paper or card as this shows up well against a light background, but it is up to the artist which solid color they will use to make their silhouette.

So well done.

Jacob is making a silhouette scene.

He says, "I'm going to use silhouettes to create a nocturnal animal scene," like this scene here.

How can Jacob transfer his traced outline from his tracing paper onto his colored paper to make a silhouette? Hmm.

So there's his tracing paper with his outlines.

So what could he do? Well, there's the process here.

You need to carefully draw over your lines to make them bolder.

Then turn the tracing paper over and apply masking tape to your card or paper.

Then draw over your original lines.

So Jacob can now carefully cut out his silhouettes.

So can you see here, he first of all cut out just roughly around each of his animals, and then he went round a bit more careful to get those details cut out carefully.

Now, sometimes it helps to roughly cut your shapes out first before cutting the outlines more precisely, like you can see here.

Otherwise, sometimes the card feels a bit too big and you can miss bits.

And it also helps to make your outlines more accurate so you can really see the legs on the fox and we can see the ears on the bat, and they're quite small.

Now Jacob cuts out some extra shapes from his silhouette paper.

He says, "I want my scene to look like it's in a forest," so he might cut out some trees or some long branches.

He also layers some shapes made of tracing paper over his design.

He says, "I've used layers of tracing paper in some places." So he's added a layer on top of the trees there and even on some grass at the bottom, and there's also a moon shape now.

Can you see those there? Now he can then glue his silhouettes onto his paper or card.

He's decided to turn over his silhouettes so you don't see the pencil lines.

That's a good idea, because if you try and rub those lines out, there's a chance that you could rip your silhouettes, so it's better to just turn them over.

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

Why might an artist roughly cut out their silhouettes first? To make their artwork slower, to make their outlines bolder, to make their outlines more accurate.

Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think about the answer to this question, and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? Well, you might have said to make their outlines more accurate, and you'd be absolutely right.

That's why an artist might roughly cut out their silhouettes first, so then they're able to go carefully around their silhouettes.

This now brings us to our final learning task.

I'd like you to use your tracing from Task A to transfer your traced outlines onto your silhouette paper.

So remember the steps.

Carefully draw over your lines to make them bolder, then turn the tracing paper over, apply masking tape to your card or paper, and draw over your original lines.

Go through each of those steps carefully.

So this is the first part of that task.

Then I'd like you to create a silhouette scene by cutting out your silhouettes, adding additional shapes to your design, maybe adding layers of tracing paper to your design, and finally adding your silhouettes to your scene.

And remember that you can turn your silhouettes over so you can hide those pencil marks.

And right at the beginning when you cut out your silhouettes, cut roughly first and then go around and precisely cut more accurately around your silhouettes.

So pause the video here and give yourself enough time to, first of all, transfer your tracings onto the paper and card, and then go through this process of cutting them out, adding those additional shapes and layers before adding your silhouettes to the scene, and press play when you're ready to continue.

How did you get on? Were you able to transfer your tracing okay and cut out precisely? Well, you might have a scene that looks a bit like this.

You've transferred your traced outlines onto paper or card the color of your choice, and then carefully cut out your silhouettes.

And then maybe added layers of tracing paper to your scene, like we can see on the tree and the moon here.

We can see each of those nocturnal animals, the fox, the owl up in the tree, and the bat in the sky.

So well done for having a go at creating a silhouette scene.

There were lots of processes to go through and you did really well to manage each of those individually.

Before we finish this lesson, let's summarize what we've learnt about making a silhouette scene.

An outline is the border or outside edge of a shape.

For more complex shapes, it can be helpful to trace an outline.

And silhouettes are often made from black card or paper, but they can be any color the artist wants.

Thank you for joining me in this lesson today.

I hope to see you in the next one.

See you next time.