Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mrs. Tipping, and I'm really looking forward to learning with you today all about insects through drawing and printmaking.

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 observe and draw insects.

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 first key words we'll be using today are observational drawing and tone.

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

Observational drawing.

Tone.

Good job.

Now let's look in more detail about what these keywords mean.

Observational drawing means carefully looking at something real and drawing what you see.

And tone is how light or dark something is.

Pause the video here to make a note of these key words.

And when you are ready to continue, press play.

These are the other key words we are going to be using today.

Sketch or sketching, form, or composition.

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

Sketch.

Form.

Composition.

Good job.

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

Sketching means making quick and simple drawings to show ideas or the things we see.

Form is to take or make something take a particular shape.

Composition is the combination of a selection of elements arranged and organised.

Pause the video here to make a note of these key words.

And when you're ready to continue, press play.

These are the learning cycles that we're working through together in today's lesson.

Observational sketching of insect forms and drawing your insect composition.

In this first learning cycle, we're going to explore observational sketching of insect forms. Look closely at this drawing.

What do you think the artist was looking at to help them draw this? 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? What do you think they were looking at? Well, observational drawing is drawing what you see by looking closely at it.

So looking at this butterfly here, can you see how we've made a quick sketch? Where possible, artists can draw from real life to best capture a subject's details? Alternatively, they might observe a photo when drawing.

When creating an observational drawing, artists use the elements of art.

They might focus on shape and line when sketching to capture the forms. Can you see from these observational drawings what the artist is starting to draw? When observing forms, artists can use line in different ways such as continuous line.

Continuous line drawing is a technique where the artist cannot lift their pencil from the page.

You can see some examples of continuous line drawings here.

Andeep is thinking about the different ways of creating an observational drawing.

He says, "I'm going to experiment with different ways of sketching to really explore the insects form." Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

What is the main purpose of observational drawing? To draw from your imagination, to copy someone else's artwork, or to carefully draw what you see in real life or a photo.

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? If you said that the main purpose of observational drawing is to carefully draw what you see in real life or in a photo, then you are absolutely right.

Well done.

Now for this drawing exercise, you'll need a whiteboard and pen or a sketchbook and pencil.

Now, remember, your do not need to be perfect.

So I'm gonna draw the ant using a continuous line.

That means not lifting your pencil off the paper.

So take a good look at this ant here, and you have a go now at drawing it in one continuous line, and you have one minute to do so.

Pause the video here and give yourself one minute to draw, and press play when you're ready to continue.

How did you get on? Well, you may have found that you focused on the overall shape and tried looking more at the ant than your own drawing.

And here's an example here.

It's quite tricky to draw in a continuous line, but it's interesting to see what the result is.

Now try drawing the ant using only dots.

Use the small dots to build the shape instead of lines.

So have a go at that drawing the ant using just dots.

Pause the video here and give yourself one minute to do so, and press play when you are ready to continue.

How did your drawing go? Well, you may have slowed down and really looked at each part of the ant.

Can you see how different this drawing looks compared to the continuous line? Now, if I use my non-dominant hand, that means the hand you don't usually draw with.

I might get an interesting drawing there.

So have a go now at drawing the ant using your non-dominant hand.

Pause the video here and give yourself one minute to do this, and press play when you are ready to continue.

How did you get on? Well, you might have worked slowly and carefully to really look at what you're drawing.

I bet it's quite tricky to use your non-dominant hand to draw the ant, but an interesting result all the same.

When you create an observational drawing, you look carefully at a real object or photograph and draw what you see.

You might start by sketching the form loosely, so looking at the overall appearance of that object, then you might look at adding the details.

Then we'll continue to look back and forth from the object to your paper, really carefully paying attention to those smaller, finer details.

You can use shapes to help draw on insects carefully and make it look more accurate.

So can you see here the shapes that have been drawn? We've got some triangular shapes here on the wings, haven't we? Almost like four triangles.

Can you see how those simple shapes have helped us start with our insect drawing? So if I look carefully at an insect photo and draw its basic shape, which is called its form, this is what I might do.

So can you see the purple overlaying on this butterfly here? So I've drawn that middle simple shape and then those four triangles on the wings.

So you look now carefully at your insect photo and draw its basic shapes.

Pause the video here and give yourself enough time to have a go at that, and press play when you're ready to continue.

How did that go? Well, maybe your drawing looks a bit like this, and your shapes help make the wings and body clear, and it looks balanced on both sides.

So that's a good way of starting with the basic form of your drawing.

Frances Gynn is a British-born artist.

She creates detailed prints and drawings inspired by nature and the environment.

Her work often includes close observation of plants, insects, and textures, and she uses drawing to explore shapes and patterns found in the natural world, which helps her develop her print designs.

How could Frances Gynn's work inspire your own drawings? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner, and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? How could her artwork inspire your drawings? Well, Andeep says, "I like how Frances Gynn observes nature closely.

I'll try drawing insects in the same way, paying attention to their form and details." And Sofia says, "Her detailed drawings make me want to focus on the shape of insects and add more lines to show their texture." Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Frances Gynn uses drawing and close observation of nature to inspire her prints.

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 true, you're absolutely right.

Frances Gynn carefully studies nature, like plants, insects, and textures.

She uses drawing to explore pattern and shapes, which she then uses in her prints.

This brings us to our first learning task.

I'd like you to look closely at some photographs of insects and sketch three different insects from observation, and spend about five minutes on each sketch.

Now, think about focusing on the shape and form of the insect, not the small details.

Look carefully at the body parts, the head, the thorax, the abdomen, the wings, and the legs.

And use light sketching lines to build the basic shape and structure.

Remember, you are training your eyes to observe like an artist.

Pause the video here and give yourself enough time to have a go at this task, and press play when you're ready to continue.

How did that go? Were you able To observe some different insects and draw those using these pointers here? Well, hopefully you sketched three different insects, each from a photograph.

You focused on the overall shape and main body parts, not the tiny details.

And hopefully you were looking carefully and drawing what you saw, not from memory or imagination.

So your sketches might look a bit like these ones here.

Not quite got the detail on there yet.

Just that form.

Well done for having a go at this task.

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

We're going to develop your composition.

How can this drawing be developed? Hmm.

Pause the video here and have a discussion With your partner and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? How could we develop this drawing? Andeep said, "Maybe you could add colour to make it more like the real insect," and Sofia says, "There is no background.

Maybe you could add something behind the insect to show where it lives." They're both good suggestions, aren't they? Composition is how different elements are chosen and arranged to create a finished piece.

What do you like about this layout or composition? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner, and press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you like about it? Well, maybe you like the lightly shaded background or perhaps the insect being in the centre of the page, or maybe it's a realistic setting of a flower in the foreground that you liked.

Maria Sibylla Merian is a German-born artist and scientist who is known for her detailed drawings of insects and plants.

She used bright natural colours to show the beauty and accuracy of butterflies, caterpillars, and flowers.

Her compositions were carefully arranged, often showing the lifecycle of insects on one page.

She combines scientific observational drawing with artistic skill, making her work both beautiful and informative.

How could Merian's work inspire your use of colour and composition? Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think, and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? How could her work inspire your use of colour and composition? Well, Andeep says, "Merian's colours really make the insects stand out.

I could try using bright colours to show the important parts of the form." And Sofia says, "I like how she puts the insects and plants together.

Maybe I could think more about what goes around my insect too." Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Maria Sibylla Merian used careful composition in her artwork to show insects in their natural surroundings, like on plants and flowers.

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

What did you think? If you said that's true, you're absolutely right.

Remember, composition isn't just about where things are placed.

Composition also considers the elements work together to create a balanced and interesting image.

Artists think carefully about where they put things to make their compositions look balanced.

Take a look at this drawing here, how it's different because of where that item has been placed.

Which composition do you think is the most successful? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner, and press play when you're ready to continue.

Which one did you think was more successful? Well, the spider is in the centre and the main focus here, so the composition is balanced.

Half of the spider is in the composition here, so the details cannot be seen.

And the spider here is in the foreground and cropped, so there is a sense of movement.

When planning your composition, consider where your insect will be placed on the page.

What will be next to your insect? A flower or a leaf, for example.

And how will you balance the space around your insect to make your drawing feel complete? Insects are often found near flowers for nectar, leaves for food or hiding, stems or branches to rest or crawl on, fruit because some insects feed on it, and grass or soil where they live or lay eggs.

Think about where your insect might be in your composition.

Andeep and Sofia discuss ideas for their composition.

Andeep says, "I think I'll put my insect in the middle, and add a flour on the side so it looks balanced." Sofia says, "I want to place my insect near a leaf, but I'll leave some space around it so the background isn't too crowded." Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

The insect needs to be in the centre of the page for a balanced composition.

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 it's false, you're absolutely right.

Composition can be balanced even if the insect is placed off centre.

Balance is about how all elements, insect, plants, and background, work together, not just where the main subject is.

How has the artist made these drawings look more realistic? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner, and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? How has the artist made these drawings look more realistic? Well, adding tone and colour can make your drawing more realistic.

Tone is how light or dark something is, so use darker tones for shadows, like under the insect or behind it.

Which darker tones can you spot? Pause the video here, have a moment to think, and press play when you're ready to continue.

What darker tones could you spot? Hopefully it was these colours here, deeper orange, brown, and that black brown colour.

You then use lighter tones for highlights.

Which lighter tones can you spot? The darker tones with those dark oranges and browns and black.

What lighter tones can you spot? If you saw these different shades of yellow, then you're absolutely right.

Well done.

Choosing the right colours for light and dark areas helps make your insect look more realistic.

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

Which tone is the lighter tone? Explain to a partner how you know.

Is it A, B, or C? Pause the video here and give yourself time, and press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said it was a, you're absolutely right.

The lighter tone is the one that appears closer to white.

This now brings us to our final learning task.

I'd like you to plan and draw your insect composition.

Choose your insect and look closely at the photograph for details.

Plan where you want your insect to be placed.

Think about what it will be next to, whether that's a flower or a leaf.

Then draw your insect in detail using the photograph to help add small features.

Then add tone and colour.

Use darker tones for shadows and lighter tones for highlights.

Add colour to your insect and the background, making sure it looks realistic.

And spend time on this drawing.

The more detail you add, the more realistic it will look.

So pause the video here and give yourself enough time to follow those steps to develop your composition, and press play when you're ready to continue.

How did you get on? Were you able to draw your insect in detail? Well, let's take a look at this example here.

So you may have drawn your insect in detail using the photograph to help with accuracy.

You may have a background that relates to the insect.

like with this lady bird here, we've got a leaf.

And the tone and colour you've used has made your drawing look more realistic with those light and dark areas.

Well done for having a go at this learning task, and drawing your insect in detail and adding colour and tone to make it look as realistic as possible.

Before we finish this lesson, let's summarise what we've learned about drawing and observing insects in detail.

Sketching from observation helps you capture the form of an insect by noticing its details and shapes.

Planning your composition allows you to think about where to place your insect and what it might be next to.

Using tone, the light and dark areas, and colour helps make your drawing look more realistic.

Thank you for joining me in this lesson today.

I hope to see you in the next one.

See you next time.