Lesson video

Hello, everyone.

How are you doing today? I hope you're feeling really great.

I'm feeling good, and that's because I'm gonna be teaching you art today.

My name is Miss Afzal, and today we will be looking at a lesson called: Research and respond to a local landmark.

So hopefully you've been learning about landmarks, you know about some landmarks in your local area, and we are gonna find out more about them by researching and then responding to them.

Our lesson comes from the unit of work: Views of a local landmark: Ceramics.

Maybe that gives you an idea of what's to come in the future.

I hope you're ready, got lots of enthusiasm, you've got some ideas in your head.

And if you're all set to go, let's begin.

The outcome for our lesson today is: "I can research and respond to a local landmark." I'm excited to find out more about the landmarks in your area.

We have some keywords in our lesson today.

Let's go through them.

My turn, your turn.

Research.

Respond.

Subject.

Great to hear those words.

Let's find out what they mean.

Research is a process to deepen an artist's understanding of a subject.

Respond is a personal reaction to something, and subject is the thing an artwork is mainly about.

These are our keywords.

Let's look out for them.

Let's listen out for them and think carefully about them.

They'll be coming up in our lesson today.

Research, respond and subject.

Our lesson is called Research and respond to a local landmark.

It has two parts to it: Researching a local landmark and Responding to a local landmark.

Let's begin by researching a local landmark.

Are you ready? Before starting an artwork, an artist might wish to research their subject further.

There's our keyword research, which means to deepen an artist's understanding of a subject.

The research of every artist will look different and be personal to them.

Let's have a check for understanding.

True or false: Research in sketchbooks should look the same? Pause the video while you decide is this is true or false.

Did you come up with the answer false? And now I'd like you to say why.

Say a little bit more about your answer.

Pause the video and share with someone.

I wonder if you came up with an answer like this: Research in sketchbooks is a personal process, and it's different for each artist.

It reflects their unique way of exploring and creating.

We are all unique.

That's what makes us so wonderful.

And so we're all gonna have our own unique ways of exploring and researching.

In art, research can look like many different things.

It might involve: historical research, finding facts or information about the subject to deepen the artist's understanding.

It might involve the formal elements of their subject, what are the shapes, colours, lines, tone, patterns, and textures within their subject? And it might involve material or technical exploration.

An artist might practise with or explore different materials to represent their subject.

So as we can see, there are many different ways that we can research.

Izzy is planning to research her landmark within her sketchbook.

Can you remember what Izzy's landmark is? Pause the video and tell someone nearby.

Yep, well done.

It was this wonderful castle.

Lucky Izzy, living near a castle.

Wow.

Izzy writes her title on her page first.

And there it is.

She says, "I want my title to be bold so everyone knows what my research is about." Great.

I love that, Izzy.

I love that really creative lettering that Izzy has used to write the word "the castle" and looks like she's ripped up a corner of some paper and stuck that into her sketchbook.

Great start, Izzy.

Izzy then finds out some historical facts about her landmark and includes them on her sketchbook page.

Izzy says, "I chose this landmark as I really liked its long and important history." And then we can see that Izzy's written out some facts and stuck them into her sketchbook.

I like the way that Izzy hasn't just written straight into the sketchbook, but has actually written onto this different paper and stuck that on.

It really makes those facts stand out a little bit more.

Izzy adds some images of her landmark to her page.

"I used these images as I liked the way my photograph used the strong light and shadows." That's great; so we can see one image on the left hand page where we can see the castle and where it's situated.

And then the other image on the right hand page is more of a closeup, giving us some more of the detail of the castle walls and the turret.

What do you think Izzy could research next? Pause the video and tell someone nearby, what could Izzy research next? I wonder what ideas you came up with and I hope you enjoyed sharing.

When researching, an artist might look at how other artists have represented their subject.

These artists have represented landmarks in different ways.

Jeanette Barnes, "Piccadilly Gardens," 2004.

Armando Morales represented "Tropical Forest" in 1989.

Abel Rodriguez represented "Las plantas cultivadas en la chagra," in 2021.

Izzy looks at the work of other artists.

"I chose to use charcoal to draw the castle as I really liked this material when I saw another artist use it." That's fantastic.

I love the way that Izzy has continued the image of the castle in her sketchbook.

She had that image of the castle, and now she's drawn with charcoal around it, expanding the image, that's wonderful.

And she took inspiration from another artist.

It's so great.

Izzy practises with her charcoal.

Izzy then thinks about the formal elements within her landmark.

"I can see different textures in my landmark.

I will sketch those next." And we can see that Izzy is honing in on the stones in our castle and sketching those.

"I will also try to match the colours I can see within the images." I like the way that Izzy is experimenting with different colours, creating different tones, and finding the one that best matches her landmark.

Check for understanding.

Which of these images show how an artist might research a subject? Historical facts, material exploration, formal elements.

Pause the video while you share with someone nearby.

I wonder if you chose all three of them.

Research can look like many different things, but should deepen the artist's understanding of their subject.

So it could be historical, material, or formal, or all of them, as Izzy has done as she's researching her landmark.

And now it's time for your first task.

I would like you to research your chosen landmark.

You might think about: including historical research, finding facts or information about the landmark.

The formal elements: what are the shapes, colours, lines, tone, patterns, and textures within your landmark? What about the material or a technical exploration? How other artists might represent your landmark.

So pause the video while you research your chosen landmark and you can use any and/or all of these elements.

I'll see you when you're finished.

Pause the video here.

It's great to be back with you.

How is your research page looking? I am wondering.

Or maybe pages.

You may have included: the formal elements, such as the colours and textures within your landmark.

If you did some historical research, sharing facts about your landmark, perhaps there was some material or technical exploration where you've borrowed ideas from other artists.

Well done for having a go at researching your local landmark.

And I hope you enjoyed it.

Maybe you found out some fun and interesting things about your landmark.

And now it's time for the next part of our lesson: Responding to a local landmark.

Responding to a subject means creating something that engages with or reacts to the subject.

It's not just about visually representing the subject, but about expressing an emotional or personal reaction to it.

Artists can respond to an artwork in lots of different ways: Sketching different parts of the subject they're exploring; sharing an opinion through words or images; using a range of materials or techniques to observe and explore the whole or parts of the subject.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Responding to a subject is.

A: copying the subject as it is.

B: creating artwork that engages with or reacts to the subject.

Or C: ignoring the subject and focusing on technique.

Pause the video while you decide which of these is responding to a subject.

Did you come up with answer B? Creating artwork that engages with or reacts to the subject.

Responding to an artwork means reacting to it, rather than just reproducing it.

Here's Izzy.

And she says that she really liked the texture of the castle walls and the lichen that grows on them.

I love how Izzy has really looked so carefully at the detail of what she could see on the castle walls and has then created her own drawing of the lichen.

Izzy starts by sketching the castle walls.

Izzy shares her opinion using annotations around her sketches.

So she's written, "I like the way that lichen grows in different colours on the castle walls." So that's a really nice thing that you can do to add to your sketchbook, to record your response through sharing your opinions.

Izzy also shares her opinion by selecting parts of the image that most appeal to her.

"I'll use a viewfinder to select parts of the image that interest me most, such as the windows." Let's have a go at using a viewfinder now.

Can you put your fingers together in this way? Fingers and thumbs to create a viewfinder.

And then have a look around you so that you are selectively viewing what's around.

What did you enjoy looking at with your viewfinder I wonder? Pause the video and tell someone nearby.

Thanks for sharing.

And you can use a viewfinder on the image of your landmark to really tune into what is it that interests you the most.

An artist might return to an image to explore it further or in a different way, using different materials.

"I might try using this image again, but use paints this time to show the colours as well as textures." Izzy looks again at the image of the castle walls.

"I layered my paints to reflect the different textures and colours that I could see." I love that, Izzy.

Using yellows and browns, different tones and shades, and layering them on top of each other.

Check for understanding.

True or false: An artist can only respond to an image once? Pause video while you decide, is this true or false? Well done if you selected false.

And now I'd like you to say a little more about your answer.

Pause the video and share a little more with someone nearby.

Perhaps you said something like this: Artists might return to an image that they liked, to approach it in a different way or by using different materials.

And now it's time for your next task.

I would like you to respond to your chosen landmark.

You might try: sketching different parts of the subject you're exploring, sharing an opinion through words or images, using a range of materials or techniques to observe and explore the whole or parts of the subject.

And remember, you can return to different parts of your image and keep exploring it in different ways.

Pause the video while you have a go at this task of responding to your chosen landmark.

I'll see you when you're finished.

It's great to be back with you.

I am curious to find out how you got on with responding to your chosen local landmark.

You might have: sketched different parts of the subject.

You might have used a range of materials or techniques to observe and explore parts of the subject.

Maybe you used pencil, maybe charcoal, perhaps watercolour, maybe you shared an opinion through words or images.

I hope you enjoyed responding to your local landmark.

Maybe you've learned more about your landmark.

Maybe you've learned more about your response to your landmark, and I hope it'll be something really nice for you to share with other people as well so they can find out more about your local landmark and your response to it.

In our lesson Research and respond to a local landmark, we have covered the following: Research is a personal process for each artist and reflects their unique way of exploring and creating.

Responding to a subject is not just about visually representing it, but about expressing a personal reaction to it.

Artists can return to a subject to approach it in different ways or with different materials.

It was great to explore researching and responding to a local landmark with you today.

I loved how you got involved in that research, finding out more about your chosen landmark.

And it was great to see how creative you got with responding to your subject, using different materials, writing out some of your ideas, annotating your images, and using viewfinders to hone in on what interests you most about your image.

Well done, everybody for putting in such a great effort today, and I am really looking forward to seeing you at another art lesson soon.

Bye for now.