Lesson video

Hello and welcome to our lesson today.

My name is Ms. Holland and I'm going to be teaching you today and I'm very, very excited.

So let's get started.

What are we going to be learning about today? Well, today we're going to be creating an abstract composition, and this is part of our unit, Abstract art, drawing, printing, and textiles.

Our outcome today, so by the end of today's lesson, I can use tools of my own making to create an abstract composition.

The key words today are abstract, composition, and mark-making.

Abstract means art that does not try to represent something realistically.

Composition means the arrangement of visual elements such as shapes, colours, and lines within an artwork.

And mark-making are the lines, dots, and scratches created by tools.

Our lesson is in two parts.

The first section is about making an abstract composition, and the second section is about enhancing our composition with mark-making.

So let's get started.

Make an abstract composition.

Abstract mark-making can be created by using tools.

Here are two tools.

Can you see how they're made? Yes, one of them is a piece of cloth and the other is a piece of material on the end of a peg.

Artists might also create an abstract artwork through their use of materials.

Different materials have different qualities that an artist may wish to include in their work.

And by understanding and using these qualities, artists can enhance the mood, the movement and meaning within their artwork work.

So let's look at ink specifically.

Have you ever used ink? Well, ink is a material that has very unique qualities which make it great to use in an abstract composition.

So it can be built up as layers because it's semi-transparent.

And transparent means see-through.

So it's semi-through.

It can be diluted for different effects and it comes in a range of vivid colours.

If you ever see a row of ink bottles lined up, you can see the lovely bright vivid colours that come in.

This artist has built up layers of ink.

Can you see the different layers? Look really, really closely.

The artist has used a pale ink, then a slightly darker one, and then a really dark one on top.

If you layer ink, when the ink layers are wet, they may blend in, bleed into each other, which gives an effect.

But this artist has let them dry slightly before layering.

Artists can also dilute ink using water.

So here we have the artist who has diluted the ink using water and we can see different levels of dilution.

So the most colourful layer has the least dilution, the top one has the most dilution, it has least saturation of colour.

Or this artist has added drops of ink onto wet paper.

So the artist has made the paper go wet, put water on the paper, and then placed tiny drops of ink on it, which creates this lovely bleeded effect.

Which of the following images show the material ink? Well done, image A and image C of course show the material ink.

Image A shows a layered effect.

And image C shows a water wash with ink.

Different papers have different qualities and it can affect how we use ink.

So some paper is semi-transparent.

Again, semi see-through like tissue paper.

Look at this example here.

And have you ever used tissue paper? If you hold it up to the light, you can often see through it.

It can be cut, folded or ripped to change its appearance.

It can also be rolled and curled.

It's a very pliable material and some papers are very textured and textured in different ways.

If you've ever looked at watercolour paper, that's a very thick texture.

This artist is layering semi-transparent papers such as tissue paper.

So they may use papers with other layers of material.

So they've ripped it up and they're layering it on top.

And this artist has done folding, cutting, ripping for the paper to change its appearance.

And again, you could definitely roll it around a pencil and curl the paper for a different effect too.

And these papers have different textures.

How do you think the different papers would feel? Have a close look.

How do you think they would feel? What papers do you know that have different textures and why do you think that is? Materials placed on these papers will react differently.

So some may glide smoothly.

So if I use ink on some of these papers, it may glide on smoothly while others may smudge or pull or even resist the surface, which means won't sink into the surface, won't stick to the surface.

True or false.

All papers have the same texture, true or false.

Well done, it's false, yes, but why? Well done, different papers have different textures.

For example, tracing paper is smooth and thin.

Whilst watercolour paper is thick and textured.

Materials can look and behave differently depending on the surface of the paper.

Jacob is going to make an abstract composition using different materials.

So he is taking inspiration from everyday objects around his home.

He said, I chose these mugs as I like the smooth and the curved shapes.

Look really, really closely.

They're all very, very different both in shape and pattern and colour.

An everyday object is something often found in our daily lives, and that could be a cup, a mug, a pair of shoes, a set of keys, a chair, a table, anything in our everyday lives.

And normally they are manmade, so they're not natural materials.

These objects may seem ordinary, but artists often use them as sources of inspiration.

If you think about still lifes, that's often about bringing together a collection of everyday objects to observe.

Artists might make an abstract composition using everyday objects as inspiration, and that is what you'll be doing today.

And that means arranging lines, shapes, colours and textures that they observe in a new way in their artwork.

Remember, abstract art is not about representational art, it's not about representing what is in front of you, it's about abstracting it to express your emotion, your feelings, your thoughts, and your ideas.

So you might start your abstract composition using ink in the background to depict lines from your object.

So here we have Jacob.

He liked the way the colours of the ink stand out so boldly against the background.

So he's used water that ink that hasn't been highly diluted, and he's created lovely thick lines which mimic the lines, which represent the lines on the blue and white jug.

He's then said, he's then wanted to pick out some of the lovely shapes in this jug.

And you could do that.

You could then pick out and identify the shapes in your everyday object and place them in interesting ways in your abstract composition.

So Jacob says, "I have cut and ripped different layers of paper for my abstract composition." You could see him inspired by those two circles, one larger, one smaller on that jug.

And then you might experiment using paper in different ways.

So here again, Jacob said, "I've used some folded, ripped, cut paper in my abstract composition." And that reflects the lines again and the geometric shapes on his jugs.

And you could use different forms of paper manipulation such as curling.

And then you might experiment using ink on different paper surfaces.

So Jacob says, "I really like the vibrancy of the orange ink on the orange paper." So he's used orange paper with orange ink on top.

And again, you could do that.

Right, moving on to our first task, task A.

You're going to make your very own abstract composition.

So what I'd like you to first of all do is find some everyday objects that really interest you, that appeal to you.

And these could be any, they could be different shoes, they could be items of clothing.

They could be pictures from the wall.

They could be mugs or jugs.

Anything that really interests you.

And then I'd like you to observe them and look at the line on them and use ink to depict the lines you observe and arrange them in a compositional arrangement that suits how you want to express those objects.

And remember, you can use ink in different ways.

You can use ink with a low dilution of water.

So it's very vibrant.

You could dilute the ink, you could layer the ink, and you could bleed ink into a wash.

And then use paper.

So take different paper, think about the different textures, the different levels of transparency, and take those different types of paper and use the paper to depict the shapes you observe in your object.

So you've observed your line and now you're using paper to observe the shapes.

And then experiment with your use of ink and paper.

So if you've manipulated and folded your paper, maybe you could then drip ink across it.

Pause the video.

As always, I wish I could see all your wonderful artwork and I hope you're really proud of yourselves and have created some lovely abstract compositions.

And I wonder what everyday objects you chose.

Well, let's have a look at what our Oak pupil has created.

So here we have an abstract composition.

And they've included lines observed and they've included shape, and they've experimented with different paper techniques and ink.

Well done.

So now we're going to move on to enhancing our composition with mark-making.

And can you remember when you were making a range of mark-making tools from everyday materials? Can you remember that? Well, we saw them at the beginning of this lesson too.

So you experimented with and made some mark-making tools from everyday materials such as this piece of cloth and this piece of textile held together by a peg.

You might also remember experimenting with the different ways you could use your tools.

So if you remember, we swept the tools across the page, we splattered the tools and we stamped the tools and we then made annotations or notes on our sample or test a paper saying which ones we liked, giving information about them that we could then come back to and use.

Jacob is looking back at the different ways he used his mark-making tools.

So he's saying he liked the quick marks made by the cloth tool.

So he swept the cloth quickly across the paper.

And this created lots of movement on the paper.

Looking back at samples or tester pages of mark-making is helpful because they can remind an artist of the tool that they used to create a mark, and they can remind an artist of the process that they used to create a mark.

Why might an artist look back at their sample or tester pages of mark-making? Is it A, to see how many pages they have used, B, to remind them of the tools and processes they used, or C, to copy somebody else.

Well done, yes, it is B.

To remind them of the tools and processes that they used.

These they can help an artist remember the tools and processes used to create specific marks.

You can add to your abstract composition by using your mark-making toolkit.

So here we have our tools.

Even if the composition is abstract, it can still be inspired by real life objects, forms, or scenes.

Abstract artists might observe the shapes, lines and textures found in everyday objects, then reinterpret them in a more expressive, nonrepresentational way.

And this observation of the real world can give abstract work meaning, depth, and a sense of familiarity, even if the final piece does not look exactly like the object that inspired it.

What are the main types of lines and shapes that you can see in this everyday object? What can you see? Look really closely.

Yes, this jug has many curving lines and circles.

And actually in the centre the circles are placed in a group of four that almost look like a flower.

You could look at your sample pages to see what marks are similar to those in your everyday object.

So Jacob feels like the bottle tops create circles and that would be really effective in achieving more precise curves and lines with the peg holding some string.

And you might refer to the annotations that you made to help you remember which tool or process created that marks you wish to use.

And he says, "I forgot I could use the bottle top on its side to create lines too." You can then add them to your composition using your mark-making toolkit.

And here we have Jacob doing just that.

True or false? Abstract compositions can use the lines and shapes found in everyday objects.

True or false? Well done, it's true, but why? Yes, observation of the real world can give abstract work a sense of familiarity even if the final piece does not look exactly like the object that inspired it.

So moving on to our last task, I'd like you to enhance your composition with mark-making.

And you might think about using the lines and shapes from your everyday object, using your sample or tester sheet to remind you of your previous experiments, adding to your abstract composition with your mark-making tools.

Pause the video and go and enhance your composition with mark-making.

Well done, how did you find that? Did you find some of the tools easier to use and some harder? I wonder if there's anything you would change next time.

Well, let's see what our pupils have done.

So you might have used the lines and shapes from your everyday object.

Added to your abstract composition with your mark-making tool.

Used your sample or tester sheet to remind you of your previous experiments.

Just like our pupil has here.

Does yours look similar to this or completely different? Remember, it doesn't matter.

Each artwork is unique.

Well, thank you for joining me today for this lesson, create an abstract composition.

We've learned that artists can use material qualities to enhance mood, movement, and meaning in a composition.

And they can refer to mark-making samples or testers that they've done before to remember tools and processes.

And abstract compositions might include the shapes and lines found in everyday objects, imagining them in a new way.

Thank you again, and I hope to see you soon.