Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mrs. Tipping and I'm really looking forward to learning with you today about Meaning and symbolism in art through drawing and painting.

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 plan and create a scenic composition that shows the setting of your story artwork clearly.

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 keywords we'll be using today are scenic composition, foreground, background, and focal point.

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

Scenic composition.

Foreground.

Background.

And focal point.

Good job.

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

A scenic composition is the arrangement of visual elements in a landscape or scene.

A foreground is the part of the scene closest to the viewer.

A background is the part of the scene that appears furthest away.

And a focal point is the main area that draws the viewer's eye.

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.

Understanding scenic compositions and adding detail to a scenic composition.

In this first learning cycle, we're going to understand scenic compositions.

What makes a scene, setting, or environment look expansive and immersive.

Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner and press play when you are ready to continue.

What do you think? Let's take a look at this image here of a landscape scene of a boat on water at sunrise.

What can you see in this image? You can see the water, and the hills in the background, and we've got the sunrise and the sky.

A scenic composition is the arrangement and setting of an artwork of a scene or landscape.

It tells a viewer where your story happens.

A good scene helps explain the story and adds to the overall mood.

Scenes often have three parts.

We have the foreground, which is closest.

We have the background which is farthest away, and we have the middle ground, which is the in between.

So in this image we can see that the cabin is in the foreground.

We've got the hill, a mountain in the background, and the middle ground here, we've got this forest of trees.

Now these layers help to show depth and make pictures look real.

By using a foreground, middle ground, and background, you can make your picture look like it has space and depth.

Scenic compositions help the viewer feel like they've really been inside an immersive story world environment.

So take a look at this artist here, drawing a scene with people and architecture.

Can you see how they are creating the foreground, middle ground, and background in their drawing? Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

What is a scenic composition in art? Is it a drawing with only one colour? Is it the arrangement of the setting to tell a story? Is it a random collection of shapes? Or is it only the main character without a background? Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think about the answer to this question and press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said that it's the arrangement of the setting to tell a story, you're absolutely right.

That's what scenic composition in art is.

Artists plan their setting so the viewer understands the place and time of the story.

Planning also makes sure important details aren't left out and helps to give your picture more meaning.

You can see this artist here sketching composition designs, so having a go at a few different ideas.

The foreground is where big, clear details appear.

It might include main characters, objects or important details.

What is in the foreground of this image? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner and press play when you are ready to continue.

What's in the foreground? That's right.

This person in the balcony rails are in the foreground of this image.

The foreground is the part of the scene that is closest to the viewer so it can convey the most information clearly.

The middle ground connects the foreground and background.

So here we have the figure paragliding that's in the middle ground in this image.

And can you see that it can show supporting details or other parts of the story helping to guide the viewer through the scene.

The background shows what is far away.

It might include mountains, skies, buildings, or trees.

The mountains and sky are in the background in this image and the background helps to set the scene without using many details.

Sketching and making art of landscapes from observation can help to develop your ideas for scenic compositions.

Your story artwork might be of a real place or a fictional one, but developing observational drawing skills will help you either way.

You see this sketchbook here that an artist is holding up of the landscape that they have had a go at sketching.

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

What does foreground mean? The part of the scene closest to the viewer? The top of the page? The darkest part of the picture? Or the parts without colour? Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think about the answer to this question and press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said the foreground means the part of the scene closest to the viewer, you're absolutely right.

Well done.

This brings us to our first learning task.

I'd like you to create a scenic composition draught for your story artwork.

I'd like you to consider how the scene will tell the viewer where your story happens, how your scene will add to the mood of the story.

You should draw a light pencil layout for three sections, the foreground, middle ground and background, and lightly label or sketch the main objects and characters.

So pause the video here and give yourself enough time to have a go at creating a draught of your scenic composition for your story artwork and press play when you are ready to continue.

How did that go? Were you able to think about where your story's going to happen and the mood of your story? Well, if we have a look at this example here, you might have created a scenic composition draught for your story artwork.

Maybe you've got a character reading at a desk in the foreground.

Maybe you've got bookshelves in the middle ground and a mounting landscape in the background.

Hopefully, you've thought carefully about creating the foreground, middle ground, and background for your scenic composition.

Well done for having a go at this learning task.

This now brings us to the second part of our lesson, where we're going to be adding detail to a scenic composition.

Think about where your story happens.

Is it outside or inside? Day or night? What time or place? Your scenic composition should match the mood of your story.

So pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner about where your story happens and press play when you are ready to continue.

Do you have that place in mind for your story? Maybe it's like this artwork in this image here with sky and trees and mountains.

Now you can add meaning to your scenic composition by including clues about the story.

For example, a stormy sky can suggest danger while bright sunshine might mean happiness.

Discuss with a partner the details you can include in your scenic composition to add meaning for your story artwork.

Pause the video here to have that discussion and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you discuss? Hopefully, you've got lots of ideas in mind for your artwork.

Izzy says, "In a magic library scene, I could add lots of old dusty looking books to give a sense of history, time, and ancient knowledge." And Sam says, "To create a sense of discovery, adventure, and wonder, I might add mountain ranges, birds flying, treasure chests, keys, and maps." So maybe you've got some ideas similar to Izzy and Sam.

When planning a scene, it's helpful to think about the focal point.

The focal point is what you want viewers to notice first, and so it should be placed carefully.

What could you include as your focal point? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner and press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you think? What could your focal point be? Maybe like this image here, it might be a tall tower or maybe it's some kind of magical portal, or maybe it's something like a lake or a tree.

Now you can emphasise a focal point by making it more detailed than other objects or characters, giving it a bold outline or making it a focus of your composition.

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

The part of an image which viewers notice first is known as a, symbol, blank space, foreground, or focal point.

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

What did you think? If you said that the part of an image which viewers notice first is known as a focal point, you're absolutely right.

Well done.

Faith Ringgold is an American artist who uses detailed settings in her quilts to tell stories.

She carefully plans where each character and object goes to create scenes that support the story.

Diego Rivera is a Mexican artist who created mural paintings with layered backgrounds and clear, distinctive scenes.

By planning the layout with areas of space and detail, viewers are able to follow stories in artworks more easily.

There are many ways can plan and create a scenic composition.

You might divide blank paper into three sections using a ruler for the foreground, middle ground, and background areas.

And you could also use three different pieces of paper and collage them together later on.

You can start your scene by using big shapes first.

You might place your character in the foreground and sketch mountains, buildings, or other features in the background.

You can overlap objects to show which is in front, consider perspective, and make things smaller as they go back.

This trick helps create depth and makes your scene realistic.

As you refine the scene, you can add more details, you can use different line weights, textures, and shading to make your scene more interesting and add depth.

Take a look at this sketch here from an artist who's drawing a scenic composition.

You can see those mountains in the background and those trees in the middle ground.

We haven't yet got anything in the foreground.

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

What helps create depth in a scene? Only using black and white? Drawing everything the same size? Including foreground, middle ground, and background? Varying line weights, textures, and shading? Pause the video here and have a quick discussion with your partner and press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you think? What helps create depth in a scene? If you said including foreground, middle ground, and background, and varying line weights, textures, and shading, you're absolutely right.

Well done.

This brings us to our final learning task.

I'd like you to sketch your scenic composition adding details.

You should continue adding to your scenic composition draught from Task A, and add those details to the foreground, middle ground and background, and use shading, texture or different line weights to create depth.

To pause the video here and give yourself enough time to have a go at sketching your scenic composition and adding those details and press play when you are ready to continue.

How did you get on? Well, let's take a look at an example.

Hopefully, you've added those details to your draught from Task A.

And Izzy says, "My scenic composition is of a magic library scene.

Mountains are in the background and they create space.

Bookshelves bridge the middle ground to the character reading in the foreground.

And I used shading to add depth." So you can see here in this image the shading that's been added to those bookshelves to really add that depth and a bit of shading on the mountains in the background there.

So well done if you were able to add your detail to your scenic composition.

Before we finish this lesson, let's summarise what we've learned about developing a story through composition and layout.

Scenic compositions create a clear setting for a story.

Foreground, middle ground, and background help to show depth.

Artists emphasise certain scenery details to add meaning and mood.

And planning a strong focal point helps to make the meaning clearer.

Thank you for joining me in this lesson today.

I hope to see you in the next one.

See you then.