Lesson video

Hello everyone.

How are you today?

I hope you're feeling really good.

And I'm so pleased that you're here.

My name is Ms. Asfal, and I'll be your art teacher for this lesson.

I'm feeling very excited about that because today we are looking at stories and characters and I think it's gonna be a lot of fun.

Our lesson is called "Plan a Story Artwork, Including Character and Objects.

" The lesson comes from the unit of work, "Meaning and symbolism in art, drawing, and painting.

" So if you are ready to explore stories in artwork, if you have some energy, focus and enthusiasm, we'll begin our lesson now.

The outcome for today's lesson is, I can plan a story, artwork that uses my character and objects to convey meaning through symbolism.

We'll have some keywords in our lesson.

They are character, symbolism, and composition.

So what do these keywords mean?

Character, that's a person or figure in a story or artwork.

Symbolism is the use of symbols to communicate ideas, emotions, or stories in art.

And composition, the arrangement of visual elements in an artwork.

So these are our keywords, character, symbolism, and composition.

Let's look out and listen out for them.

They'll be coming up in our lesson today.

Today's lesson is called Plan a story Artwork, including character and objects.

And it has two learning cycles.

First of all, character and object meanings, and then planning a symbolic artwork.

Let's begin with character and object meanings.

So what makes a great story?

Let's start with that question.

Pause here and share with someone.

What do you think?

Thanks for sharing.

I wonder if you had responses like these.

Interesting characters, immersive world or environment, descriptive details.

And we can see an image of someone reading a book with text and images.

Pause here, and share with someone.

What was the last work of fiction that you read?

Thanks for sharing.

An effective story should communicate a clear sense of narrative.

Not all stories use words to describe a narrative.

In art narrative is the story that the image tells.

In art, imagery like characters, objects and scenes can be used to show ideas, convey meanings, and tell stories.

Pause here and share with someone what story do you think the artwork on the screen is telling?

Thanks for sharing your ideas.

Characters can be designed to convey personality, mood, and express ideas through their appearance, clothes, body language, facial expression, objects.

And we can see some character illustrations in a book.

Pause here and share with someone what is one of your favorite illustrated books.

It might be something you've read recently or it could be something from your childhood.

Thanks for sharing.

Think about how a superhero character might wear bold or brightly colored clothing to stand out.

Whereas someone wearing darker clothes might seem more mysterious.

Characters can also express different emotions like joy, sadness, or anger through their facial expressions and body language.

Your characters can be real or fictional, and how you choose to depict them will influence the narrative of your artwork.

We can see a collection of doodle character designs on the screen.

Which of these are you most drawn towards and why?

Thanks for sharing.

Let's have a check for understanding.

What is a narrative in art?

Is it A, the story your artwork tells?

B, A type of pencil.

C, a shape you draw.

Or D, a famous artist's name, pause here while you decide.

What is a narrative in art?

Well done if you selected answer A, indeed.

The story your artwork tells is a narrative in art.

Symbolism means using images or objects to stand for ideas or meanings.

Artists often include symbols to make their stories more powerful and meaningful.

And we can see a book cover with symbols on the screen there.

Objects are often used to represent something and add symbolic meaning to an artwork.

We can see some religious iconography on the screen symbol of a crown.

What symbolic meanings might we associate with these objects?

A magnifying glass, a crown, and a clock.

Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

Let's take a look at some ideas.

So a magnifying glass suggests curiosity and adventure.

A crown might symbolize power, strength, or status.

And a clock could represent time passing or history.

Perhaps you had some ideas like these.

Discuss with a partner, an object you could use as a symbol in your artwork to reveal more details about your character.

Pause and have this discussion with someone.

Thanks for having that discussion.

Let's hear some responses.

Here's Aisha, "My filmmaker character will carry cameras and photos.

" Andy, "My explorer character carries a map and compass for their journey.

" And Jun, "My scientist character will have beakers and scientific equipment.

" Let's have a check for understanding.

Which of these is an example of an object with symbolic meaning.

Is it A, a pencil for equipment.

B, a crown for power.

C, a tree for shade.

Or D, a ball for shapes.

Pause here while you decide which of these is an example of an object with symbolic meaning.

While done if you selected answer B, indeed a crown for power is an example of an object with symbolic meaning.

And now it's time for your first task.

Using the table provided list your character, objects and what the symbolic meaning might be.

So pause here while you have a go at this task.

Listing your character objects and their symbolic meaning.

Enjoy your task and I'll see you when you're finished.

It's good to be back with you.

How did you get on with that task?

Using the table provided, listing your character, objects and what their symbolic meaning might be.

You might have said something like this.

Character, the lost explorer.

Objects, ripped map, compass, broken clock.

And symbolic meanings.

The ripped map symbolizes an uncertain journey.

The compass is used for guidance and the broken clock suggests they have no sense of time.

Well done for having a go at this task and completing the table.

And now we're onto our next learning cycle.

Planning a symbolic artwork.

Artists create plans so their ideas are clear.

A good plan means your viewer can understand the narrative without you needing to explain it.

And we can see someone sketching a design on the screen.

Love how that pencil's been sharpened.

As you draw and sketch your ideas, remember your plan and consider who the character is, what their story is, which objects help to show symbolism.

And we can see someone working very carefully, sketching, faces and characters.

The next stage of planning a symbolic artwork is to prepare a composition sketch.

Composition is how you arrange things on the page.

It helps to guide the viewer's eye to what's important in the story.

And here we see someone sketching the figure of a character design.

Sketch each part of your composition lightly in pencil.

This makes it easier to erase, edit, and move sections around if you need to.

And here we see someone sketching a face.

Looks like they've really mapped out carefully the proportions on this face.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Why is planning your artwork important?

Is it A, so you don't forget your pencil?

B, so you can copy a friend.

C, so you can finish quickly.

Or D, so your story and meanings are clear.

Pause here while you decide why is planning your artwork important.

Well done if you selected answer D.

Planning your artwork is important, so your story and meanings are clear.

Looking at artworks, illustrations and book covers can be a great way to find inspiration and ideas for your own designs.

Paula Rego, 1935 to 2022, is a Portuguese artist who's famous for making artworks based on storybooks.

She builds narratives and scenes with strong characters and objects.

Her work often tells dark fairytale inspired stories with layered symbolism.

We can see some very intriguing looking illustrations in a book there.

Pause here and share with someone.

Where have you found inspiration and ideas for your designs?

Is it an artworks, illustrations, book covers, or album covers or elsewhere?

Thanks for sharing.

Mark Chagall, 1887 to 1985, was a Russian French artist whose dreamlike imagery, floating figures and vivid colors to tell powerful stories about love, memory, and community.

His work highlights how characters, animals, and symbols can convey meaningful narratives, often drawing on folklore, religion, and his own life experiences.

And we can see a painting inspired by Chagall's style on the screen here.

Pause here and share with someone.

What do you think the story is in this painting?

What symbolism could these objects hold?

Thanks for sharing.

Arpita Singh, 1937 to the present, is an Indian artist who uses bright colors, patterns, and layered scenes to tell powerful stories about memory, daily life, and women's experiences.

Her work highlights how figures, objects, and symbols can come together to create meaningful narratives, often mixing imagination with real life events.

And we can see a painting here inspired by Singh's style.

Pause here and share with someone your impressions of this painting and what do you think the story could be here.

Thanks for sharing.

I went to see an exhibition by Arpita Singh, that was on in London recently that a friend of mine curated and it was so wonderful and really a very immersive experience.

So many stories to get lost in, in Arpita Singh's paintings.

When planning, consider how your character and objects are arranged in the composition.

They should be easy to see and understand to help make the meaning of the final artwork clear.

We can see a watercolor painting of a face amongst flowers.

Pause here and share with someone what comes to mind as you look at this painting.

Thanks for sharing.

Objects are not just in your artwork for decoration, remember the objects add symbolic meaning, value and narrative to the overall artwork.

As you sketch, you might discover more ideas for objects to include.

A useful question to ask yourself is, what does this object tell us about the story?

Experiment with the positions and placements of objects until the overall composition looks balanced.

And here we can see someone is positioning drawings through tracing.

It's a really helpful technique.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Which question helps you check if your objects show symbolism.

Is it A, do I like this color?

B, did I draw quickly?

C, what does this object tell us about the story?

Or D, did I use a ruler?

Pause here while you decide which question helps you check if your object shows symbolism.

Well done if you selected answer C, indeed.

The question that helps you check if your objects show symbolism is what does this object tell us about the story?

And now it's time for your next task.

I would like you to sketch some of the elements for your story artwork.

You should review your planning from Task A, sketch three to five symbolic objects working from observation where possible.

Include your character alongside the objects.

So pause here while you have a go at this task of sketching some of the elements for your story artwork.

Enjoy your task and I'll see you when you're finished.

It's great to be back with you.

So how did you get on with that task?

Sketching some of the elements for your story artwork.

You might have sketched something like this.

Here's Andeep, "I made a sketch of a lost Explorer character.

I added clothing details to match his character, a ripped map and question mark signpost to show they are lost.

I also practiced drawing mountains and a lantern.

" Pause here and share with someone your impressions of Andeep's sketches.

How effective do you think these are in terms of giving us some more detail about the lost explorer character?

Thanks for sharing about that.

And now I'd like you to share your sketches with each other and without telling your partner who your character is, see if they can work out who your character is and also what the objects that you have drawn symbolize.

Pause here while you have a go at this.

Thanks for having a go.

And now I'd like you to play a quick game of guest symbolism.

Sketch another symbol to go with your character and see if your partner can guess what the symbolism is of this object.

Pause here and take some time to do this.

Thanks for having a go at guess the symbolism.

In our lesson, plan a story artwork, including character and objects we've covered the following.

Artists use symbolism to convey meaning in their work.

Symbolism can be shown through characters and objects that have hidden meanings or represent ideas.

Careful planning helps tell a clear story and creates a strong narrative through art.

Composition helps to arrange elements in an artwork to make them clear and stand out.

Well done everyone for joining in with this lesson.

It was great to explore planning a story artwork together, bringing in characters and objects that carry meaning and symbolism.

And I hope that as you make your way through the next days and you take in artwork, book covers, album covers, and other illustrations that you can stay curious about what the symbolism could be of the different objects contained in these artworks.

Symbolism is all around.

We've just got to keep our eyes open and our minds curious.

I hope you've enjoyed this lesson.

I've really enjoyed teaching you, and I'm looking forward to seeing you at another art lesson soon.

Until then, stay creative.