Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mrs. Tipping and I'm really looking forward to learning with you today about street art through digital and new media.

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 use digital tools to create a street art composition that acknowledges how location can influence the message and impact of an artwork.

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 street art, digital media, stencil.

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

Street art, digital media, stencil.

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

Street art is art created in public spaces, often with social or political messages.

Digital media refers to tools and platforms that allow for the creation, sharing and manipulation of artwork using digital technology.

A stencil is a technique used in street art where a cutout template is placed on a surface to spray or paint a design.

Pause the video here to make a note of these keywords, and when you're ready to continue, press play.

Here are two more keywords that we're going to be using today, Overlay and composition.

Now overlay means adding an image, texture or graphic element on top of a base image, often using digital media to create a visual effect.

Composition is the arrangement of elements in a piece of art, including colour, shape, text and images to create a balanced or meaningful artwork.

Pause the video here and make a note of these keywords, and when you're ready to continue, press play.

These are the learning cycles we'll be working through together in today's lesson, exploring digital art experiments and applications and bringing digital street art to life.

In the first learning cycle, let's explore digital street art experiments and applications.

What do you know about street art? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner and press play when you're ready to continue.

Well, what did you discuss? What do you know about street art? Street art is created in public spaces often to express a message or reflect on social issues.

It can take many forms, including murals, graffiti, sculptures and digital art.

Can see this street art mural here on the side of a tall building.

Traditional street art often involves spray painting or stencilling on walls.

Digital street art might mimic these styles and it allows the artists to prepare their designs and bring them to public spaces in creative ways.

Digital media allows street artists to use graphic design tools, software and apps to create compositions.

This allows artists to plan their designs carefully, experiment with colour, text and shapes, and create public arts in a digital format.

Digital media can be used by street artists in many ways, including to design experiments, to share images via social media, to reach more people for photographing artworks, for street art animations, for augmented reality artworks, and for projecting designs onto walls.

So there's lots of ways that digital media can be used by street artists.

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

Which of the following is a key characteristic of digital street art? It only uses spray paint.

It must be created on a physical wall.

It's created using software or apps.

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

What did you think? Which is a key characteristic of digital street art? If you said it is created using software or apps, you're absolutely right.

Well done.

Digital media is often used in street art to create stencils.

A stencil involves using a cutout template which is placed on a surface to spray or paint a design.

Stencils enable artists to transfer designs quickly and accurately.

A single layer stencil can be made by cutting out a design on thick paper or card using scissors or a craft knife.

This technique works best for simple designs such as outlines, shapes or silhouettes.

Can you see these stencil letters here that have spelt the word, hi.

What do you notice about the lettering on this stencil? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you notice? Well, to make a more detailed stencil, you might need to create bridges in the design.

A bridge is a thin section of the design that is not cut out, and an island is a section inside a cutout area.

So can you see the bridges there on the letter C? And we have an island in the middle of the letter A.

Islands need bridges to connect them to the overall design and keep the stencil intact.

Can you see those bridges on the letter A, one near the top, one near the bottom to keep that island in place? Now look at this letter O.

We've got an outer edge and we've got an island.

If the outer edge of the O is cut out, then the intersection or the island will be lost.

By creating a bridge, the inner island remains even when the outer line is cut out.

So we've got that outer edge there, and then we've got the island.

Can you see there's two bridges there? Keeping the island in place, bridges and islands can be used to create more complex and intricate stencils.

To create a single layer stencil in your digital art software, first import the image that you want to use.

Then use the selection tool or eraser tool to remove the background or unwanted areas.

Like with this tiger here, can you see how the background has been removed? So look for icons similar to these ones here.

So we've got the selection one and this one is the eraser.

Next, apply the black and white tool to remove colour.

So here we go, we've got this example and look for an icon similar to this one.

That's the black and white tool.

The next step is to use filters and effects such as threshold or cutout to find the right balance of detail and simplicity for the stencil.

Can you see here how we've used that to create these effects? Look for an icon like this one, which is the threshold tool.

Print your stencil onto thick cartridge paper and cut it out using scissors or a craft knife or a cutting mat.

When working with a craft knife, make sure that an adult is supervising you.

If you don't have digital media or a printer available, you can hand draw a stencil design onto paper.

So like this example here, you could draw a butterfly with a black marker and then use those scissors or a craft knife to cut that out.

Remember to take your time and cut carefully whenever you are using scissors or craft knives.

If you are using scissors, cut a line from the edge towards the stencil area and tape it back together afterwards.

Remember to use bridges to connect any islands in your image and avoid cutting them to keep your stencil intact.

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

What does an island refer to in a stencil? Is it an image of a place surrounded by the ocean, a section that is inside the cutout area, a thin section of the design that is not cut out? Pause the video here and give yourself time to answer this question and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said a section that is inside a cutout area, you're absolutely right.

That's what an island refers to in a stencil.

This now brings us to our first learning task.

I'd like you to create a single layer stencil of a chosen image or digital design you have made through your digital art software.

Select your image, considering its significance and the message that you aim to express and use filters and effects such as black and white, threshold, cutout and contrast to convert your image into a suitable stencil design.

Then print your stencil onto thick cartridge paper or hand draw your design if digital media is not available and cut out your design using scissors or a craft knife, remembering to create bridges for any islands in your design.

Pause the video here and give yourself enough time to have a go at creating a single layer stencil and press play when you're ready to continue.

How did that go? Well, let's take a look at this example.

There's many outcomes to this task.

You might have hand drawn your stencil carefully using a marker pen, or you've maybe used digital software to create your stencil.

Hopefully you've used bridges and islands to create a more complex stencil and work slowly and carefully when cutting the stencil out, either using scissors or a craft knife.

Well done for having a go at creating your own stencil.

This brings us to the second part of our lesson.

We're going to be bringing digital street art to life.

Street artists often consider the location of their artworks and how this can influence their message and impact.

ROA is a Belgian street artist who paints large murals of animals and birds that are native to the area in which they are painted.

Shepherd Fairey developed an international campaign titled "Obey" by mass producing and repeating the same stencil image in hundreds of locations around the world.

Blu uses digital media and hand painting to create dynamic, politically charged street art animations in neighbourhoods across Europe.

Review your stencil design or digital street art mural design and discuss which public spaces you could place your design in and what impact might the design have on people who see it there.

Pause the video here and give yourself time to review your design and discuss these questions and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? Where might you place your design and what impact might it have on the people who see it there? Well, Aisha says, "My street art mural design is about celebrating different cultures and perspectives.

If it was on the main wall on the way into school, it would be seen by many people before they start their day and remind them of positive values." Lucas says, "The design I made is about nature conservation and animal welfare.

It could be placed in a zoo to connect with people or beside a shop to help get them to think about how much plastic they are using before buying it." What ideas did you have? Were any of them similar to Aisha or Lucas or were they different? Well, the location of street art is significant because it can influence its meaning.

It affects how many people might see it, and art can impact people differently depending on where they discover it.

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

The location of street art is important because it should be hidden and out of sight, it can change and influence its meaning.

It can impact people differently depending on where it is seen.

Pause the video here and give yourself enough time 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 location of street art is important because it can change and influence its meaning and it can impact people differently depending on where it is seen, you're absolutely right, well done.

While some street art is spontaneously created, digital media can allow artists to plan their compositions with more control and flexibility before bringing their designs into a public space.

One of the ways digital media can help street artists plan their ideas is by using an overlay.

An overlay means digitally adding an image, texture or graphic element on top of a base image.

You can digitally overlay your street art design onto photographs of suitable buildings, walls or public spaces.

This helps when visualising how an artwork will look in a chosen space.

Using this method also helps street artists and the clients who commission their art to agree on the design, including its location, composition and proportions.

In your digital art software, add two images are separate layers, the building or wall you want to use, and the digital street art mural or stencil design.

With these images are separate layers, experiment with different blending modes to overlay the mural or stencil onto the building or wall.

You can see this digital street art design here.

You can experiment with different compositions, overlays and designs to create the digital street art which looks more effective.

Can see these three different examples here, how they're slightly different.

Which one do you like the most? Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Street art has to be spontaneous and shouldn't be planned in advance.

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

What did you think? If you said that's false, you are absolutely right, but why is that statement false? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner about why this statement is false and press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said something like, while street art often has a spontaneous rebellious nature, digital tools actually allow artists to plan and refine their designs before sharing them publicly.

Digital art can provide more control and flexibility, allowing for thoughtful and intentional compositions.

This brings us to our final learning task.

I'd like you to overlay your digitally designed street art mural or stencil design onto a photographed wall or building.

Select a wall or building to overlay your digital design onto.

Consider how the location of your design can influence its message and impact.

This could be done by photographing a wall or building in your school environment by photographing a significant building in your local community or using a secondary source of a significant wall or building.

Then I'd like you to overlay your design digitally onto your chosen wall or building, ensure that your design is in a digital format.

If your design is handmade, photograph or scan it to create a digital format.

Overlay your image by using transparency, blending modes and layer settings so that you can clearly see your design on a wall or building and experiment with at least two compositions of your design to achieve an effective result.

Pause the video here and give yourself enough time to have a go at overlaying your digitally designed street art mural or stencil and press play when you are ready to continue.

How did that go? Well, let's take a look at this example here.

In this example, a digitally made street art mural is overlaid onto an image of a brick wall, different compositions and layer blends.

Were used to experiment with the design before selecting this version.

It's nice and bright, isn't it, on this wall, you can really see the words one home, and we've got all these lovely colours of the symbols that compliment.

Well done for having a go at overlaying your street art mural or stencil.

Before we finish this lesson, let's summarise what we've learned about using digital techniques to make street art compositions.

Digital media can be used in street art for a range of purposes, including design, experimentation, and the application of different techniques.

Stencils can be created both digitally through filters and effects or by hand drawing them using bridges and islands to create detailed designs.

Overlaying images can be done through digital media with blending modes.

This helps artists to consider composition, position and proportions of their art in a public space.

Thank you for joining me in this lesson.

I hope you enjoyed learning about street art through digital and new media.

I certainly did.

I hope to see you for another unit of learning soon.

See you then.