Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mrs. Tipping, and I'm really looking forward to learning with you today all about war and conflict in art and paying particular interest to textiles.

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 evaluate and refine your arpillera.

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 evaluate, refine, and surface design.

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

Evaluate, refine, surface design.

Good job.

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

To evaluate means to look at something carefully, to understand what is good about it, what could be better, and how it can be improved.

To refine means to improve an artwork by making small adjustments to details, techniques, or composition.

And surface design is the process of decorating, altering, or adding texture to the surface of a material or object.

So 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, evaluating your arpillera and refining your arpillera.

So in this first learning cycle, let's start by evaluating your arpillera.

What could this artist do to improve their developing arpillera? Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? How could they improve this arpillera? Could you give them some advice around their stitching or some of their needle felting? Well, you might have added some elements to your arpillera using stitching and felting, but it might not be quite finished yet.

Sometimes, artists pause as they are making their artwork to evaluate and reflect.

This helps them to build their confidence by recognising what is working well, to think of ideas to improve and refine, if necessary, and also to identify what they might do differently, if they were to make something similar again.

So there are lots of good reasons for artists to pause and to really think and evaluate their work.

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

Evaluation and reflection only takes place when the artwork is complete.

Is this statement true or false? Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think and press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said that's false, you're absolutely right, but why is that statement false? Give yourself a moment to think.

Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner to explain why this statement is false and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you discuss? Maybe you said something like, reflecting upon your artwork can be useful at any stage of the creative process.

It helps the artist recognise their successes and decide upon areas that could be improved and refined.

Well done.

We'll begin by recognising what has gone well with your textile work so far.

Izzy says, "I really like how my arpillera tells a story that is personal to me and my community." I think the felting on the waves helps the sea to look more realistic." I would agree.

I think the felting on the sea looks fantastic.

Now next, evaluate your artwork by considering what you could do to improve or to set new goals.

So Izzy says, "I think my arpillera still looks a bit unfinished.

I think I could make the plane look a little bit clearer.

I'm not sure it actually looks like a plane." Looking at that dark section there, it does look a bit like a plane, but maybe it could be a bit clearer.

Now, when evaluating, artists often identify areas to refine.

Artists can refine their work by making small changes to improve.

So if we look at this plane here, just by adding this small improvement of the stitch, it really shows that this is an aeroplane.

Izzy's considering what she would like to refine or do differently if she were to make something similar again.

She said, "I would like to refine my arpillera by adding stitches to make the objects clearer.

I think this would help my textile to tell a clearer story about conflict." I think she's right.

I think that's a good example of how to refine her artwork.

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

Why do artists evaluate their artwork? Is it to finish their work as quickly as possible? Is it to make sure it looks exactly like someone else's artwork? Is it to understand what they did well and what they can improve next time? So pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said that artists evaluate their artwork to understand what they did well and what they can improve next time, you're absolutely right.

Artists evaluate their work to help them reflect on their choices and become better artists over time.

This now brings us to our first learning task.

I'd like you to identify three things that have gone well with your arpillera.

So think first of all, maybe this sentence starter could help.

One part of my arpillera that I feel works well is.

Or maybe, I made thoughtful choices in fabric and texture to represent.

I improved my sewing or stitching skills by.

Or the composition of my piece helps communicate.

So think particularly about these different aspects of your arpillera when you are reflecting and evaluating.

So pause the video here and give yourself enough time to identify three things that have gone well with your arpillera and press play when you're ready to continue.

How did that go? Were you able to think about the different things that you've had to go at whilst creating your arpillera, like your fabric and texture choices, or your sewing and stitching skills? Well, looking at this example, you might have said something like, I made thoughtful choices in fabric and texture to represent the flames by layering wisps of wool in different colours.

Or maybe one part of my arpillera that I feel works well is the use of a French knot stitch to represent the portholes on the ship.

I think they really stand out in my design.

Or perhaps you reflected on how you improved your sewing or stitching skills by learning how to do a blanket stitch.

So well done for evaluating and identifying those three things that have gone really well with your arpillera.

And now I'd like you to think about the second part of the evaluation.

I would like you to identify two things that you would like to refine within your arpillera.

Maybe you would start with, it would be better if I.

I could refine the materials or textures by adding.

I might try to refine.

I could refine my artwork by.

So take some time and have a think about your arpillera.

Maybe you'd like to make something clearer, or you'd like to add something, or maybe even have taken something away.

So pause the video here and give yourself enough time to reflect and press play when you're ready to continue.

How did that go? Were you able to identify two things that you'd like to refine within your arpillera? Was it around materials and textures or was it about refining something maybe through stitch? Well, like this example, maybe you said, it would be better if I had used the space a bit more fully.

I could have included more objects in the sea.

Or I could refine the materials to include a wider range of stitches to make the objects clearer.

Or I might try to make some elements of my design a little more prominent, so making them clearer and stand out more.

Well done for having a go thinking about two things you might like to refine in your arpillera.

Now, a third thing, I'd like you to have a go at identifying one thing that you might do differently if you were to make another arpillera.

Maybe I would arrange the scene differently to.

I could plan the layout more carefully to help.

I might use a different joining method so that.

I would spend more time on.

to make it look.

Maybe there's a specific element like the aeroplane in this example here.

So pause the video here and give yourself enough time to identify one thing that you might do differently if you were to do your arpillera again, and press play when you're ready to continue.

How did you get on? Well, taking a look at this example, you might say, I might use running stitch to emphasise movement and create a stormy sea.

I would spend more time on researching a local story of conflict to make it tell a clearer story to the viewer.

Or I would change the colour of the backing fabric.

I'm not sure the peach colour is dramatic enough.

So well done at having a go at thinking about one thing that you would do differently if you were to do your arpillera again and for evaluating all the aspects of your arpillera.

This now brings us to the second part of our lesson.

We're going to refine your arpillera After you have evaluated your arpillera, you can go back to make changes to it and making small changes to improve a piece of art is called refining.

You might start by thinking about surface design.

Izzy says, "My surface design looked a bit empty in places, such as the plane, like it needed more detail or textures to complete it." Surface design refers to how a surface looks or feels.

So if you take a look at the plane there, you can see that it's a bit empty.

The surface design of an artwork is the process of decorating, altering, or adding texture to the surface.

Artists might alter the surface design by embellishing the fabric with further details, by combining materials to show different textures, or maybe using smaller stitches to include fine details, rather than just using felt shapes.

There are lots of ways in which artists might alter their surface design.

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

Surface design is.

The shape of a sculpture, how a surface looks or feels, the weight of an object? So pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think about how you would finish this sentence and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said surface design is how a surface looks or feels, you're absolutely right.

The surface design of an artwork is the process of decorating, altering, or adding texture to the surface.

You can refine your surface design by embellishing the fabric with further detail.

Izzy says, "I used stitches to show some of the extra details of the plane.

I think it makes the object clearer," and I agree.

I think those white stitches look really nice and punchy on that black felt and make the plane really stand out.

You can also combine stitches and felt to show different textures.

So Izzy says here, "I added some stitches to the water, over my felting technique, to represent a rougher sea texture." So you can see she's got these two different blues, but also the white there makes it look like the foam of the sea, like when the waves are crashing.

You can also use stitching to include additional details within your design.

Stitching can be used to show small objects and details for greater precision than felt or fabric pieces.

So you can see here the window frames and even the door handle, all the portholes on that ship.

Now, Izzy says here, "By using smaller stitches rather than felt pieces, I was able to include smaller details, such as the figure standing on the jetty." Can you see there a person that's been included using those stitches? Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

A stitching technique would be best for including smaller details in an arpillera.

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

What did you think? If you said that's true, you're absolutely right.

How would you go about explaining why this is true? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? Maybe you said something like, stitching, rather than felt pieces, can be used to add smaller details to an arpillera.

Stitching allows for greater precision that would be difficult to achieve with fabric.

Well done.

This now brings us to our final learning task.

I'd like you to use your evaluation to improve your arpillera.

You might think about embellishing the fabric with further details, combining materials to show different textures, or using smaller stitches to include fine details, rather than using felt shapes.

So pause the video here and give yourself enough time to have a go at using your evaluation to improve and refine your arpillera and press play when you're ready to continue.

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

You might have embellished the fabric with further details, like these white stitches here on the aeroplane.

Maybe you combined materials to show different textures, like the white stitch on top of the wool wisps here in the waves.

Or maybe you used smaller stitches to include fine details, rather than using felt shapes.

So maybe you included a person or people on your arpillera.

Well done for having a go at using your evaluation to refine your arpillera.

Before we finish this lesson, let's summarise what we've learned about evaluating and refining your arpillera.

Artists might reflect and evaluate their artwork before it is complete to make improvements to refine their work.

Artists evaluate their work to help them reflect on their choices and become better artists over time.

And the surface design of an artwork is the process of decorating, altering, or adding texture to the surface.

Thank you for joining me this lesson.

I hope you enjoyed learning about war and conflict in art, paying particular interest in textiles.

I certainly did.

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

See you then.