Lesson video

Hello, welcome to today's Art and Design lesson.

My name is Mr. Little, and I'm gonna be teaching you all about responding to a theme, and that's from the Art and Design unit, Finding your artistic voice: an introduction to the creative process.

I hope you're ready to do some brilliant learning.

Let's get started.

Here's the outcome for today's lesson.

You'll be able to explore and interpret a theme that relates to yourself and the world around you.

There's two key words for today's lesson.

I want you to keep an eye out for them when you're watching the video and think really deeply about them when they come up.

The first word is theme, and that's an idea or a message that's explored in an piece of art.

The second word is interpret, and that's to explain, to understand the meaning of something or the significance or the intention of it, and that's often done by analysing or considering it from a particular perspective.

Today's lesson is broken down into two parts.

First of all, we're gonna look at interpreting a theme.

There's some words that I'm gonna show you now on the screen.

I want you to think really carefully about what these words might have in common.

The words are identity, boundaries and borders, light and shadow, time, power and control, nature, journeys, conflict and war.

What do these words have in common? These are all examples of themes you might encounter in artworks or use as starting points for your own creation.

Themes serve as a springboard for artistic expression.

They inspire creativity, also whilst allowing each artist to bring their own unique perspective or interpretation to the work.

You might be used to receiving themes from your teachers and assignments.

Can you think of any other themes in art? There might be themes like connections and relationships, perception and illusion, surfaces and textures, silence and sound, myth and legend.

There are so many different themes in art that you can use as inspiration for your work.

Time for a check for understanding.

It's a true or false question.

Themes in art can inspire creativity while allowing for individual interpretation.

It's true, but why is that? It's because themes act as a springboard for exploration, offering enough structure to guide the creative process whilst remaining open-ended enough to encourage personal interpretation.

So themes help you explore and give structure and guide your creative process, but they don't give you too much.

They allow your art to still be open-ended so you can personally interpret it.

Artists often have the freedom to create art inspired by theme of their choice.

Whether that might be working individually in their studios at home or in another creative space, they can select themes that they feel drawn to.

Here, Izzy's considering some different themes that she might use.

Izzy's got the freedom here to make a choice.

She's considering light and shadow, identity, power and control, boundaries and borders, time, and conflict and war.

While art students may need to follow specific criteria and respond to a set theme that their teachers or someone else might have given them, they still have the opportunity to interpret it in their own way, and you might have already experienced this.

Perhaps your teacher has set you a theme to a piece of work that you've done, where you've given an assignment where you had some themes to choose from.

Here, Alex has been set the theme boundaries and borders.

Time for a check for understanding.

There's two statements here that are true.

Which ones are they? Is it A, artists often have complete freedom to make art inspired by a theme that they choose? Is it B, art students have complete freedom to make art inspired by a theme that they choose? Or is it C, art students might have to meet specific criteria and be given a theme to respond to? It's A and C, artists often have complete freedom to make art inspired by a theme they choose, and art students might have to meet specific criteria when they've been given a theme to respond to.

Izzy and Alex here are discussing what the first thing they do is when they're given a theme in art.

Izzy says, "I begin by defining the theme to make sure I really know what it means.

Then I start interpreting the theme." Alex says, "I like to record the definition in my sketchbook, and I'm trying to use a style that suits the theme that I'm defining and interpreting." Time for a task.

I want you to start with a main theme, research and then record the definition.

And you might want to include synonyms for the word or words.

Then, I want you to share, discuss, record, and interpret what the theme means to you.

And this might be an initial reaction to something that comes to mind straight away.

You'll do more on that later.

You might use prompts like, if this theme was a person, what would they say or what they look like? Or, you might describe a world where this theme is central.

Let's look at some different themes that Izzy might have explored.

And remember, there's many different possibilities here, but here's an example of one you might have found.

Izzy suggests, "I was given the theme Camouflage.

One definition was the use of materials, coloration, or patterns to disguise something by making it blend in with its surroundings, Concealment, disguise, and ossification are all synonyms." Here, Izzy has recorded a main theme in her sketchbook.

So it looks like she's got the word camouflage, ossification, concealment, and disguise around in different places on her sketchbook.

She's written the definition underneath the use of materials, coloration, or patterns to disguise something, making it blend in with its surroundings.

And she's also found some images that come to mind when she defines camouflage.

Here, in part two of the task, Izzy is thought about what comes to mind for the theme Camouflage.

And remember, this is an initial reaction that came to her mind.

She said, "The theme Camouflage makes me think of animals and nature and how colours and patterns are used.

If this word were a person, they might be someone shy, who likes to hide.

I would say that camouflage is a key theme in the army, or at least that is my interpretation." Here, Izzy has recorded and interpreted more of what the theme Camouflage means to her.

And remember, this is her initial reaction and it might be different to yours.

So she's added to her sketchbook.

She's linked the word camouflage to the army.

She's linked the word nature and animals to the creature.

She's questioned whether it might mean shy or hiding.

She's done it in a creative way in her sketchbook.

Part two of today's lesson is about exploring aspects of a theme.

Let's go back to Izzy and Alex's discussion.

They're talking about what they do after they've defined and interpreted the main theme of a piece of art.

Izzy says, "Now I start to consider aspects of the theme that really interests me.

I record some ideas that I might explore, in response to what the main theme is." And Alex says, "I like to consider a few possible aspects of the theme.

I explore ideas briefly, and then settle on one or two to explore further in a bit more detail.

I might also look at some artists who have worked in those themes." I think that's a really great idea from Alex there, doing a bit more research about artists that have created or worked on a certain theme.

When choosing an aspect of a theme to focus on, I would start with what perhaps excites you or inspires you the most.

Remember, art is personal, and normally the best works comes from a place of genuine interest and perhaps sometimes curiosity.

Take time to explore different angles.

What connections might you have or might you make to your own experiences? Consider what kind of feels the most meaningful to you.

You might look at artists throughout history and how they tackled similar themes.

What techniques do they use? How do they convey mood or narrative, or perhaps symbolism? And there's always something to learn from artists and pieces of artwork.

It's really important to document your journey.

Keep a track of your thoughts, your notes, your sketches, and visual experiments in your sketchbook.

Your ideas might change and evolve, and that's part of the creative process.

Refining, reworking, and discovering new possibilities is really important.

We want you to be bold and curious and make the theme your own.

Let's check your understanding now.

Which two of these are not a good way to choose an aspect of a theme? A, consider ideas which will be the most popular with others, B, consider which ideas feel the most personal or meaningful to you, or C, consider which ideas make little or no sense to you right now.

It's A and C.

Well done if you got that right.

When approaching a theme, it can be helpful to break it down into categories, and this might give your work, structure, or more structure and more depth, and that might help you create a more creative response.

One way to start that is through personal connections.

How does this theme relate to your life? Ask yourself, does it connect your past or your present or even your hopes for the future? 'Cause remember, art's often a reflection of our own experiences and emotions, so making it personal can really bring your work to life.

Next, consider the historical context.

How has this theme played a role in the past? Have artists explored it throughout history? Looking at their work can spark new ideas and perspectives, and that might help you build on what's come before.

Then, think about its cultural meaning.

What does this theme represent in different cultures? How do traditions and beliefs and societal influences shape its interpretation? Exploring different viewpoints can add a richness to your, and perhaps even a complexity to your work.

And by considering these aspects, personal, historical, and cultural, you'll be making a well-rounded and really thoughtful and perhaps meaningful artistic response.

When beginning a new project, it can be really overwhelming sometimes to decide where to start, and I remember that when I'm creating art.

Sometimes I'm not quite sure how to get going or where to start, and that's where idea showers or mind maps, or you might call them something different in your school, come in to help.

They help you visually explore and organise your thoughts.

Sometimes making it easier to narrow down a certain aspect of a theme that really interests you the most.

As you branch out in different ideas, patterns might start to emerge, and then those connections might become clearer.

You might notice reoccurring themes or emotions, or even visual elements that inspire you.

What's really powerful about this process that also reveals your own artistic voice, your unique perspective and style that begin to take and shape the work and that might happen when you're doing an idea shower or mind map.

Have a look at this idea shower for the theme Interiors.

How might you improve the presentation on this sketchbook page? What could you do differently? What do you like about it? Does it tell you something about the artist's voice or style? Here, I see quite a clean, organised page, with a tiny bit of colour, but the word interiors really jumps out to me as the theme in the middle, but there are certainly linked ideas, but there's almost a cleanness to this Interior theme.

Although we don't have a theme in the middle here, where you have the word theme, this example shows how an idea a shower or a mind map can be really visually interesting.

It can really jump out at someone.

So when you are doing your own idea shower or mind map, think about the composition.

It might showcase skills and your own artistic voice.

And in this example, the word theme is in the middle, but I think the theme here is something to do with the tree, 'cause look at the style on the font that's used.

I think the words almost branch out from the mind map here, and there are ideas that leaves or buds at the end of the branches.

Remember, you could use imagery and different font styles that link to your theme or themes.

Time for a task now, and I want you to make a mind map or idea shower, where you explore a few aspects of the themes that interest you or you might have been given.

And you might respond to the theme in the categories below that help structure your response, and that might be personal connections.

How does this theme relate to your life, your past, your present, or your future perhaps? There might be some historical context you can draw in.

How has this theme being relevant historically? What might other artists have done in relation to this theme? Can you take inspiration from them? Then what's the cultural meaning? What does this theme mean in different cultures? It might mean different things.

It might mean the same thing, but you can explore that in your mind map or idea shower.

It's also worth including and considering and really thinking hard about how you can convey your artistic voice and your own personal style.

Can you make it an interesting composition? You're gonna use sketches and notes.

And often, you could use a double page in your sketchbook to showcase this.

Let's take a look at this mind map or idea shower.

And remember, it might be completely different to the one you've made 'cause there's many different personal outcomes.

Let's explore this one in a bit more detail.

The themes in the middle, and it's spread across a double page, and they've added a few further aspects of the theme, and more ideas and reflections to each one.

In this example, this artist or pupil has used a mixture of notes and sketches.

They've also considered the composition and created a really visually interesting double page.

I love how they've used colour here and added finer detail to the notes and the sketches.

For part B of this task, I want you to look at and reflect on your mind map, and use it to select an aspect of the main theme that you'd like to explore a bit further.

And you might do this by discussing with the teacher or a fellow artist what you might do.

You might also select and explore a few more aspects before deciding exactly what you want to do.

So it's time for a bit of reflection.

Here's Izzy's own personal reflection that might be similar or might be different to yours.

She says, "I've realised that in the theme Camouflage, I had the most to say about nature and survival.

I also started to see a link between that and the masks people wear to blend into society or to hide their true selves." Really interesting reflection from Izzy there.

Let's look at Alex's reflection on the same theme.

He says, "In the same theme, I realised that I'm really excited by the work of Bridget Riley or Andy Warhol, who explore repetition and pattern.

I want to explore optical illusions used in art too." We've come to the end of today's lesson.

Here's the summary for you.

Themes act as a springboard for artists to develop ideas and make art.

Themes can also be interpreted in different ways by different artists.

And mind maps or idea showers are a really useful way to record interpretation and to explore aspects of themes.