Sketching and designing a celebration cake
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can sketch and design a celebration cake, using shading techniques and incorporating cultural elements.
Key learning points
- Cakes have cultural significance and unique design elements in different traditions.
- Sketching involves using basic shapes to plan a more detailed design.
- Shading techniques like hatching and stippling create depth and texture.
Keywords
Sketch - a rough drawing used to plan a design before creating a final piece
Composition - the arrangement of elements within an artwork to create balance and interest
Texture - the visual or physical feel of a surface, created through shading or materials
Proportion - the size relationship between different parts of a drawing
Common misconception
A cake design must be realistic to be good.
While realism can help in some design projects, creative and exaggerated designs can make cakes visually exciting and unique.
Teacher tip
Encourage pupils to sketch lightly first so they can easily adjust their designs. Remind them that imperfection is part of the creative process - ideas evolve! Use real cake images for inspiration and discuss how culture influences design.
Equipment
Pictures of cakes. Pencils, rubbers, fine liners. Colouring pencils. Sketchbooks/paper.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Fill in the missing gap: Light and add depth to make cakes look realistic.
Q2.What should you do first when drawing a cake from observation?
Q3.True or false? Charcoal is too messy to control and mistakes can’t be fixed.
Q4.Complete the following statement: Texture means the visual or physical of a surface.
Q5.Which of the following is not a texture?
Q6.A __________ is a rough drawing that involves using basic shapes to plan a more detailed design.
Assessment exit quiz
4 Questions
Q1.Complete the statement: Different cultures make cakes to express a variety of things including __________.
Q2.Match the keywords to their definitions:
a rough drawing used to plan a design before creating a final piece
the arrangement of elements within an artwork to create balance
the size relationship between different parts of a drawing
the visual or physical feel of a surface
Q3.Why do different cultures have unique cake designs?
Q4.Why might Wayne Thiebaud’s artworks be useful for cake design inspiration?
To help you plan your 5 art and design lesson on: Sketching and designing a celebration cake, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 5 art and design lesson on: Sketching and designing a celebration cake, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 2 art and design lessons from the Ceramics: cake culture unit, dive into the full primary art and design curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.