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Lesson 7 of 8
  • Year 11

Talking about your work

I can talk confidently about my artwork, explaining my ideas, process, and intention.

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View unit
Lesson 7 of 8
New
New
  • Year 11

Talking about your work

I can talk confidently about my artwork, explaining my ideas, process, and intention.

Download all

These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

Switch to our new teaching resources now - designed by teachers and leading subject experts, and tested in classrooms.

These resources were created for remote use during the pandemic and are not designed for classroom teaching.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Talking about artwork helps the artist and the audience understand ideas, process, and intention.
  2. Verbal explanations can occur in informal conversations or formal presentations.
  3. Reflecting on and discussing artwork helps develop critical thinking and clarity of expression.
  4. Linking materials, techniques, and artistic choices to ideas deepens understanding of the work.

Keywords

  • Engagement - how others interact with or understand your work

  • Promotion - communicating your work to showcase skills, creativity, and ideas

Common misconception

Artists only talk about their work to promote it in galleries and museums.

Artists might talk about their work for engagement and promotion, in a variety of contexts.


To help you plan your year 11 art and design lesson on: Talking about your work, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Task A: Select short, age-appropriate clips of artists talking about their work from trusted sources or major gallery websites. Check that the clips are no more than 3–5 minutes long to keep pupils engaged. Provide clear viewing questions in advance so pupils know what to listen for.
Teacher tip

Equipment

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Prior knowledge starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Artists only talk about their work to promote it in galleries and museums.

Correct Answer: False, Incorrect

Q2.
In what contexts might artists talk about their work?

only when they are being examined at school
only when they are interviewed on TV
Correct answer: in galleries, museums, open studios, art fairs, or workshops
never - their work should “speak for itself”

Q3.
In Renaissance workshops, artists often had to explain their ideas clearly to get approval for commissions.

Correct Answer: True, Correct

Q4.
Which strategies are good for talking clearly and confidently about your work?

Correct answer: Use clear and honest language.
Correct answer: Plan what to say by thinking about your main ideas, techniques, and intentions.
Only talk about your work in galleries, never on social media.
Avoid questions from the audience to stay in control.

Q5.
Why might talking about your work be useful for both you and your audience?

Correct Answer: Helps clarify your ideas, Helps clarify your process, Engages your audience, Develop confidence

Q6.
Which of these could help you prepare to talk confidently about your artwork?

Correct answer: practising with a friend or recording yourself
avoiding all questions so you don’t get nervous
Correct answer: linking materials and techniques to your main theme
memorising a script word-for-word without understanding it

Additional material

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