Pride of place

We moved from sunny yellow to vibrant multicolour this week in The Art Room to highlight innovation and resourcefulness in support of Recycle week.  Applying our knowledge of the colour wheel to turn old objects and materials into something new, the children created magnificent versions of the King of the Jungle to make striking artworks with a positive impact on our environment.

We began each session by familiarising ourselves with the colour wheel and the relationships between the three primary colours – red, blue and yellow – and the secondary colours that can be made by mixing these primary colours together. We talked about how artists and designers use the colour wheel as a tool to select colours that look good together, particularly those that sit opposite each other on the wheel. These pairs of ‘complimentary’ colours, such as red and green or blue and orange, when used together can make artworks look brighter and more exciting.

Using their freshly painted colour wheels as a visual guide, the children transferred this understanding to their animal artworks by assembling a multicoloured lion’s mane from recycled scraps and unwanted materials. Old packaging, cardboard boxes, magazine pages, newspapers, fabric, ribbon and tissue were imaginatively reworked into strips to surround their animal head with rainbow-hued fur. 

To complete their artwork, the children sketched the features of a lion and added detail with art materials of their choice. In repurposing waste, the children displayed creative strength and artistic courage in making something visually powerful and new.  We all had a wild time and this last session of the half term was full of pride!