As we establish routines for our youngest students in the Junior Art room, Year Ones become familiar with the space, learning appropriate and safe use of materials and equipment. Experimenting with new materials while settling into the school year is a focus while we learn the primary colours. Our first and foremost colours of red, yellow and blue will be used to mix the whole spectrum when we begin exploring the paint medium, learning about the history of pigments and the visual and emotive effects of warm and cool colours. Each week, class groups brainstorm a list of things in our natural and made world that are red (They stand out!), yellow (They stand out too!) and blue (Not so many individual things, but made up for by a lot of blue sky and water in our environment…)
Year Ones are using terminology to describe pictures. They are learning about positive and negative space in Visual Art; the objects they draw take up positive (filled) space, while the empty background is negative space. They are also considering composition; if they draw their objects large, there is less negative space on their coloured paper to fill in with white chalk, oil pastel or acrylic paint.
It can all get a bit messy (Can I wash my hands?) but, importantly, we are practising our cleaning up routines and learning to take responsibility for the mess we make as we become good citizens of the planet.
Mrs Ann McDermott
Junior School Specialist Teacher (Visual Arts)