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Lower Key Stage 2 Meet the Artists
Painters

Meet Frida Kahlo, L. S. Lowry and Joan Miró, three world-class painters whose techniques and subject-matter will inspire and teach your children to create their own stunning artworks. Having learned about the lives and techniques of three very different artists, children will paint self-portraits, urban landscapes and abstract works under their influence.

Learn about the stages of making a painting, including developing your ideas, sketching compositions and figures, deciding what symbolism to include, and applying paint in a variety of ways (and not just with brushes!) to achieve different visual effects. You will cover Art & Design as well as PSHE objectives.

Session 1 Frida Kahlo (I)

Objectives

Art and Design

  • Develop techniques, including control and use of materials, with creativity, experimentation and an increasing awareness of different kinds of art, craft and design.
  • Improve mastery of drawing techniques with charcoal; Learn about great artists in history.

PSHE

  • Identify and express feelings in different ways.
  • Use a broadening vocabulary to express both good and not so good feelings.

Lesson Planning

Explore the remarkable portraiture of Kahlo and identify how she reflects her own personality and feelings in her paintings. Bring your own ideas for a self-portrait together.

Teaching Outcomes:

  • To learn about the life and artwork of Frida Kahlo.
  • To explore ways that feelings can be portrayed through portraiture.
  • To sketch the basis of a self-portrait using charcoal.
  • To describe feelings using a wide range of vocabulary.
  • To express feelings through self-portraiture.

Children will:

  • Explore the style and influences of artist Frida Kahlo.
  • Identify the key elements of Kahlo’s portraits that relate to her feelings.
  • Plan the main elements of their own self-portrait that represents personal feelings from a given time.
  • Sketch an outline of their own self-portrait in charcoal.

Provided Resources

  • Kahlo PowerPoint
  • Meet the Artists photos
  • 2 bags with objects/images
  • Painting descriptions and background
  • Influences chart and colour symbolism
  • Sketching guidance

You Will Need

  • Canvases
  • Charcoal
  • Photo of each child

Session 2 Frida Kahlo (II)

Objectives

Art and Design

  • Develop techniques, including control and use of materials, with creativity, experimentation and an increasing awareness of different kinds of art, craft and design.
  • Improve mastery of painting techniques; Learn about great artists in history.

PSHE

  • Identify and express feelings in different ways.
  • Use a broadening vocabulary to express both good and not so good feelings.

Lesson Planning

Join a master class as you practise the techniques of portraiture and the types of brushstrokes used with oils and acrylics. Create your own self-reflecting, self-portrait masterpiece, using Kahlo’s style and technique as an influence.

Teaching Outcomes:

  • To learn how to make fine brush strokes using oil or acrylic paints and a range of brushes.
  • To develop portraiture painting techniques.
  • To paint a self-portrait using a similar style, influences and techniques of Frida Kahlo.
  • To create a brief diary entry that reflects feelings, using a broadening vocabulary.

Children will:

  • Explore fine brush techniques using a variety of brushes and paint washes.
  • Practise portraiture painting techniques using oils or acrylics.
  • Paint a self-portrait using Kahlo’s style, techniques and approach as an influence.
  • Write a diary entry to accompany the portrait that explains any symbolism and related feelings.

Provided Resources

  • ‘Guess the paint’ images
  • Brush stroke skills guidance
  • Portrait painting guidance
  • Skin tone colour guidance
  • Kahlo’s colour descriptions

You Will Need

  • Acrylic or water-based oils
  • Range of paint brushes

Session 3 LS Lowry (I)

Objectives

Art and Design

  • Develop techniques, including control and use of materials, with creativity, experimentation and an increasing awareness of different kinds of art, craft and design.
  • Improve mastery of drawing techniques with pencil.
  • Create sketch books to record observations.
  • Learn about great artists in history.

PSHE

  • Use a broadening vocabulary to express both good and not so good feelings.

Lesson Planning

Explore the detailed paintings of Lowry and identify how society and emotion was reflected in his paintings. Identify the social interactions in your playground as you plan and sketch your own urban landscape.

Teaching Outcomes:

  • To learn about the life and art work of LS Lowry.
  • To explore ways that social interactions can be portrayed through urban landscapes.
  • To sketch a playground scene using 2B pencil.
  • To describe the feelings associated with social interactions using a wide range of vocabulary.
  • To reflect on social interactions through urban landscapes.

Children will:

  • Explore the art of Lowry, identifying key techniques, style and influences.
  • Investigate the painting of crowds in Lowry’s work.
  • Identify the key social interactions that happen in the playground (recorded in diary form).
  • Sketch an outline of a playground urban landscape.

You Will Need

  • 2B pencils
  • Sketch books

Session 4 LS Lowry (II)

Objectives

Art and Design

  • Develop techniques, including control and use of materials, with creativity, experimentation and an increasing awareness of different kinds of art, craft and design.
  • Improve mastery of painting with acrylic/oils.
  • Learn about great artists in history.

PSHE

  • Use a broadening vocabulary to express both good and not so good feelings.

Lesson Planning

Explore the techniques Lowry used as well as the limited colour palette he adopted to create his paintings, as you paint your own playground urban landscape using his style and technique as an influence.

Teaching Outcomes:

  • To learn how to create gradient blends using oil or acrylic paints.
  • To develop painting techniques using a range of tools.
  • To paint an urban landscape using a similar style, influences and techniques of LS Lowry.
  • To describe the feelings associated with social interactions using a wide range of vocabulary.
  • To reflect on social interactions through urban landscapes.

Children will:

  • Practise painting techniques to create the human form and buildings, using oils/acrylics.
  • Use a 5 colour palate to create a painting.
  • Paint a playground urban landscape using Lowry’s style, techniques and approach as an influence.
  • Write a diary entry outlining social interactions and feelings from the perspective of one of their painted characters.

Provided Resources

  • Lowry’s 5 colour palette
  • Guidance for: gradient blending, scumbling
  • Painting the human form
  • List of painting tools

You Will Need

  • Range of painting tools
  • Acrylic/water-based oil paints
  • Range of painting brushes
  • Painting paper or board

Session 5 Joan Miró (I)

Objectives

Art and Design

  • Develop techniques, including control and use of materials, with creativity, experimentation and an increasing awareness of different kinds of art.
  • Improve mastery of art & design techniques, including painting with a range of materials.
  • Learn about great artists in history.

PSHE

  • Identify and express feelings in different ways.
  • Use a broadening vocabulary to express both good and not so good feelings.

Lesson Planning

Discover the imaginative and wide-ranging work of Miró and explore the abstract nature of his painting. Identify the ways in which ideas and emotions can be represented in abstract art and experiment with some ideas of your own.

There is a second session on Miró, as a sculptor, in Block B.

Teaching Outcomes:

  • To learn about the life, art work and experimental methods of Joan Miró.
  • To experiment with painting methods.
  • To identify and describe possible emotions expressed in some of Miró’s paintings.

Children will:

  • Explore the painting of Miró , noting key techniques, style and influences
  • Explore how ideas and emotions can be expressed through abstract art
  • Create a series of experimental paintings

Provided Resources

  • Miró art links
  • Comments slips
  • Miró photograph and quote
  • Influences chart
  • List of and range of ‘experimental’ materials and methods
  • Examples of artwork

You Will Need

You do not need any particular resources for this session.