Lower School artistic treats
Our Year 7 Art students have been building their core technical skills over the last two terms, developing an understanding of the formal elements in Art – the parts used to make a piece of artwork. The art elements are line, shape, form, tone, texture, pattern, colour and composition, and they are often used together; how they are organised in a piece of art determines what the finished piece will look like. The girls have specifically focused on the work of contemporary British artist Sarah Graham. Graham’s work is known for its indulgence in colour, shape and form and is usually photorealistic oil paintings informed by her photography of ‘sweet treats’ and toys. Her work is not about hidden conceptual meanings but rather the joy and happiness found from colour and flamboyant compositions designed to capture the viewer's eye. Graham says about her work: “Over the years, I have been developing a method of painting aiming to create the illusion of three-dimensionality, and hopefully bring a still photograph to life”.
Some of our Year 7 students have worked using Digital SLR cameras and Photoshop to develop a series of images of their favourite brightly coloured treats and then used these images to directly inform their own acrylic based paintings. The results and developments of core technical skills have been very successful: the girls’ work is being exhibited in Studio 47 currently if parents wish to pop by and see it in situ.
The Year 9 Art students have been looking at the application of a variety media within the theme of 'natural forms' and have built portfolios of work using paint, pencil, oil pastels, photography, collage, inks and craft knifes. The term ‘natural forms’ is often used in relation to the form of an object which has not been altered or manipulated but is in its original state found in nature. Through Art, natural form can be depicted as a representation of the original object. The students were able to develop a series of photographic images of a skull that captured their imaginations because of its shape, form and texture. They worked from primary source observational drawings and these photographic representations to then develop their acrylic paintings. Their work was inspired by a series of artists such as botanical painter Elaine Searle and expressive illustrators such as Emma Dibben.
To see some of the girls’ artwork please click here to view our online gallery.