KS3 Art

Our vision for art at Ashton Park:

Art as a subject is vast and includes many disciplines. It is also a subject which can be both practical and theoretical. We aim to give students a broad experience across a wide range of media and equipment, giving historical and contemporary context to the art we study. Our hope is that students will be able to master the core techniques and develop a visual literacy, but most of all we would like them to enjoy the subject and develop as a young artist.

Please Click on the year group to view the curriculum overview

Year 7 Art Overview

Focus The Core Threads:

Line & Tone
Shape & Form
Composition & Colour
Pattern & Texture

Domains of Knowledge

Practical Skills

Theoretical Skills

How does this build on prior learning?

Term 1

Line & Tone

Susannah Blaxill Research Page
Drawing Skills; Observational drawing of mushrooms from life.
Shading; Using the pencil to achieve different tonal values. Beginning to understand Shadows, Mid Tones and Highlights and how to create these by varying the pressure of the pencil in addition to blending and the use of a rubber to add highlights.
Blending; Using blending allows us to make our shading ‘smoother’. Good opportunity to talk about texture and allude to this core thread.
Mark Making; Mark making is an effective way to develop students' understanding of tone and how it can be achieved. Mark making uses line collectively to create tone.
Outline & Details; Extremely important as a foundation for creating an accurate drawing. This SOL will deliberately steer away from tracing, and encourage students to look carefully and draw from observation (life & secondary sources)
Students to create a series of observational studies - close ups and some wider drawings of mushrooms/fruit/veg
Students to explore a range of media; charcoal/ink/ black and white oil pastel to develop their understanding of line and tone and how this can be achieved with different media.

Susannah Blaxhill; By looking at and discussing the work of Blaxhill - we want the students to think carefully about why this artist creates work which is realistic. What is their intention? There is never a right or wrong answer to this but it is important to get the students thinking hard about the artist's intention.
Accuracy and Realism; Understanding that the skills Blaxhill uses are mastered - and that we are practicing the same skills in lessons.

Students to form a concrete understanding of line and tone.
Students will arrive to APS with a variation of skills. By exploring drawing and with a specific focus on tonal pencil, this will allow teachers to form an understanding of students skills and form a basic assessment level.
Students will have done some drawing in primary school. The practical skills will help develop/instill the ‘basics’ to develop further throughout the year and into Year 8.
Artists’ intention - students may not have thought theoretically about art before. The theoretical aspect of this knowledge is important - why does Blaxhill create realistic illustrations? Is it a show or skill? Do we understand the object more by creating a realistic study?

Term 2

Shape & Form

Drawing; 1 point Perspective; students to use this technique to create a series of boxes in their sketchbooks
Bridget Riley Research Page
Op Art abstract design using rulers/protractors/paint - possible space here to experiment with paper collage/printmaking
Students are to apply Shapes and an op art design to a box/house design. Students initially introduced to colour and composition - shape and form leads nicely into the next topic as they are intrinsically linked.
Students are to create an A3 1 point perspective cityscape - with op art inspired designs incorporated into the design. - potentially using pens to apply shape and colour

Bridget Riley; Who was she? Why did she create work in such a stark contrast to her peers? Students to understand that she wanted to challenge convention. She was inspired by the impressionists who explored colour and pointilism in her work. She found joy in Art that was visually appealing to the eye and wanted to distill that down within her own work - maximising her use of colour, shape and form.
She was a part of the Op Art movement.

Students are to understand the concept of shape/form and how they are different.
Students are to use previous skills of line and tone formed in the previous term - practicing shading and blending skills to refine them further.
Students may have some previous knowledge of shape and form but throughout these topics it is important that students can distinguish, recognise and remember the different core threads and how they apply to different artists and learning.
Students can possibly compare and contrast Riley’s work to Blaxhill - how is it different? Why might these two artists work in polar opposite styles? What were their intentions?

Terms 3 & 4

Composition & Colour

Colour theory - students to understand the three main groups of colour; primary, secondary and tertiary. - complete worksheet

Colour theory; students to understand warm/cool colours and harmonious/complementary colours - complete worksheet

Students can use poster paint to mix colour theory sheets - enhancing their understanding of colour theory and colour mixing. Teacher to teach good painting etiquette.
Students to apply this knowledge to the study of the artist Monet
Students to create an artist copy of monets work using colur theory knowledge
Alma Woodsey Thoma Research Page
Drawing: Artist copy of ‘the eclipse’ - using oil pastel/paint (teacher choice) to record Woodsey-Thomas’ distinctive use of mosaic like colour.

Students to produce an A3 outcome based on the school grounds - students to apply paint/oil pastel using a distinctive colour scheme showcasing their understanding of colour theory

Monet: Pushed the boundaries of expressionism - finding meaning in colour and emotion
Distinctive brushstrokes brought a distinct difference from his work and previous artists.
Monet was a master of colour and understood the key aspect of finding emotion through colour
Monet was a master of color theory and used the combination of different colours to give his paintings a sense of mood and emotion.
Alma Woodsey Thomas; her backstory.
First African American Woman to be displayed in the White House
Strong, distinctive use of composition and colour
Inspired by American culture.
Inspired to become more abstract to push the boundaries of art and the expressionists.

Students are to understand that colour is extremely important with art and it can have a massive impact on art of all styles.
Students to study the work of Monet and understand colour mixing and colour theory demonstrated with Monets work
Students may wish to compare and contrast the work of Alma Woodsey Thomas and Bridget Riley and discuss their use of colour and how this impacts the viewer.

Terms 5 & 6

Pattern & Texture

Observational drawings of still life composition - objects/mugs/teapots
Hilary Pecis Research Page - showcasing her work and style with information on the artist.
Hilary Pecis Copy - painting using colour mixing skills explored previously - a template may be provided to help enhance outcomes .
Mark making worksheet - students to explore texture and how this can be achieved through mark making
Students can create their own A3 still life painting using flat colour -combining previous understanding of the core threads within their outcome.

Hilary Pecis is a modern artist - we can see elements of the previous artists within her work. There are elements of realism, op art and abstract art.
She uses a technique called flat colour - why does the artist use this technique? Suggest that the bright conditions in LA have inspired others artists to paint in a similar way - David Hockney The Splash

As well as exploring pattern and texture and what these core threads mean - it’s important throughout this project that students combine all of their previous learning this term into the tasks set.
Students will be consolidating all eight core threads within this SOL - through use of driving questions this will encourage students to refine their practical and theoretical understanding
Students should be encouraged to use the core threads in their answers and in their written annotations in their sketchbooks.

Year 7 Art Overview

Line & Tone , Shape & Form, Composition & Colour, Pattern & Texture

Year 8 Art Overview

Focus:

Frida Kahlo Project

Kandinsky & Tinguely Project

Domains of Knowledge
	Practical Skills	Theoretical Skills	How does this build on prior learning?
Frida Kahlo (Terms 1, 2 and 3)	Plant tonal pencil observational drawing plants from life. Plant pen and making drawing from life - building mark making skills Mexican Day of the Dead introduction - festival symbolism in art - drawings of marigold flowers using water colours. - use of hues, tints and shades and how to capture these with watercolor Sugar skull design and drawing - adding symbolism to sugar skull design - sketching out a skull design and applying symbolism to the design in a range of media Clay sugar skull (pinch pot bowl with eyes, nose and mouth cut out - engraving if time allows. Frida Kahlo research page -showcasing understanding of the artist. Tonal Pencil facial features - building on previous tonal pencil skills at the start of the year and in Year 7. Blending, shading, use of tonal range; highlights, mid tones and shadows and how to achieve these. Self portrait sketched and painted - traced out with the addition of mixing skin tones. Building on previous painting skills and colour mixing knowledge.	Mexican day of the dead; symbolism in art. The importance of symbolism in art and culture. Why are symbols important in Art? How do artists like Frida Kahlo use symbolism in art to portray their message? Differences in cultures and how art and symbolism are used in comparison to our own culture Fridah Kahlo was a trailblazer in terms of women's art, how her relationship with her husband impacted her life and her art greatly - she used her art to convey the complex feeling she was feeling towards life Fridah Kahlo used symbolism in the form of items from Mexican culture - plants and flowers symbolized her feelings of depression and dark thoughts around life and what it meant to be a woman in Mexico. She also incorporated animals and distinctive mexican patterns into her self portraits to create a narrative of power and struggle	Extendings on the drawing skills first consolidated in Y7. Blending/shading all retaught with an emphasis on making it better with a more refined skill set. The idea of symbolism in art will be a new element introduced to the students but will form the basis of their understanding moving forward into Y9. line and tone for drawing shape and form for the skulls and symbolism Composition & colour for portraits - building on basic colour theory knowledge in Y7 with the addition of skin tone mixing and painting realistically. Pattern & texture for background of portraits and the extensive use of pattern and texture within sugar skull design
Kandinsky & Tinguely (Terms 4, 5 and possibly 6)	Tonal Pencil Observational drawings of machinery - screws/gears/cogs; deepening understanding of tonal pencil skills and refining specific techniques such as mark making/blending/ tonal range. Oil Pastel scratch design of gears/machinery - focus on mark making - using specific mark making skills such as cross hatching to develop form and shape. Tinguely research page; introducing the pioneering work of the swiss sculptor - showcasing that art can take on many different forms including Students to explore the use of mixed media and more sculptural ways of working - cardboard and newspaper outcome linking to machinery/gears/screws/nuts/bolts Kandinsky Research Page Kandinsky Artist Copy Students are to create four designs for a final outcome, combining shapes, lines and pattern using line only. A3 final outcome that uses cardboard/string/PVA. Painted to demonstrate understanding of Kandinsky’s dramatic use of the core threads. Plant tonal pencil observational drawing plants from life.	Tinguely wished to challenge the perception of art and what it could communicate. He said that ‘success is the enemy’ which is an interesting quote - what are the students' thoughts on this? Really important to get them to engage with this different and strange type of structural artwork - can they form their own opinion of the work? Why do they feel and think the way they do towards the work? Kandinsky was an artist who was affected by a condition known as synesthesia - this had a great impact on his life and his artwork What was the message behind his work? Kandisnky wanted the world to see art and a vehicle to help others explore and feel emotions in relation to sight and sound	Students are to deeper develop their understanding of the core threads through this project. The second half of the year is arguably a lot more abstract which makes the students think harder about the core threads as they aren’t as apparent. We would expect students to show a deeper understanding of the core threads throughout this project and expect our students to be able to talk about them and how they apply to their work with further discussion points. Through the use of driving questions, students need to look closer and scrutinize the work of Tinguely and Kandinsky, applying their understanding of the work to their own ideas. This is integral as otherwise students will do stuff ‘randomly’ without much thought process. Students will be applying all eight core threads to their final outcome - which will amalgamate all skills into one outcome. They need to carefully consider line, tone, colour, shape, composition, pattern and texture within their final outcome.

Year 8 Art Overview

Frida Kahlo, Kandinsky & Tinguely

Year 9 Art Overview

Curriculum Threads:

1/ Refinement of knowledge: there will be relevant artist knowledge underpinning each project

2/ Refinement of skills and application: line, shape, form, tone, texture, pattern, colour and composition, these core skills will be taught explicitly during lessons.

Focus:

Basquiat Project
Cezanne Project
Franz Marc Project

	Domains of Knowledge
	Practical Skills	Theoretical Skills	How does this build on Prior learning?
Basquiat (Terms 1, 2 and 3)	Observational Drawing Skills of a bottle; Using tonal pencil to capture the reflections and intricate details. Ensuring the outline and bottom of the bottle is accurately recorded Teachers may explore a range of media with the emphasis being on tone; brown paper and charcoal/black oil pastel monoprint ect. Focus on key skills with these materials as well as linking it Students create a research page focusing carefully on the composition of their double page spread. . Students create an artist copy of ‘Untitled (skull)’ - using oil pastel, mark making and watercolor techniques. Students are to focus on celebrity - with a nod to the impact on Basquiat's mental health - creating an A4 collage piece within their sketchbooks. This will incorporate collage/oil pastel and scratch techniques first explored in Y8. Students are to create a series of drawings that explore Basquaits free and expressive style. Teachers may experiment with large brushes, ink, paint and left handed drawing to capture this expressive style. Students are to combine the skills explored in this unit to create an expressive A3 outcome that incorporates paint, collage, oil pastel and mark making. The piece clearly has to show the Basquiat Aesthetic and focus around mental health. Outcomes should be encouraged to be varied and expressive, combining colour theory/mark making and drawing skills.	Students are introduced to the work of Basuqiat through a research page; this will outline Basquiat's impact on the art world, how fame and success ultimately lead to his death Students are to understand the mental health element reflected in Basquiat's work and how this had a profound impact on the message behind his work - how it relates to fame, street art and commercialism. Students will hopefully also pick up on the dramatic change in style that Basquiat underwent from the start of his career towards the end where his work was a lot more subdued, due to the severe effect fame was having on his mental health. Students need to consider the context in which Basquiat was operating, he was homeless as a teen, so to be catapulted into fame had a severe and drastic impact on his life. Students need to understand that his work was completely different to work created previously in the art sphere. There were elements of street art within it and the work itself didn’t follow the standard ‘rules’ of art - in relation to the core threads. It was Basquiat and Basquiat alone who pioneered this intense visual language.	Through the observational drawing task we are looking for a refined use of different tonal pencil techniques such as a vast tonal range, mark making, and making the bottle look realistic. Students are suitably challenged because a bottle is difficult to draw accurately. For the drawings tasks at the beginning of the project, we are looking for students to display a deeper understanding of the skills they have developed in Y7 and Y8. We would expect to see a stronger grasp of midtones,. Highlights and shadows, creating 3D form through drawing and for the scale of their drawings to be accurate and reflect the nature of the object they are drawing. When students start to generate their own work, they need to carefully consider all of the core threads. The main threads that are focused on include but are not limited to composition, colour, tone, texture and shape. The different tasks will adhere to these and teachers need to be explicit in regards to the driving question and which core threads the tasks focus on. The vibrant and abstract nature of the work means that these core threads must be explicitly highlighted in the deliverance of lessons.
Cezanne & Franz Marc, Banksy (Terms 4, 5 and possibly 6)	Continuation of still life observational skills - still life objects (pots/kettles/glasses) in a range of media - focus on perspective Students to create a research page on the work of paul cezanne - impressionism and how he influenced other painters. Students create an artist copy of one of paul cezanne's pieces - understanding the impressionist technique and cezanne's use of colour and definitive brushstrokes. Students are to apply these learnt skills to a composition of their own - incorporating impressionist techniques into a still life painting that encapsulates cezanne's style. Students will be introduced to the work of Franz Marc - giant expressive paintings focusing on animals. Students to create an Franz Marc artist copy - focusing intently on the use of colour and how this equates to meaning and emotion. Students to plan and create a final piece based on an animal that they feel represents them. Students need to abstract the animal introducing elements of expressionism and cubism. Students will carefully select a colour scheme that links closely to emotion. Students are to apply the expressionist techniques such as hard brushstrokes, leading lines and an evocative composition. Students will then move on to looking at the work of Bristol based artist Banksy by creating a research page. Students will move onto creating a series of copies from Banksy, understanding the symbolism behind his work Students will have the option of using technology to create a digital stencil design Students will move into creating a personal response informed by the news and current events, understanding the importance of symbolism and meaning behind art that is impactful and has a message. Students will do this using a variety of techniques and materials that are ultimately teacher led but fluid dependent on student skill and ambition.	Students to understand the idea of light hitting objects and perspective - how this is achieved through recording Students are to understand how cezanne fits into the art timeline - how the influence of cezanne's choices of colour and brushstrokes had a profound impact on the wider art world. Students are to understand what impressionism means - and how this can be achieved through technique - but also what Cezanne sought to bring to his paintings - an element of emotion and provocation in his paintings. Students to be introduced to the work of Franz Marc - another artist that focuses on abstractism and expressionism within their work - students to understand that artists have always pushed boundaries. Students will understand the subtle messages behind Marc’s work - and how the combination of colour and brushstrokes can introduce different perspectives.	By late year 9, students should be familiar with looking at the work of different artists - and how we soak in their skills, style and message and how to use this to influence our own work. Students should be used to discussing the core threads in lessons in one to one discussions - ultimately students should be able to discuss their work and techniques with the use of more advanced language compared to Y8 and Y9. This will look different on a student to student basis Cezanne and Marc both pushed the boundaries of art and were considered to be multifaceted and extremely influential within their art.

KS3 Art Year 9 Art overview images

The disciplines of art

We visit these disciplines annually to allow us to build on prior learning. Through these termly experiences run our core threads:

Refinement of Knowledge:each project will enable our students to build their knowledge of the discipline and their knowledge of contemporary and historic artists within that.
Refinement of skills and application: each project will cover the core skills of line, shape, form, tone, texture, pattern, colour and composition across the faculty. (Art and textiles at KS3).