Trees, dots and colour blending :TR Mack style Yr 5 Primary art

My year 5 boys have just completed a painting unit based, 

inspired by the work of TR Mack.

There are a number of art education ideas

 floating around the internet,

 regarding this artist.

 One I particularly admire 

is by One Crayola Short,

 so check it out too.

I have taken a slightly different approach with my Yr 5 boys.

We began with some colour wheel theory and vocabulary (building the foundations).

Eventually we turned our focus
 to monochromatic colour schemes.

The boys were set the task
 of painting a monochromatic background.

We discussed choices they could make such as blending,

or using a more textured cross hatching approach.

Monochromatic Background using a textured approach

The next step was to look at the work of TR Mack
 and deconstruct his approach to tree scapes.

The boys practiced drawing trees...
 splitting branches again and again.
We discussed styles; swirly, angular, sparse, spooky etc.

(incidentally there are real science and Maths links

 possible here, as my husband pointed out).

Fill in the trees in a solid colour such as black or navy

Before the boys were ready to draw
 up their tree(s) on their background,

we recapped some compositional concepts
 that we had covered in a previous unit.

Points such as:

•  avoid placement in the centre,
•  anchoring the image by connecting to the edges,
• variety of size if there is more than one tree etc. 

Add a ground if you wish

Finally, we printed dots,
 and dots on dots,
 and dots on dots on dots. 

We used old corks, cotton buds,

 industrial offcuts, anything circular will do. 

Testing colours and objects for printing.

Spacing is important here,

and we discussed clusters,

 regular spacing, irregular spacing

 and the pros and cons of all possibilities.

These examples are only a handful of the class,

as they were all successful.

I love how each tree has its own story.

Duality in Art and Life : city vs forest

I love the city.

I love the architecture.

 Its just BIG functional art.

 When I catch the bus to work, I travel past all the city's eclectic mix of structures...

I love maps.

I love their aesthetic quality. 

They remind me that we are like little ants going down many different pathways.

I love the forest.

I love the multitudes of trees, with branches that overlap and intertwine...

and roots that become part of the earth.

I love to be.

I love to be in these places,

 that are so different, and yet so connected.

So I've been working on a diptych of dichotomy.

 The dual of people vs planet.

What are side are we barracking for I wonder?

The forest or...

the city.




It is International Year of the Forest - lets take care of them
.... invest in them and we invest in us!