Schools - KS 3 & 4 - Art

The website contains a wealth of material for teaching Art. In addition to the ideas and links shown here, you should also look at the Keystage 2 section, which includes a range of practical activities in Art, some of which are also appropriate for older students. Further activities can be found in the Activities section of the website. For Key Stage 4, the website and suggested activities tie in best with Fine Art, but also offer opportunities for Graphic Design and Textiles courses.
  

Art styles

Compare Indian and European styles of art, using the website as the source. If you use the website’s scrapbook facility for your group you start your students off by including a couple of examples of each style and then asking them to log on as a different user and collect their own images, adding notes on why they have chosen them. Follow up by choosing a selection and discussing styles. This could also be done as a class activity if a whiteboard is available.

Examples:
European style: see paintings by Sita Ram
Mughal styles
Mixed styles

Mughal miniatures
As part of a study of ‘the art of different cultures’ copy the whole or part of a Mughal miniature from the Mughal miniatures page. In groups, discuss the picture and its style, and describe its features. See the Key Stage 2 activity Paint it like it is.

Key National Curriculum & QCA Links

2a) investigate, combine and manipulate materials and images, taking account of purpose and audience
4b) codes and conventions and how these are used to represent ideas, beliefs, and values in works of art, craft and design
4c) continuity and change in the purposes and audiences of artists, craftspeople and designers
5d) investigating art, craft and design … in a variety of genres, styles and traditions, and from a range of historical, social and cultural contexts

QCA Art Unit 9B Change your style
QCA Art Unit ‘Visiting a museum, gallery or site’ (for research material to support the visit)

Natural forms

There are many images showing natural forms, especially the beautiful botanical watercolours and gouaches (go to ‘Pictures’ and browse the library by partner – Kew Gardens and the Natural History Museum have the best range of this type of illustration).

Make an Indian collage using natural forms, made up from rice, coconut, slices of betel nut, poppy heads, pieces of cotton and pressed marigolds. The subject could either be a rangoli pattern or an illustration of one of the Hindu sacred stories (see the Key Stage 2 Celebrations).

Key National Curriculum & QCA Links

5 a) exploring a range of starting points for practical work including … natural and made objects and environments
5c) using a range of materials and processes, including ICT (for example, painting, collage, print making, digital media, textiles, sculpture)

QCA Art Unit 7C Recreating landscapes
QCA Art Unit 8C Shared view

Life Events and ritual art

Ask the students to research Life events on the website in order to collect information for a work of art recording a major event in their own lives. Marriage is particularly well represented on the website, with many images and descriptions of celebrations, especially mendhi patterns and rangoli designs. For more information, see the Key Stage 2 celebrations webquest about weddings.

Key National Curriculum & QCA Links

1a) record and analyse first-hand observations, to select from experience and imagination and to explore ideas for different purposes and audiences

QCA Art Unit 9a Life Events

Colour and dyes

What colours can be made from the plants featured on this website? You could try using tea, turmeric, ginger, chilli, henna, indigo and marigold: grind and mix them in a mortar with water and try painting onto paper or white cotton. See further dyeing activities in the Activities and Key Stage 2 Textiles sections.

Using images from the website, ask the students to reproduce certain colours in paint in order to experiment with the colour wheel. Make a game out of the activity by asking pupils to make ‘colour recipes’ (e.g. 1 part red, 2 parts orange, 1 part yellow) and seeing if their friends can make the colour and guess the plant or flower it matches.

Key National Curriculum & QCA Links

5c) using a range of materials and processes, including ICT (for example, painting, collage, print making, digital media, textiles, sculpture)

Paper making

Indian plants have been used for paper making – cotton, rice and banyan, for instance. Follow the paper making process in school, pulping recycled newspaper through a sieve, rolling out and drying. You could dye the paper with turmeric, or add plant parts such as flowers, leaves or stems before rolling out.

Key National Curriculum & QCA Links

5c) using a range of materials and processes, including ICT (for example, painting, collage, print making, digital media, textiles, sculpture)

Still life

Collect some artefacts linked to the website – betel nut, lacquer boxes, clothing and plants – and set up a composition for a still life painting.

Key National Curriculum & QCA Links

2a) investigate, combine and manipulate materials and images, taking account of purpose and audience

Digital art

There are examples of digital art on the website – search the National Museums Liverpool catalogue of stories, many of which are accompanied by digital art images. Use the website to collect images and manipulate them using a graphics program. See also the PowerPoint activities in the Key Stage 2 Art.

Key National Curriculum & QCA Links

2a) investigate, combine and manipulate materials and images, taking account of purpose and audience