In Art this term, Year 3 have been developing their drawing skills. They have been practising sketching, looking for basic 2D shapes to build their sketches from. They have been looking closely at natural objects such as leaves, and shells, drawing only what they see in front of them, using their observational skills.

One sunny afternoon, we took our learning outside where the children were able to practice their shading techniques, learning the 4 rules of shading, and how best to hold their pencil. They explored tone, texture and tried adding details to their sketches to add interest.

We then looked at the artist, Yellena James, for inspiration. The children were inspired by her abstract use of shape and colour. After writing a class poem about a plant, using their imagination and descriptive expanded noun phrases such as: Deep underground, the roots looked like a maze of yellow worms, the children explored using modern digital art tools to create an AI-generated image of their plant. They were astonished at the accuracy of how the image reflected their detailed description, and this inspired them to use pastels and coloured pencils to create some of their own independent imaginative ideas.

The children then used the Sketchpad platform on iPads to create digital art using inspiration from their sketches in their sketch books. This gave the children the opportunity to try creating art in a modern and totally different way, which they thoroughly enjoyed!