How To:

Level 4

When the Olympics were on classes were engaged in studying various aspects of China. So in the Art room we discussed and looked at different Chinese masks used in theatre. Children learnt about the significance of various colours and how they represent different personal qualities. We discussed the use of lines and patterns to add interest and detail.

Then using greylead pencils the children came up with some of their own mask designs on paper. Using Ocaldo water colour paints and fine paint brushes they painted at least 2 of their 4 designs in order to get some practice at using the fine paint brushes and also so they could see what their colour ideas looked like.

(I had pre made the plaster masks using the white plastic moulds. Each child got a large and a medium sized mask to work on.) The next step was to paint their plaster masks using the ocaldo water colours. The children had painted a white base coat onto the plaster masks with Chromatemp paint so that the ocaldo colours didn’t smudge or wipe off the plaster. I decided to use ocaldo paints because they dried fast and children could then layer colours if they wanted to.

The final stage involved each child creating a background to mount their mask onto. Some decided to paint the cardboard while others chose to decorate with paper or sequins. They could choose if they wanted to mount both masks or only their favourite. The mask was stuck on with a clear craft glue. The activity took about 3 sessions.

For the presentation stage (exploring and responding component of V.E.L.S) children were asked to comment on what they liked about the different masks. All 3 classes had their masks displayed in the school corridor and I also allowed them to have a say as to which ones should be selected to go on to the display at the Zart Art Gallery. Each child wrote down their favourite 3 choices and a comment as to what they liked about it.

When the activity was repeated with the year 6s a lot of them chose to use the gloss varnish over the top to make the colours more vibrant and they also added glitter glue to add details such as dots and stripes.

Copyright 2008 Zart Art & Zart Education Service