Task:

• To create an abstract or semi-abstract sketch, then paint a human body in motion based on a painting by Nicole Hetherington and various other (avant grade) paintings.
• This was a piece that evolved from the original idea! I had firm concepts of which I wanted the children to learn the physical outcome, but the children and I, while still achieving the concepts, changed the end piece and varied the choices according to the child's 'wants.' We also took twice the time I had planned.
• Children's drawing/ illustrating experience are usually with small pieces of paper, up close, and using only their wrists... very limiting.
  
• I wanted: -the children to draw and paint using very large arm movements.
  
• The students to stand at arm's length in front of, and work on, a large A2 sheet of paper which was pinned to the wall, (like a professional artist).
• The subject to be very simple so all could succeed
  
• The finished piece to be 'framed' each child to be required to display his/her work, but it had to be of an acceptable standard.
• Our original intention was to copy one of the paintings done by the aunt of one of our students who is an amateur artist and who had donated a pair of her paintings to the school.
• After the first lesson, I decided that this may have been a little ambitious.
• I found, and then compiled, a slide show of some un-named/ untitled avant garde pictures from a poster catalogue (no publication details available) on which single flowing lines were used to depict the human form in motion. We studied both of these.
• The first two lessons were exercises in making large flowing lines from the top of the page to the bottom, joining lines in a 'smooth' manner, and in the second, copying the two styles of painting. It was at this point that our plans changed.
• We decided that each person could choose which of these two styles they wished, or the could do a combination of both, or a variation of one.
• But... it must - have large, smoothly joining, flowing lines fill the page (leaving some allowance for the border)
• Be well balanced, have some colour (either as negative or positive space), have a specified border pattern, in a colour which the artist felt complemented the painting.
• As you can see by the results, these criteria, plus the teacher's aims were all met.
• One issue that arose early, and came as a complete surprise to me - a few children who are perfectionists or who perform best when there is a clearly seen means to achieve a very specific 'answer', found this exercise very distressing.
• We stopped often, talked about what we were doing, changed the requirements, until all children were happy with what they wanted to do, with what they had to do and how they could achieve this.

Sonja Muir
Art Teacher