How To:

Drawing and Painting

We completed a unit of work about Howard Arkley and his art. We looked at his artwork, talked about his experiences
and the things that influenced the way his work developed. The boys went on an excursion to the National Gallery
of Victoria – Federation Square to view the exhibition “Howard Arkley”. At the gallery we had a
lecture on Arkley and his work. The boys had a worksheet to complete while viewing the exhibition. The exhibition
was so vibrant and exciting with a diverse range of art forms, styles, techniques and subjects. I knew there would
be something that would appeal to every boy, and would inspire him to create his own work and to realise that art
can take many exciting forms.

1.       Back at school we made a list of the possible “Arkley Style Work”
the boys could do and what would be required. Arkley worked with an airbrush for most of his work. As this was not
possible for the boys, substitutions were made e.g. paint and brushes and marker pens. Vipond paints were used on
the furniture and Chromacryl paints on canvas.

“ARKLEY STYLE WORK LIST”

Furniture – sourcing small pieces to paint e.g. coffee table, chair, stool etc. from home or second hand furniture
stores. Smaller craft wood items were bought e.g. magazine holders, trays and mirrors.

• sand
• prime
• design / patterns
• paint

House Exteriors – draw own home, collect pictures e.g. magazines, real estate pictures

• design
• paint
• use stencil for patterns        

House Interiors – draw a room from home, collect pictures e.g. magazines, photos and collect stencils and various
papers

• design
• paint
• use stencils for patterns / collage papers

Mask Painting

• draw design
• teacher help enlarge design on to canvas
• paint
• Drawing Dot Picture
• ruling up 1cm grid over sheet
• using markers to make dots

Drawing Line Picture

• to cover whole sheet in a lot of small doodling drawings
• use a marker pen

Pattern – to go on a walk around local streets and take photos of various patterns found e.g. brickwork, fences,
gates, doors etc.

• print photos
• design
• paint
• Any idea using the Arkley style

2. The boys then selected the type of art form they were interested in and proceeded to plan it.

3. The 2D work was done individually while the 3D work was done in pairs or a small group.

4. Most of the art pieces took a few weeks to complete.

What fun it was!

Boys comments:

I really liked going to the “Howard Arkley” exhibition. My favourite pieces of work were the interiors
and exteriors. Going there gave me lots of ideas for my future art.    Rhys – Year 5

I thought that the Howard Arkley exhibition was really enjoyable to go to and it inspired me and everyone else there
to make some fantastic artwork of our own.   Gordon – Year 5

Judy Thompson
Visual Art Teacher
Southwood Boys Grammar Junior School
Ringwood
Suitable
for Level 4