Mexican Art Theme: Life & Death

List at least 5 objects that represent life or death… Starter – Groups on table write note – 3 mins to discuss and hen feedback to whole class

Lesson Objectives All: - Will learn about how different motifs can suggest a meaning and relate to a theme or festivity. - Understand the process of designing their Calavera motif artwork using symmetry Some: Make connections to similar cultural events

List at least 5 objects that represent life or death… Feedback groups idea with the whole class. Discuss the ‘circle of life’ – possible ‘motifs’ to use in their on Calavera designs

Levels… Level Task Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Level 6 Draw an accurate skull outline Weak observational drawing skills. Sound drawing with some evidence of observational skills. Accurately drawn with strong use of observational skills. A fluent drawing with strong use of observational skills. Add detail and pattern work Little attention to detail and obvious use of pattern. Evidence of a range of pattern and detail Refined pattern and good use of detail Creative use of accurate pattern and textures, Shading and tonal work Shading lacks sophistication and tone uneven at times. Some use of shading techniques and tonal work. Accurate shading techniques and use of varied tones. Confident use of interesting shading techniques with a wide range of tone.

Observational drawing

Can you make a mark on paper? Don’t press down too hard – you will not be able to rub out mistakes! When learning to draw you WILL make mistakes. Mistakes are an important part of the learning process. You have to learn to not be afraid of making mistakes.

The pencil sharpener is your friend! Sketching confuses your brain! Your brain is brilliant at spotting every tiny mistake. It sees every flaw in the left circle but thinks the right circle is more accurate, even though it is made up of lots of ‘wrong’ lines. So if we sketch with multiple light lines our drawings will look better!

Smooth and fluid pencil lines! The thing that you notice when you watch an artist draw is the speed and fluency of their drawing. Their hands move like lightening across the paper and they move so smoothly with the pencil. They make it look easy! This takes years of constant practice to achieve, but you can improve your drawing by sketching lightly, smoothly and quickly. LOSE THE BLACK EDGES… Nothing has a black outline

To sum up, here are my three golden rules of drawing: Drawing Rule 1: Don’t press too hard! Drawing Rule 2: Keep a sharp pencil Drawing Rule 3: Sketch lightly, smoothly & quickly

Looking Identify shapes Look and the object and think about what you are about to draw. Identify shapes

Measure/proportion MEASURE how big to draw the shapes, do not use a ruler. COMPARE measurements SKETCH lightly, do not press hard. EVALUATE Is it correct? Make changes if you need to.

What is a Mexican Calavera?

The word calavera or (calaverita) means skull in Spanish, the skulls are often decorated with bright colours, flowers and embellishments as part of the ‘Day of the Dead’ festival.

Experiment with Calavera Designs Main Task Step 1: Draw a Mexican Calavera design in your sketchbook, filling the page with the outline. Lightly draw a guideline which splits the page in to four equal sections

Each section should be used to experiment with a different material

Material Options Sgrafitto Tin foil etching Mono printing Newspaper/parcel paper background with ink/pen foreground

Group work task In groups discuss task and identify the success criteria. Consider level boundaries and how to achieve them. Each table must come up with one sharp learning objective for task Once organised write negotiated learning objectives in to sketchbook

What is going on here?

Consider the following.. What colour are the butterflies? How many are there? What could the butterflies signify or mean? How does the installation make you feel? Do you like the work?

Installation Art Installation art describes a type of three dimensional works that are often site-specific (this means they are created and viewed in a significant place). The artworks are designed to transform the perception of a space. Installation takes place both outside and inside, when created in the landscape it is referred to as ‘Land Art’.