Corpus Christi

In art this half term our topic is titled ‘Make your voice heard!’

We have looked at symbolism in art starting with studying how ancient civilisations such as the Mayans used a range of symbols in their art work.

We studied their style of art and created a research page based on their art styles, symbols and patterns.

We then thought about how the Mayans used calendar symbols, similar to star signs to express their personalities. We create tiles first sketched in pencil and then brought to life in pastel based on the Mayan ‘whys’, which told people what characteristics their personality suited and also which jobs suited their personality. We used this ancient system to symbolise our own personalities.

We then thought about which symbols we would use to represent ourselves and we created an inner and outer self piece of art. The outer sided showed what we looked like on the outside and then the inner showed symbols which represented ourselves and our interests.

Finally, we explored an art technique called ‘Chiaroscuro’, which means light and dark in Italian. We used the Mayan calendar months again as the basis for our piece of art using the word from the Mayan calendar. First we created the word in tape on a white background, we then coloured the background in charcoal creating the dark effect, we then used a rubber to highlight the areas where light would hit the letters. We then created tones by blending the background with a tissue before finally highlighting the dark areas in charcoal again. We then peeled the tape off the paper to reveal a 3d design using light and dark.