Waseley Hills High School

Silver Arts Award

Contents Page• Unit 1: Arts Practise• Part A – identify and agree an appropriate arts challenge• Part B – prepare, agree, implement and review a plan of action to achieve an arts

challenge• Part C – review arts events• Part D – learn about artists and arts organizations through visits and/or participation.

• Unit 2: Supervised Arts Leadership• Part A – establish the project’s creative purpose• Part B – plan practical issues• Part C – effective arts leadership• Part D – work effectively with others• Part E – review outcomes in relation to stated aims

Unit 1: Arts Practise

Part A – identify and agree an appropriate arts challenge

My ChallengeI have decided to challenge myself by working on a larger scale than what I’m used to, and I can do this through experimenting with my Cultural Project. I wanted to do a large piece on a board for my final piece as I thought my designs would be enhanced this way, and I hadn’t worked on a large scale before.

My strengths I feel are painting, experimenting with designs and materials to create pieces, pencil drawing and using pastels. I believe that if I was able to combine these techniques on a larger scale my work would stand out more and my work would improve in standard. My ambitions upon starting this project are to become more confident when working on a larger scale, as I feel that when my confidence builds is when I will do my best work, and I have always wanted to work on a larger scale than what I have been working at in my previous work. Arts Award will give me the opportunity to achieve this goal.

In order to complete this challenge I will need time, enthusiasm and lots of ideas that I can use to build my work to a high standard. I will also need my teachers to guide me when using different materials and concepts.

Unit 1: Arts Practise

Part B – prepare, agree, implement and review a plan of action to

achieve an arts challenge

Action PlanSummary of my Project.My project will be working larger scales and 3D experiments into my AS Level “Cultural” Project. I will do this over 2 or 3 terms and I will be working on it in my art lessons, which are 4 / 5 times every week, and then at home and in my spare time after school. I will record my progress through photos, annotations and a work diary so that you can see how and when I completed my challenge.

What I will need.I will need all the right equipment which I can source from the school’s art department, this will include paintbrushes, paper, pencils, paint, wooden boards, 1m rulers etc and I will also need the art rooms to use as a place to work. I will take some work home to finish off but the majority will stay in school because of space and to save transporting my work and risking damage.

I can review my work by getting teachers to write statements and reports of my work and to share it with others on social media sites like Facebook and get their opinions. This way I will be able to see what people think worked out well in my project and what I could have improved upon.

Evidence of my Arts Challenge: My E-sketchbook

The following slides I have put together to make a digital sketchbook of my drawings and

experiments with materials, techniques and processes to use as evidence of the

development of my painting skills during my Silver Arts Award.

An experimental piece drawing inspiration from the skull makeup. I wanted to keep it simple but show the boldness of the shades of grey / black I used when doing this makeup

An experimental page looking at figures and some small sketches from my internet research of “culture”. I wanted to combine the more traditional forms of art with more contemporary ideas to really give a fuller viewpoint on the word “culture”.

This is some development work based on my face painting photos. One is tonal pencil and the other is watercolour. I have incorporated glasses to give a more contemporary feel, and they will be a re-occurring motif in my future work. I have also started to introduce the figures similar to that of Rachel Goodyear.

This is more development work focusing on the Goodyear figures. I have started to incorporate more tribal designs to keep the question of ‘culture’ at the forefront. I like working in this contemporary style and want to develop it into a final piece.

There are photos of my brother wrapped in bubble wrap. This is drawing inspiration from Quinn, and I enjoyed doing this work!

I’ve added cardboard glasses to carry on the motif, and they work well with the bubble wrap to give a contemporary, modern feel.

This is some research on Neil Hughes – a UK body painter. I love his work. I especially like the brightness of the colour he uses. The movement he expresses with his paint is fascinating, and the way he extenuates muscles. I feel this technique isn’t quite what I want to achieve, but I certainly want to continue painting on people and not just paper!

Here is some research on Craig Tracy, another body painter. This artist makes his work as more illusions than costume make-up, but I still love his style. I feel that Hughes’ work is more tribal, and so more related to my project, but I love the way Tracy makes his models into pictures of other things. I think I shall stick to Hughes for my inspiration, but Tracy’s work is still fantastically imaginative and clever.

This is some experimental work focusing on tribal patterns and colours. I want to keep to the more polynesian style of pattern, and have done some internet research on the next page. I am taking ideas based solely on tattoos, which is what I tried to mimic on the body outline piece I did.

I really enjoy working with felt tips to create these patterns, and black marker to really define the outlines/ I want to incorporate these patterns into my final piece and further work, it’s time consuming but I think the end product is very effective.

Some images I found on the internet of tribal patterns inside figures. I have done some line drawings of these figures but using my Polynesian designs rather than the ones off the internet.

My own Polynesian pattern designs. I have also imitated a tattoo design of a manta ray that I found on the internet. I think the bold colours work really well against the striking black lines and I want to continue using this technique.

Here I am experimenting with computer software. I wanted to layer masks/tattoo designs onto faces to see if it would look different. I have also painted on my face in simple tribal patterns. I really liked working on the computer for this and think my results are excellent.

On this page I am painting on my hand/arm in simple black and white patterns. Although these aren’t complex, I feel that they work really well and give an idea of what these designs would look like as actual tattoos.

I would like to have experimented with legs/feet etc but I think these images are discrete and not too over-the-top. I think this simplicity makes the patterns stand out more.

Here I am standing next to my full- body piece so you can see the scale of it!

I used a mixture of permanent marker, felt tip, and bits of magazines to add interest and colour to the piece.

My Finished Painting

The following slides I have put together to

make a digital sketchbook of my

drawings and experiments with

materials, techniques and processes to use

as evidence of the development of my

painting skills during my Silver Arts Award.

The above picture shows me holding a mini version of my main painting. I did this to try out colour combinations and pattern combinations to see what went the best together.

A Photomontage of my finished main painting

A Photo of me holding my main painting so you can see the scale of it!

I projected some of my designs onto the back of the cut out figure, this idea came from the use of projection which I have

seen in Rachel Goodyear’s work on my trip to see her exhibition in Yorkshire

You can see photographs of my projections above.

Report on my arts challenge

• Written report on my project – evaluation

• What went well/didn’t etc

• What have you learnt

• How have your skills developed

• What would you do differently

• What next?

Sharing my work with othersI put some photos of my work on Facebook

and my friends commented / liked.

Unit 1: Arts Practise

Part C – review arts events

Review of the PublicI attended the Public Gallery in West Bromwich in August 2012 to see “The Art of Motion” exhibition. The predominant art form of this exhibition was digital, with many of the instalments needing people to operate them / create images and sounds, which I thought was a great idea. I had never really seen anything like this before, and I loved the idea of getting people physically involved in the pieces rather than just observing them.

I thought the Public was brilliant, the layout of the gallery is quite unique; a raised walkway all around the inside of the building, and the coloured lights were amazing. I would definitely recommend the Public to anyone, it caters for both the more adventurous and kinaesthetic art lovers and traditional gallery-goers.

Review of Rachel Goodyear’s YSP exhibition

Seeing Rachel Goodyear’s exhibition at Yorkshire Sculpture Park inspired me to include projections in my work. She had projected an animation of her work (dancing mythical creatures) onto a real life tree stump and played it against a white wall. It looked great, I loved the way it felt that you were secretly observing these creatures in their environment, and I wanted to then experiment with simple projections in my work.

Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos of the exhibition so here are some images I have found online.

Unit 1: Arts Practise

Part D – arts practise and pathways

Art workshops in my local area

A local artist called John Denaro visited our school to do a portrait workshop with us in late 2012. John studied Fine Art at Luton and Stourbridge from 1968  to 1972.  From 1987 - 1996 John worked mainly as a Pavement Artist, travelling to places throughout the country drawing large scale photo-realist portaits of famous people. John didn’t immediately go straight into being a full-time artist, after leaving school he worked as a Psychiatric Nurse for 15 years until he got established.

I think this shows that being established enough for art to be your only income is hard to achieve unless you are extremely lucky, or you have the right connections to get you known. For me to go for a career in art I would need to do a foundation course at a local college (New College for example) then do a degree in whatever Medium I had a preference for. I could work for a local gallery or the Artrix in Bromsgrove as a part time job to get some experience in the field. I think generally Art is a hard industry to get recognised in, but it would be brilliant to get that known and skilled.

Working with John

Year 12 – Self Portrait

Year 13 – Movement (In the Fairground) Project work

Unit 2: Supervised arts leadership

Part A – establish the project’s creative purpose

My leadership projectFollowing on from Unit 1, I have enjoyed painting on such a large scale

that I have decided to carry on this theme into my leadership project.

My project will be to design and to lead a team of painters to paint the scenery and props for my school’s musical production, “Return To The Forbidden Planet”.

This forms part of a whole school project, where I will be leading a team of ten individuals from my school’s 6th Form. The set has already been built, so my role will be to design three murals to form set changes to be painted on top of the existing wooden set to a given brief.

I will design the visual content for the set and liaise with the producer and director of the play to ensure I have interpreted the brief appropriately. I will also be responsible for advertising and recruiting my team of painters and ensuring they stay on task and also stick to my designs and colour schemes. I will have three months from the initial designs to the completed set painting to complete my project

Unit 2: Supervised arts leadership

Part B – plan practical issues

leadership project planWhat is my role? Who will be involved?My role will be team leader/designer. Mr Moore and Miss Swift will be the staff in charge of the musical, helped by Ms Gunter, the DT

technician who will construct the sets. My painting team will be Jamie Jones, Charlotte Powell, Oliver Holland-Jones, Charlotte Harris, Dale Taverner, and myself.

When is the performance? What are my deadlines? When will preparation take place?The musical performance dates are Weds 28th Nov – Fri 30th Nov. The set should be constructed by 17th September, and white washed by 24th

September. The week commencing 24th September myself and my team will start to draw the designs onto the set. The week commencing 1st October we will begin painting. The deadline for completing the painting is 12th November, which I am confident we will make. Painting will take place after school each night Monday to Thursday from 3.30pm – 5pm, and we will work in the drama studio.

Who will do what? How will it work?I intend to make groups of painters responsible for sections of the set, for example some will work on the air lock, others on the back 5 panels,

others on the front-of-stage items (stairs etc). I shall hold a preliminary meeting with the team to give an overview of how it will all work, and I shall demonstrate brush techniques etc if needed.

How will I describe and promote the project?With regards to promoting the project, I shall put up a notice in the 6th Form common room, and ask the Head Boy / Girl for assistance in

building a team.What resources will I need? Who will provide them?Resources I will need include large, medium, small brushes, paint rollers, white emulsion paint for the base coat, ready-mixed paint in red,

yellow, blue, black, I shall need bowls in which to mix paint up, sheets for the floor, and aprons for the team. I shall get these from the Art department.

Who will help me?The people that will help me to complete this project will be Mr Moore my art teacher, Ms Gunter the art technician, Mr Basham the caretaker,

plus my painting team, and I can draft in Year 12 art students if I need extra help painting.How will I know if the project was successful? How can I get feedback?A successful project will mean a completely painted set in line with the design brief which has been produced in time for the musical. I can

collect feedback on my work afterwards by distributing questionnaires etc to my team and to people that were in the audience on the night. This will give me different perspectives on my work and show me if any improvements could have been made etc.

What could go wrong? What is my backup plan?The paint could not work on the wood used to build the sets, it might not be finished on time, the sets might break on the night. My backup plan

will be to use projections of a spaceship interior on the big screen at the back of the stage.What else do I need to find out about/do?I need to find out about the availability of the drama studio, and which staff will be around to supervise on the rehearsal nights etc.Health and safety, safeguarding, what to do in emergency situationsIf any issues arise I shall find a teacher or member of staff to help deal with the situation. Only low ladders will be used to paint the sets, and Ms

Gunter will deal with anything like cutting out wood, using specialist tools etc.

Unit 2: Supervised arts leadership

Part C – effective arts leadership

Evidence from my leadership project

Here are some images of my team of painters helping me complete some of the stage sets for the play. Below left are the back panels almost finished.

Unit 2: Supervised arts leadership

Part D – work effectively with others

Working with others

Here are some photos of the programme, the sashes and badges the backstage crew and performers wore, and the thank you booklet everyone got after the show.

Need emails etc, witness statements…

Unit 2: Supervised arts leadership

Part E – review outcomes in relation to stated aims

Feedback from others

• Statements from the staff who were producing the musical about my performance

Above are some photos of some questionnaires I sent out to my painting team, asking them how well they thought I led them and how the project turned out. I was really pleased with the comments I got.

My Arts Leadership project reviewMy Arts Leadership project was to lead a group of people in designing and painting the sets for our school’s musical “Return to the Forbidden Planet”. At the end of the project we had a completed, functional set to provide the backdrop for the production.

I really enjoyed working on the sets and to see them evolve from mere shells into being part of the play and looking great behind the cast. The most difficult part of the process was probably the time span, it wasn’t much time to do that much work and I had to get extra help from the Year 12’s, which was greatly appreciated, and we managed to pull it off.

I have had great feedback from other people; people that I worked with and people that were in the audience. They said the set looked great and worked well with the production. I thought the feedback was helpful and it showed me that my preparation and work had paid off, I was really pleased with the comments.

I have learnt that communication is vital in leadership, and keeping check on every aspect of a project is essential to ensure a project runs as smoothly as it can! I have also learnt that planning is very important when carrying out a project, it clears everything in your mind so you know what to focus on and when, and this makes everything much easier to deal with.

If I were to do this project again I would make the advertising more noticeable and make everyone aware of the project, I felt that not everyone knew why I was doing it, this could have been avoided by announcing my project in the common room in a 6th Form assembly etc.

My peers co-operated greatly, they were helpful and completed their tasks to a high standard. Plus they were willing to give up their time after school which I was most grateful of, especially with their huge workloads already. I felt I co-operated well as there were no misunderstandings and everyone was able to work efficiently with one another. And we had a lot of fun doing it!