INTOUCH 55 SEPTEMBER 2017

Teaching matters

INTOUCH 54 SEPTEMBER 2017

Cúrsaí teagaisc

Seasonal character Create fun characters for everyseason in writing and visual arts

You may or may not be familiar with thework of Italian Renaissance painterGiuseppe Arcimboldo (Arcimboldi) and hisfamous portraits of the four seasons. If youare not, you can find his images on manywebsites such as www.giuseppe-arcimboldo.org/ Arcimboldi’s work can beused to both look at and respond to andas a starting point in exploring the wholeidea of collage/montage

techniques. In this article we will beexploring how the theme of SEASONS, asexplored by Arcimboldi and by manyother artists of various times, cultures andgenres (Hokusai, Monet, etc.), might bedeveloped using both language andvisual arts. This particular idea of seasonalcharacters is also explored by themarvellously quirky author, Molly Potter,in her ‘Outside the Box’ series as the theme‘Seasons Personified’. I highly recommendher books to teachers at all class levels.

As usual, we should begin withoral language activity. We might

start by discussing theconcept of personification,

giving humancharacteristic to ideas,

thoughts orinanimate objectsthat are nothuman. Withsenior classes youmight ally thiswith a discussion

on anthropomorphism (giving humancharacteristics to animals) or onzoomorphism (giving them to inanimateobjects). Explain to the children that theyare going to create a character for aparticular season. This activity might beorganised in a variety of ways, rangingfrom a simple drawing activity withchildren working individually to a groupcollaborative activity involving grouppainting, construction work or work withfabrics. (The illustrations below are grouppieces involving fabric collage/appliqué).

Begin with giving your particularcharacter a name. Never mind boring MrAutumn or Ms Summer, go for somethingexotic or unusual, maybe try to usealliteration – Wrinkled Wally Winter, SallySunburn Summer, etc. Practice yourcharacter’s signature. Make somepreliminary sketches of your characterusing a variety of age-appropriate,coloured drawing tools. Ask the childrento think about, make notes about andinclude in their drawings things such as

• your character’s favourite colours,smells or weather;

• your character’s favourite foods, drinksand meals;

• chosen clothing, headgear, jewellery,hairstyle and footwear;

• personality traits (possibly provide a listof adjectives to help here);

• seasonal jobs that your character has toperform;

• your character’spet, etc.In your drawings

you might also includesketches of your character’shome/house and gardens and even makea list of what plants you think they mightlike to grow – the possibilities are endless.If you can’t think of ideas, don’t worry, thechildren will suggest lots of them. Asample character profile for Ms Starheadis shown here (first from left on p54).

Preliminary sketches, drawings andideas are then used as the stimulus forartwork in the other strand areas of thecurriculum. If the preliminary work hasbeen done with children workingindividually on the creation of a characterit might be appropriate to create thecharacter in clay, to paint a portrait of thecharacter or even to construct a puppetof the character. If the children have beenworking in groups to create a sharedcharacter the initial work in drawingmight be used as a stimulus for a groupcollaborative large-scale painting, a

constructeddiorama or (as illustrated here)

cooperative fabric collages/appliqués.You could, of course, use this idea as a

once-off lesson plan, as a single groupproject when all four seasons areillustrated at the one time or indeed focuson any one particular character at aseasonally appropriate time. So possiblyyou might use the idea as a project tobegin the school year by exploring andcreating images of an autumn character/swith children working either individuallyor in groups to produce an autumn family.

MICHAEL O’REILLY, a retired teacher, has workedwith the NCCA and PSP on the designimplementation of the arts curricula. He hasworked in a wide variety of schools and othereducational settings and is currently working withScoilnet as a subject expert, continuing to updatethe I Am An Artist website. Michael alsodeveloped, with INTO, an online summer course‘InTouch with Visual Arts.’

SpringquinoxStarhead

Her favourite colour is light green and she lovesthe smell of freshly cut grass. She is always cheerful,

polite, fun and loves to chat to passers-by. She dresses in greenand wears daisy chains. Her favourite flowers are the snowdrops

because they are the first flowers she sees when she wakes up fromher winter sleep. She has lots of pet rabbits and loves April showers. Sheloves to make Easter bonnets using daffodils and tulips. She loves to eat

spring cabbage flavoured with spring onions and her very favourite day ofthe year is April Fool’s day. Her spring-time jobs include polishing the

bluebells, unfurling leaves and helping the birds to mind their baby chicks.Her home is a small thatched cottage at the edge of the woods.

Curriculum ObjectiveMake drawings, paintings,

prints, claywork, constructionsand fabric works based on the

imagination, using a widevariety of art tools, techniques

and media

Sprinquinox Starhead

Sommer Summerin the Sea

Alexander LeifAutumn

William WaldorfWinter III