By Paula Briggs and Rowan Briggs Smith

This resource shares a session with children aged 6 and 7, exploring the illustration’s of Maurice Sendak from Where the Wild Things Are. In particular the session looks at the kinds of marks Maurice made to create a sense adventure, and prepares the ground for the exploration to come, which will evolve into colour, collage and sculpture.

You Will Need:

• Colour copies of close-up images of Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are.
• Three pens for each child: black handwriting pen (fine), black Sharpie (medium), black marker pen (bold)
• Sketchbooks or paper.
• Soft toys (children brought their favourite soft toy).

Time: 1 hr

Outcome:

• An exploration of mark making (in sketchbooks) and then applying this knowledge in a drawing.
• An understanding of how using different pens and holding them in different ways can affect the marks we make, and how we can use those marks to make interesting drawings.
• Beginning an understanding of how the artist (Maurice Sendak) used marks to build his images.
• This session is a spring board for the next session in the series. See the whole series here.

To Begin:

To access all content, I would like to join as…

An Individual

Creative practitioners, educators, teachers, parents, learners…

From £3.50

An Organisation…

Schools, Colleges, Arts Organisations: Single and Multi-Users

From £42

AccessArt is a UK Charity and we believe everyone has the right to be creative. AccessArt provides inspiration to help us all reach our creative potential.

See This Resource Used In Schools…

You May Also Like…

Pathway: Drawing and Making Inspired by Maurice Sendak

This resource is featured in the ‘Drawing and Making Inspired by Maurice Sendak’ pathway

Visual Arts Planning Collections: Toys, puppets, dolls

talking points: maurice sendak

To Connect

At the beginning of the project it was important to take time getting used to each other, the learning space and the surrounding environment. Below is a list of considerations you may find helpful to use in your own learning spaces. Be aware of the daily sounds, smells and other textures of life in your learning space; a constant humming noise or flickering light may be stressful for a child with autism. Allow time for everyone to feel their way in the space; connections may be made through the use of different senses and body parts.

To Conceal

During the six week project, the group explored different themes and actions, some of these were displayed through learning schemas. In week 2 we experimented with different ways to conceal ourselves and objects; schemas such as enveloping and enclosure were exhibited by the group.

To Colour

Two of the sessions explored the theme of colour. The first was rather abstract, I asked questions such as; What does colour smell like? What does colour feel like?
For a child on the autistic spectrum, a question like this may be confusing, some autistic people think and understand literally. So instead of directing these questions at the children, I answered and speculated on them myself. These abstract questions became vehicles for the workshops documented below.

To Construct

In my final post on the project, I want to reflect on the theme of To Construct… looking at the different ways we constructed during the project. Please remember this is a personal and artistic reflection, based on the ideas I presented and the (emotional and physical) reactions and responses of the children and their families, who inspired changes and the development of the project as we experienced it.

You May Also Like…

Talking Points: Linda BEll

Explore how Linda Bell creates sculptures

Talking Points: Nnena Kalu

Explore artist Nnena Kalu

You May Also Like…

Talking Points: Linda BEll

Explore how Linda Bell creates sculptures

Talking Points: Nnena Kalu

Explore artist Nnena Kalu