A collection of sources and imagery to explore the question ‘what is composition?’
Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control.
Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.
We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks.
*If you are having issues viewing videos it may be due to your schools firewall or your cookie selection. Please check with your IT department.*
This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.
Composition is the arrangement of different elements in a piece of artwork.
As well as positioning, elements like shapes, lines and colours can have an impact on composition.
Composition addresses the relationship between these different elements. Some artists aim to create a balanced composition in their artwork whilst others may choose to bring things to the viewers attention by creating imbalance.
Why is Composition Important?
Whether it is a painting, drawing, photograph, print or even a piece of sculpture, the way the elements are arranged impact upon how we respond to the piece of art. The artist might be trying to convey an emotion, or communicate a message, and artists use tools they have through composition to help sell those “messages”.
Throughout history, composition can be seen as an indication of the period or artistic movements that a piece of art has been created in.
Focal Point
The focal point is the area of the artwork which your eye is drawn to. The artist might use placement to draw your eye to an object (i.e. where the object is on the page), or they might use colour or value to draw your eye in.
How goes the artist draw your eye to a focal point in the illustration below?
Interior of the Temple of Aboo Simbel Nubia illustration by David Roberts (1796–1864)
What is the focal point for you in the paintings below? You might have a different focal point to your friends, or you might even have more than one? Where are your eyes drawn?
Little Girl in a Blue Armchair (1878) by Mary Cassatt.
Johannes Vermeer’s The Lacemaker (ca.1669–1671)
Balance / Imbalance
Sometimes the elements of an artwork lend to a sense of calm. This is usually because the artist has intentionally balanced colours, shapes and values.
In other artwork the artist deliberately makes us feel uneasy by throwing us off balance, by creating a sense of chaos…
Improvisation 35 (1914) Wassily Kandinsky
Rule of Thirds
Sometimes artists divide rectangles into a grid of 9 – 3 rows and 3 columns.
When working with landscape for example, artists might choose to place the horizon along one of the grid lines.
Jalais Hill, Pontoise (1867) by Camille Pissarro.
Golden Ratio
The Golden Ratio is a spiral and it can be found in nature and art.
Can you spot how the Golden Ratio is used in the “Katsushika Hokusai’s The Great Wave” above?
Classical Composition
Within the classic tradition, artists would create a sense of balance by arranging elements in geometric shapes such as triangular compositions.
Foxhound (1760) painting in high resolution by George Stubbs. Original from The Yale University Art Gallery.
Questions to Ask Children
What can you see in the foreground/background of the painting?
How do the colours vary from the foreground to the background? Why do you think these choices were made by the artist?
Where is your eye drawn to in this painting? What do you see next?
Can you see any triangles in the composition?
Symmetry
Can you see how symmetry has been used in the still life below by by Camille Pissarro?
How does this image make you feel?
Think about the colours AND the shapes, and where they are placed.
A collection of sources and imagery to explore the sculptures of Thomas J Price.
Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control.
Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.
We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks.
*If you are having issues viewing videos it may be due to your schools firewall or your cookie selection. Please check with your IT department.*
This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.
Thomas J Price
Thomas J Price is a sculptor who questions the types of people that have traditionally been made into a sculpture and displayed on a plinth. Price is interested in making sculptures of anonymous people – people who are no one and everyone at the same time. By doing this he asks us as viewers to question: What is the purpose of sculpture? How do my figures speak to you?
Reaching Out
The Space In-Between
Ordinary Men
Questions to Ask Children
What do you think that the artist is trying to say with the sculptures?
Do you like the sculptures?
How do you think the artist makes the sculptures?
Describe the different types of plinths that the artist uses.
Why do you think the artist has chosen different plinths for different sculptures?
A collection of sources and imagery to explore the ways in which artists are inspired by birds.
Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control.
Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.
We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks.
*If you are having issues viewing videos it may be due to your schools firewall or your cookie selection. Please check with your IT department.*
This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.
Artists often draw parallels with other lives/beings to help us learn about ourselves. The resources below explore how artists take inspiration from birds, not so much visually but by drawing parallels between behaviour of birds and ourselves.
Conference for the Birds by Marcus Coates
Conference for the Birds celebrates the lives of the birds Thomas Bewick depicted in his wood engravings. His book ‘A History of British Birds’ first published in 1797 was a comprehensive guide to both the appearance and behaviour of birds.
The birds, played by wildlife experts, discuss topics from migration to predation, with each species speaking about the challenges they face day to day. By exploring the lives of the birds that Bewick studied and depicted, this artwork attempts to reveal how we, when speaking from the position of another animal like a bird, rely on subjective experience to relate across to this alien perspective. – Kate Macgary
Marcus Coates, Conference of the Birds, 2019, (excerpt) Film by Kate MacGarry
Questions to Ask Children
What kinds of challenges might birds face?
How do you think it would feel to be sharing a space with the installation?
How does it make you feel? What does it make you think?
How do you think the artist made the heads?
Migrations: Open Hearts Open Borders
The Migrations project started when word was sent out to illustrators asking them to create an image for the front of a postcard (plus appropriate text on the reverse) on the theme of ‘migration’. The project’s aim was to ‘express support for and solidarity with the hundreds of thousands of human migrants who face immense difficulties and dangers in their struggle to find a better and safer place to live.’ When asking for postcards, the organisers stated ‘Do not be concerned about possible damage to the card that you will mail to us. The stamp, the journey of the mail and all it entails will reflect the fragility and the precarious nature of migration.’ – AOI
Questions to Ask Children
Why do you think that birds were used as a symbol in this project?
What do you like about this project?
Why do you think that they asked lots of illustrators across the world to join in with this project?
How does it make you feel? What does it make you think?
A collection of sources and imagery to explore the fashion label Pyer Moss.
Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control.
Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.
We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks.
*If you are having issues viewing videos it may be due to your schools firewall or your cookie selection. Please check with your IT department.*
This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.
Pyer Moss
Pyer Moss (pronounced ‘Pierre’) founder Kerby Jean-Raymond grew up in Brooklyn, the son of Haitian immigrants, and has been engaging with the fashion industry since his teenage years, interning at 14, starting a label at 15. Now in his 30s, Jean-Raymond has been at the helm of Pyer Moss since 2013, naming it for his mother. After a long-standing collaborative relationship with Reebok, Jean-Raymond was announced as the vice president of creative direction for the sportswear behemoth in late September 2020.
Please be aware that the Pyer Moss website contains some inappropriate language for Primary ages so ensure that you check pages and content before showing the class.
Questions to Ask Children
What do you like/dislike about the garments in Pyer Moss’ collection?
Where might you wear these clothes?
How do these clothes differ from the other garments you’ve explored throughout this half term?
A collection of sources and imagery to explore the work of fashion designer Rahul Mishra.
Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control.
Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.
We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks.
*If you are having issues viewing videos it may be due to your schools firewall or your cookie selection. Please check with your IT department.*
This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.
Rahul Mishra
Rahul Mishra runs a sustainable couture brand that works with handmade techniques to empower the craftsmen in New Delhi.
Rahul Mishra is the first Indian designer to showcase at the Paris Haute Couture Week.
A collection of sources and imagery to explore the work of fashion designer Tatyana Antoun.
Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control.
Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.
We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks.
*If you are having issues viewing videos it may be due to your schools firewall or your cookie selection. Please check with your IT department.*
This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.
Tatyana Antoun
Tatyana Antoun is a fashion designer from Beirut, Lebanon. Tatyana’s collection ‘Vamata’ explores the social restrictions in Lebanon. Her work is heavily influenced by 80’s power dressing and the Club Kids of New York during the 90’s.
Find out more about Tatyana’s collection in her “Which Artists?” post.
Questions to Ask Children
Which garment is your favourite? Why?
Why do you think that Tatyana Antoun selected the chosen fabrics for her garments?
What do you think about the shapes that have been created in the garments?
Would you wear any of these garments? Where might you wear them?
Introduce children to the work of artist Luba Lukova.
Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control.
Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.
We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks.
*If you are having issues viewing videos it may be due to your schools firewall or your cookie selection. Please check with your IT department.*
This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.
Luba Lukova
Luba Lukova is a designer who communicates themes of injustice in the world through her work.
A collection of sources and imagery to explore the work of landscape painter Kittie Jones.
Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control.
Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.
We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks.
*If you are having issues viewing videos it may be due to your schools firewall or your cookie selection. Please check with your IT department.*
This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.
Kittie Jones
Kittie Jones is a fine artist based in Edinburgh. She graduated from Edinburgh College of Art and Edinburgh University in 2008; she currently works from her studio at Coburg House Art Studios in Leith and regularly exhibits around the UK.
“My work is concerned with the experience of time spent looking and interpreting the natural world. I am drawn to places which have an abundance of nature – sea bird colonies, fertile coastlines and remote islands. On drawing trips I will settle in a promising spot and start to develop work from there. The energy in the work comes from the constantly changing elements of the natural world – birds moving in and out of vision and the shifting quality of weather and light. “ – Kittie Jones
A collection of sources and imagery to explore the work of landscape painter Vanessa Gardiner.
Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control.
Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.
We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks.
*If you are having issues viewing videos it may be due to your schools firewall or your cookie selection. Please check with your IT department.*
This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.
Vanessa Gardiner
“As a landscape painter I am captivated both by the beauty of the places on which my work is based and by the processes involved during the making of the pictures. In a sense, for me, they go hand-in-hand: the immediacy of drawing directly from the seemingly haphazard natural subject matter, with the careful selection and ordering of the compositions back in the studio.” – Vanessa Gardiner
Questions to Ask Children
Do you like Gardiner’s linear approach to landscape painting?
What does the texture add to the painting?
Does this make you think about landscapes differently?
How do the paintings make you feel?
What kind of atmosphere(s) does Gardiner capture in the painting(s)?
A collection of imagery and sources designed to stimulate conversation around the work of Xgaoc’o X’are.
Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control.
Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.
We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks.
*If you are having issues viewing videos it may be due to your schools firewall or your cookie selection. Please check with your IT department.*
This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.
Xgaoc’o X’are
Two Giraffe and Two Birds II- Botswanan Printmaker Xgaoc’o X’are
Two giraffe and two birds II, Mono print, Xgaoc’o X’are, 50 x 65 cm
Xgaoc’o X’are grew up on a farm in the Ghanzi District in Western Botswana. He now makes mono Prints inspired by his knowledge and love of the Kalahari.
For Xgaoc’o, art gives him the opportunity to put the ideas in his head on a canvas in beautiful naive forms and playful colours. His work is informed by a childhood spent working on farms and hunting with his father and brother for food.
His work is a reflection of his love of the Kalahari Desert and captures the essence of the rock art created centuries ago by his ancestors in Twyfelfontein. The oldest engravings are thought to be as old as 10,000 years.
Xgaoc’o X’are’s (Qhaqhoo) work displays a strong sense of pattern, skewed perspectives and uneven shapes with rich detail. His work is reminiscent of Naive Art, which breaks the rules of the traditional 3 rules of perspective. These rules affect size, colour and the level of detail with distance.
Having had no formal art training Xgaoc’o X’are (Qhaqhoo) draws on his personal experiences and ancestral history to capture a beautiful instinctive approach to materials, colour and composition.
The Naro language uses clicking noises in its phonetic alphabet. To pronounce the Naro name ‘Qhaqhoo’ we recommend looking at a phonetic table for creating the click noise ‘Qh’. Please do let us know if you have any more information relating to the pronunciation.
Questions to Ask Children
Describe what you see.
How does it make you feel?
Which words would you use to describe the whole piece?
How has the artists experience influenced this artwork?
What comparisons can you make between the artists work and the rock engravings?
Make a list of all the animals you often see in your environment.
A collection of sources and imagery to explore different treehouses.
Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control.
Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.
We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks.
*If you are having issues viewing videos it may be due to your schools firewall or your cookie selection. Please check with your IT department.*
This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.
Treehouses
Questions to Ask Children
Which treehouse is your favourite? Why?
If you could build your own treehouse what would its purpose be? For living in? Playing?
Can you think of an invention that could be used for getting up and down into a treehouse without using a ladder or steps?
Do you prefer the big treehouses or the small treehouses? Why?
Is there an area in your local community where you’d like to build a treehouse? What materials would you use and why? What would its purpose be?
A collection of sources and imagery to explore the tradition of Guatemalan Worry Dolls.
Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control.
Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.
We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks.
*If you are having issues viewing videos it may be due to your schools firewall or your cookie selection. Please check with your IT department.*
This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.
Guatemalan Worry Dolls
You may wish to show pupils the video above from 2.25 minutes onwards if there are any anxious children in the class.
A collection of sources and imagery to explore the work of animation directors Max Porter and Ru Kuwahata.
Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control.
Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.
We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks.
*If you are having issues viewing videos it may be due to your schools firewall or your cookie selection. Please check with your IT department.*
This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.
Tiny Inventions
Max Porter and Ru Kuwahata are award-winning animation directors. They often combining handcrafted art, CG animation, drawn animation, stop-motion and photographic effects. Since 2008, Max & Ru have been working together as “Tiny Inventions”.
Watch this video to see how Max and Ru made the animation Negative Space.
(The animation below contains themes of death.)
See the main animation to find out how the set came to life.
Questions to Ask Children
How does the set make you feel?
Do you like like the set?
What about the set draws your attention?
What materials do you think the directors may have used to make the set?
How long do you think it might have taken to build this sets for an animation?
How many different sets can you spot in the animation?
A collection of sources and imagery to explore the work of set designer Rae Smith.
Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control.
Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.
We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks.
*If you are having issues viewing videos it may be due to your schools firewall or your cookie selection. Please check with your IT department.*
This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.
Rae Smith
Rae Smith is a British set and costume designer.
Smith worked as set designer on War Horse, a stage adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s novel about a horse on the Western Front of the First World War.
To prepare for the role Smith reviewed personal recollections, photographs and archives from the period, held at the Imperial War Museum. A key theme was the use of the backdrop as a giant sheet of paper from one of the characters sketchbooks, onto which she projected images that might have been drawn by the character.
Please Note: If you ask students to research the artist on computers, the ‘sketchbooks’ section of her website contains some inappropriate content for children.
Find the drawings and mock ups of Rae Smiths set here.
Watch this video to find out how Rae Smith starts work on a new project.
Warhorse Animation Montage
“Working with the drawings by show designer Rae Smith, and creating new digital content, we were able to create an animated sketch book that travels from idyllic Devon to the horror of WWI battlefields.” – Peter Stenhouse, Animator
Questions to Ask Children
How do Smith’s drawings make you feel?
Describe the atmosphere of the set. How do you think this has been achieved?
What materials do you think the artist used?
Does this make you think of set design in a different way?
What do you think the role of ‘set designer’ entails?
A collection of imagery and sources designed to introduce children to the work of Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky.
Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control.
Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.
We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks.
*If you are having issues viewing videos it may be due to your schools firewall or your cookie selection. Please check with your IT department.*
This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.
Kandinsky and Responding to Music
Teacher’s Notes
“Colour is the keyboard, the eyes are the harmonies, the soul is the piano with many strings. The artist is the hand that plays, touching one key or another, to cause vibrations in the soul.” – Vassily Kandinsky
Wassily Kandinsky was a Russian painter born in 1866. Kandinsky was gifted with the neurological phenomenon ‘synesthesia’ which allowed him to associate music with colours. Kandinsky is considered a pioneer of abstraction in western art.
Take a close look at these paintings, talking about them as a class, and using the questions to help deepen looking.
Text and images to help you explore the idea of Chiaroscuro (light and dark) in art.
Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control.
Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.
We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks.
*If you are having issues viewing videos it may be due to your schools firewall or your cookie selection. Please check with your IT department.*
This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.
What is Chiaroscuro?
Chiaroscuro is an Italian term which literally means ‘light-dark’. Artists have used it for centuries to help them describe form, and to create atmosphere or mood.
To appreciate that the artist is using the chiaroscuro technique, squint at the artwork. Half close your eyes and notice how you can now see the light and the dark, but not the mid tones. You can also use this technique to help you see light and dark when looking at a still life, landscape or interior which you are about to draw.
A Good Pool, Saguenay River (1895) by Winslow Homer. Original from The Clark Art Institute.
Questions to Ask Children
How does emphasising the light and the dark help create mood and atmosphere?
Can you always tell in which direction the light source is?
Has the artist actually used “black” and “white” or are the light and dark areas different tones of “grey”?
Using Chiaroscuro
Chiaroscuro replies on you being able to create tonal values on a page which have enough difference between them. For example, you need to be able to create a “dark dark” and a “light light”.
Depending on the medium you are using, there are different ways of achieving this. For example if you are using graphite (pencil) then you might create dark darks by cross hatching, repeat shading, intense pressure etc etc, and you might create light lights by using the pencil very softly – or even leaving the light of the paper to shine through. If you are using ink, you might like to use your ink undiluted for the dark darks, and diluted for the light lights.
Take a look at these resources to help you explore Chiaroscuro.
A collection of imagery and sources designed to explore cave art.
Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control.
Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.
We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks.
*If you are having issues viewing videos it may be due to your schools firewall or your cookie selection. Please check with your IT department.*
This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.
Discovered on December 18, 1994 in south east France, it is considered one of the most significant prehistoric art sites and contains some of the best preserved figurative cave paintings in the world.
Questions to Ask Children
Describe what you can see in the cave paintings?
Which drawings are your favourites?
What material do you think they might have used to create these paintings?
Lascaux Cave
On 12 September 1940, the entrance to the Lascaux Cave was discovered by 18-year-old Marcel Ravidat when his dog, Robot, fell in a hole.
The deteriorating condition of the cave caused by an introduction to bacteria and changes in humidity the caves led to its closure.
Find out why the cave was closed to visitors in 1963.
Questions to Ask Children
How do you think it would feel to discover prehistoric cave paintings?
Why is it important that these paintings are preserved?
How do these paintings differ from those in the Chauvet Cave?
The White Lady
The white lady cave painting is located in The Brandberg mountains in Namibia dating back to at least 2000 years ago.
It is usually assumed that the painting shows some sort of ritual dance.
It’s thought that the painting was probably made of ochre, charcoal, manganese, hematite, with blood serum, egg white, and casein used as binding agents.
Questions to Ask Children
Describe what you can see.
What animals do you think are depicted?
What do you like about this cave art?
What materials might you use to recreate the colours and textures of this painting?
How do these paintings differ from those in the Chauvet Cave?
A collection of imagery and sources designed to explore the work of Kevork Mourad.
Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control.
Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.
We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks.
*If you are having issues viewing videos it may be due to your schools firewall or your cookie selection. Please check with your IT department.*
This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.
Kevork Mourad
Born in Qamishli, Syria, Mourad now lives and works in New York City.
Mourad employs his technique of live drawing and animation in concert with musicians – developing a collaboration in which art and music harmonize with one another.
A painter, printmaker and video artist, Mourad has performed his animated and live visuals internationally.
Mourad also uses monotype as a medium to explore middle eastern politics and history.
A collection of imagery and sources designed to explore the tradition of Wayang Kulit.
Please note that this page contains links to external websites and has videos from external websites embedded. At the time of creating, AccessArt checked all links to ensure content is appropriate for teachers to access. However external websites and videos are updated and that is beyond our control.
Please let us know if you find a 404 link, or if you feel content is no longer appropriate.
We strongly recommend as part of good teaching practice that teachers watch all videos and visit all websites before sharing with a class. On occasion there may be elements of a video you would prefer not to show to your class and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure content is appropriate. Many thanks.
*If you are having issues viewing videos it may be due to your schools firewall or your cookie selection. Please check with your IT department.*
This resource is free to access and is not a part of AccessArt membership.
