A brilliant day of observational drawing at Bangabandhu Primary in Tower Hamlets with artist educator Katka Krajčiová.
Professional artist Katka Krajčiová spent a day at Bangabandhu Primary in Tower Hamlets, to introduce observational pencil drawing to Year 4 pupils and their teachers – resulting in some incredible outcomes.
Developed in response to the class topic of Cityscapes, the project prompted the class to be inspired by their school, as well as other buildings in the neighbourhood, and to put their exploratory observations to paper.
Throughout the day, Katka – with the support of one of Bow Arts’ trainee artist educators – guided the class through different approaches and ways to capture what we see, successfully supporting everyone to refine their drawing techniques.
The children begun the day in the classroom, by using photographs of their school and local buildings as a pathway to photorealistic drawing.
Starting from small square sections, Katka encouraged the class to consider the effect of perspective, scale and angles. When trying to achieve proportional lines to represent their chosen buildings, students learnt the value of measuring with accuracy – and did so with the length of their pencils!
‘Peephole idea was very useful for children to zoom into an image and draw – this was a lot more manageable.’
Class Teacher
In the afternoon, the young artists moved to the school play ground where they continued studying the photographs as well as taking inspiration from their surroundings.
Outdoors, students also got the chance to experiment with textures in their drawings – a tactile way of exploring the possibilities of pencil stroke and pressure.
‘Students showed lots of enthusiasm during the drawing activities outdoors including creating rubbings of various surfaces around the playground, drawing structures from their playground and sharing these images with one another. They also expressed interest in continuing to draw from observation at home or when they go for walks with their families.’
Artist Educator
The children also developed their understanding of the role light and shadow play in adding depth to a picture, how shading helps to define shapes and lines, and the ways contrast can bring attention to particular areas of their designs.
The project included a live CPD (Continued Professional Development) element for teachers to build on their skills, tools and confidence in leading the unit independently in the future.
‘I learnt how to start drawing buildings using lines and how to sketch realistically.’
Pupil
The young people involved were encouraged to explore and represent their local environment through their own creative lens. The final drawings were all full of detailed and unique character!
- 100% of the students involved in the project said that they had enjoyed the project.
- 100% of the students involved in the project said that they had learnt something new.
‘Staff both from the school and from Bow Arts was brilliant with supporting individual students after having picked up new skills from the modelling… It was really special to be able to be outside during the project as well as in their classrooms as it made students understand that art really can be done anywhere and can penetrate the whole day – everyday! Thank you so much for all your help with making this project happen.’
Artist Educator
Read more about past projects here
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Teacher CPD
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