Inspecting Insects

This week, Year 6 have been getting to grips with pencil sketches. They started by exploring and experimenting with different types of pencil hardness from 3H to 6B; understanding how the ‘H’ range of pencils are hard and light, and most frequently used for design or technical drawings. Whereas the ‘B’ range are soft and dark and are more suitable for shading and tonal drawings.

Once everyone was au fait with the different pencils, children were introduced to the theme for this block of learning: ‘Incredible Insects’, an apt theme for a year group of nature lovers and budding conservationists. The class looked at established artists' work and saw common themes within insects' bodies, shape and form. They then began with a study of Dragonflies, looking at effective methods for drawing them, starting with the head, adding the thorax and then the abdomen before focusing on the hind and fore wings. Children discussed and practised with different pencils until they achieved the most realistic outcomes in their sketches.

After the success of their dragonflies, children wanted to explore how they could add even more texture to their sketches beyond using the school’s range of pencils. As a class, it was decided to trial a technique that involved sketching then using a rubber to strike lines through the art work before changing the hardness of pencil and adding another layer and rubbing out again. At first the thought of rubbing out part of their beautiful drawings seemed wrong and counter-intuitive, but once they let go of their fears, children saw that the outcomes were well worth the stress!

Year 6 will be continuing to look at different insects over the coming weeks, experimenting with a wide range of media beyond pencils and incorporating design technology to create 3D sculptures.