Art Department

Year 9 Pupils have been studying the work of the Surrealists this term. A Surreal still life was set up for pupils to work directly from (see photograph below).

Here are examples of some of the paintings and drawing pupils have created working from this still life. Pupils have used acrylic paint and charcoal to produce these studies.

By Ross Jackson

By Jyzu Manzano

By Ashhad Noor

By Matthew Wiggins

By Luke Fowler

Pupils will now go onto producing their own surreal paintings inspired by artists like Salvador Dali.

This year the drama production at Nottingham High will be A Midsummer Night’s Dream. One of the main characters of the play is an ass called Bottom. The art department and art club volunteers have been set the task to make Bottom a head.

First a willow frame was constructed onto an old cycling helmet. Willow is an exceptionally flexible material which after a good soak in water, can be bent to create a frame onto which other materials can be added, in this case card and paper.

Tissue paper has then been applied on top to create a ‘skin’

 A photogram is a photographic image made without a camera by placing objects directly onto the surface of a photo-sensitive material such as photographic paper and then exposing it to light.

The result is a negative shadow image varying in tone, depending on the transparency of the objects used. Areas of the paper that have received no light appear white; those exposed through transparent or semi-transparent objects appear grey.

These photograms were produced by boys in Year 13 as part of their General Studies course.

Year 7 as a year group will be looking at the work of Matisse, Dufy and the Fauvists and will create a large mural in the gallery space.

Who were the Fauvists? This was a group of artists who were especially interested in using bright colours.  They never called themselves by this name, an art critic at the time was so shocked by the work, he called them ‘Wild beasts’!We will keep you posted as the mural progresses….

stage 2

Year 10 have had the opportunity to gather visual resources on a recent visit to Wollaton Park.  The purpose of the visit was to get pupils to observe and draw directly from the collection housed inside the hall.

ohh deer!

Pupils in Year 10 are currently investigating the theme ‘Zoology’.

hippo skull

The trip was a great success with pupils  gathering photographs and producing lots of sketches.

This Saturday, the 5th of November, it is Open Day at the High School.  The Art Department studios will be open to prospective parents and other visitors.

Practical activities such as monoprinting, flamingo making and sculpture will be taking place in the classroom and the new year 7 Fauvist mural for the gallery space.

The art department will be open from 9.30 am.