Aerial Perspective with Gannets
Today Karli’s class came to the art room to work on their Calendar Art for 2021. We are getting a head start on Calendar Art this year so we can focus on other creative art projects for the rest of the year. The students created stunning aerial perspective artworks inspired by the works of Robert Ellis.
I adapted a lesson from the book Toi Matarau: a bicultural approach to teaching visual arts in Aotearoa by Vonnie Sterritt and Denise Tohiariki. It is a lesson that I have wanted to try for a while now and thought that the artworks would like quite stunning as Calendar Art.
We watched a video about the gannet colony at Cape Kidnappers in the Hawkes Bay before sketching our own gannets with outstretched wings. I modelled how to paint the birds by applying brushstrokes to describe feather texture. I am so impressed with how the students applied themselves when painting the gannets. The results are very sophisticated and show how careful the students were while painting.
While the gannets were drying we had a look at the aerial perspective works of Robert Ellis. The students enjoyed the snaking line work and were able to relate to the artworks as maps. Next the students looked at aerial photographs of New Zealand landscapes and collaged mosaic backgrounds based on these out of magazine pieces. Finally the students dyed in between the gaps and glued their gannets onto the backgrounds. The students are very pleased with their artworks, as am I. Check out their stunning artworks below.
