All Drawing increases Visual Literacy
The Big Drawing aims to get everyone drawing and collaborating, on levels- staff and students collectively. When we draw, we take an opportunity to slow down, and to appreciate how the visual world works. By developing this skill we gain a deeper understanding of our surroundings and learn a truly universal language. A drawing can communicate an idea more effectively than words.
We champion drawing as a powerful tool for invention, for communicating complex concepts, and for its power to engage people with collections and exhibitions in museums, gallery and heritage sites.
By fostering a greater understanding of what drawing can mean, and by increasing awareness and engagement, we believe many more people can benefit from, and contribute to society by drawing.
'Visual literacy is the ability to interpret, negotiate, and make meaning from information presented in the form of an image... Visual literacy is based on the idea that pictures can be “read” and that meaning can be communicated through a process of reading.'
The term ‘visual literacy’ is credited to John Debes 1969.
The Big Drawing aims to get everyone drawing and collaborating, on levels- staff and students collectively. When we draw, we take an opportunity to slow down, and to appreciate how the visual world works. By developing this skill we gain a deeper understanding of our surroundings and learn a truly universal language. A drawing can communicate an idea more effectively than words.
We champion drawing as a powerful tool for invention, for communicating complex concepts, and for its power to engage people with collections and exhibitions in museums, gallery and heritage sites.
By fostering a greater understanding of what drawing can mean, and by increasing awareness and engagement, we believe many more people can benefit from, and contribute to society by drawing.
'Visual literacy is the ability to interpret, negotiate, and make meaning from information presented in the form of an image... Visual literacy is based on the idea that pictures can be “read” and that meaning can be communicated through a process of reading.'
The term ‘visual literacy’ is credited to John Debes 1969.
Ophelia
Ophelia is a character from William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet. She is a young noblewoman of Denmark, the daughter of Polonuis, sister of Laertes, and potential wife of Prince Hamlet. She is one of the two female characters in the play.
In Act 4 Scene 7, Queen Gertrude reports that Ophelia had climbed into a willow tree (There is a willow grows aslant the brook), and the branch had broken and dropped Ophelia into the brook, where she drowned. Gertrude says that Ophelia appeared "incapable of her own distress." Gertrude's announcement of Ophelia's death has been praised as one of the most poetic death announcements in literature. For this reason we decided to play homage to Shakespeare.
This image recreated by the Form 2 Art class is a transcript of John Everet Millias’ depiction of Ophelia. This image is both quintessentially Victorian and Pre- Raphaelite. The Victorians loved to paint scenes from Shakespeare, Ophelia has been produced many times before but this image has to be the most loved and remembered of all.
Prior to painting Ophelia, Millias worked on images depicting scenes from ancient Greek mythology, which was a reason why we stumbled across his work in the first place. Although with our search for botanical imagery and looking to practice our colour mixing skills, pupils slowly began the task of recreating this large scale work in collaboration with each other. This was something they had never tried out before, some students focused on the more complex areas of the piece, whilst others took on board more than one area to work upon.
This is a fantastic first attempt at a whole class collaboration, which I feel is an important educational experience. The benefits of collaborative learning include a higher-level of thinking; oral communication with lots of different people is essential, self-management and discipline, and leadership skills. The pupils have developed their self-esteem by displaying their artwork and have shown more sense of responsibility. I am very proud of my pupils’ attempt at Ophelia.
Ophelia is a character from William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet. She is a young noblewoman of Denmark, the daughter of Polonuis, sister of Laertes, and potential wife of Prince Hamlet. She is one of the two female characters in the play.
In Act 4 Scene 7, Queen Gertrude reports that Ophelia had climbed into a willow tree (There is a willow grows aslant the brook), and the branch had broken and dropped Ophelia into the brook, where she drowned. Gertrude says that Ophelia appeared "incapable of her own distress." Gertrude's announcement of Ophelia's death has been praised as one of the most poetic death announcements in literature. For this reason we decided to play homage to Shakespeare.
This image recreated by the Form 2 Art class is a transcript of John Everet Millias’ depiction of Ophelia. This image is both quintessentially Victorian and Pre- Raphaelite. The Victorians loved to paint scenes from Shakespeare, Ophelia has been produced many times before but this image has to be the most loved and remembered of all.
Prior to painting Ophelia, Millias worked on images depicting scenes from ancient Greek mythology, which was a reason why we stumbled across his work in the first place. Although with our search for botanical imagery and looking to practice our colour mixing skills, pupils slowly began the task of recreating this large scale work in collaboration with each other. This was something they had never tried out before, some students focused on the more complex areas of the piece, whilst others took on board more than one area to work upon.
This is a fantastic first attempt at a whole class collaboration, which I feel is an important educational experience. The benefits of collaborative learning include a higher-level of thinking; oral communication with lots of different people is essential, self-management and discipline, and leadership skills. The pupils have developed their self-esteem by displaying their artwork and have shown more sense of responsibility. I am very proud of my pupils’ attempt at Ophelia.