Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mrs. Tipping, and I'm really looking forward to learning with you today about dream portraits through drawing and digital design.

We're going to do lots of thinking, talking, and exploring together in this lesson.

So shall we get started? Let's go.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to create a dreamscape inspired by a text.

Before we start, I would like to introduce you to some keywords.

We'll be using these keywords during the lesson, so it might be a good idea to write these words down.

The keywords we'll be using today are: dreamscape, imagination, text.

I'm going to say those again and I would like you to repeat them after me.

Dreamscape.

Imagination.

Text.

Good job.

Now let's take a look at what each of these keywords mean by looking at their definitions.

A dreamscape is the view of a dream imagined by the artist.

Imagination is an idea in your head about something you have not experienced in the real world.

And text is a piece of writing.

Pause the video here to make a note of these keywords, and when you are ready to continue, press play.

These are the learning cycles that we'll be working through together in today's lesson, Dreams in art, and Draw a dreamscape inspired by a text.

In this first learning cycle, we're going to explore dreams in art.

Can you remember your dream from last night or the night before? Pause the video here and have a quick discussion with your partner and press play when you are ready to continue.

Can you remember what was in your dream last night or the night before? Well, remembering dreams can be tricky because they often fade away quickly after we wake up.

Dreams happen when we sleep, and they can be strange, exciting, or even a little scary.

Sometimes we remember them clearly, but other times we forget.

Surrealist artists in particular are very interested in dreams. They believe that dreams could inspire amazing ideas for art.

Surrealist artists get inspiration from many other places too.

Some inspiration might come from dreams, but it might also come from the subconscious mind.

It might come from texts including poetry, maybe observations from real life.

So maybe you are out on a nature reserve or maybe in a city.

Lots of different places where you can get inspiration from.

And even the artist's own imagination, what they can come up with.

And lots of people think lots of different things.

Now we're going to focus on dreams in particular and how you can get inspiration from those dreams. Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Which of the following is not true? Artists can use dreams for inspiration.

Artists need to observe from reality to make art.

Artists may get ideas from texts or poetry.

So which of these is not true? Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think and press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said that artists need to observe from reality to make art, you are absolutely right, that's not true, because artists can observe from reality, but they can also use their imagination.

Sometimes, people describe their dreams using words, like in a story.

And some artists take these words and create surreal artwork that looks like something from a dream.

So taking a look at this piece of artwork here, I wonder what kind of words you would use to describe this piece.

Hmm.

Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner, and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? What words did you come up with? Maybe winding road or colourful hills.

Now, these images might be known as a dreamscape.

So here's a description.

The landscape is coloured in different hues of pink and orange, like a sunset.

Even the trees are pink.

Clouds like candy floss float through the pale sky while little red figures play in the pink fields.

So what do you think, does that description match this image of this dreamscape here? What words can you pick out that show that surreal art? Now, the word dreamscape has two stems. We've got dream, which is images or ideas that a sleeping person might experience, and then we have scape, a view or picture.

So when artists make a dreamscape, they are imagining what a dream might look like.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Is this statement true or false? All Surrealist artists use texts to inspire their artwork.

Is this statement true or false? Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think, and press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said that's false, you are absolutely right.

Why is this statement false? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner about why this statement is false, and press play when you are ready to continue.

Well, if you said that some Surrealist artists use texts, such as the Welsh artist Ceri Richards.

Other artists have used a combination of their dreams and their imagination to create artwork.

This brings us to our first learning task.

I'd like you to analyse some dreamscapes.

Look at two images of dreamscapes and describe their similarities and their differences to your partner.

So pause the video here and give yourself enough time to have a go at this first part of the learning task where you're going to look at two images of those dreamscapes and describe the similarities and differences.

And press play when you are ready to continue.

Okay, well done.

So hopefully you were able to describe those similarities and differences.

Now, I would like you to think of five words or phrases that you might use to describe your chosen dreamscape.

So pause the video here and give yourself enough time to have a go at thinking of those words or phrases to describe your chosen dreamscape, and press play when you are ready to continue.

How did that go? Well, firstly, when you were describing the similarities and differences to your partner, maybe you looked at Leonora Carrington's "Neighbourly Advice" and also "The Expedition of Dr.

Ramsbottom." So maybe the similarities are that both artworks contain sailing ships.

There are magical creatures in both images.

And both artworks have a central figure or figures.

And the differences.

Maybe one artwork uses limited colours while the other has a wider range of colours.

One is set outdoors and the other is set indoors.

And maybe one includes human figures, while the other is mostly animals.

So well done if you were able to spot some similarities and differences amongst two dreamscapes.

Now, thinking of five words or phrases that you might have chosen to describe your image.

Maybe if you had Leonora Carrington's "Neighbourly Advice," you might say, golden ship or dancing, gleeful figures, strange animals, unusual hats and veils.

And finally, floating carpet.

Or maybe you chose Leonora Carrington's "The Expedition of Dr.

Ramsbottom" and you said glowing lights, darkness, unearthly, strange creature, peculiar plants, muted colours.

Well done for having a go thinking of those five words or phrases to describe your chosen image, and well done for completing that learning task.

This now brings us to the second part of our lesson where we're going to look at drawing a dreamscape inspired by a text.

Izzy is reading this text about a dreamscape.

The landscape is coloured in different hues of pink and orange, like a sunset.

Even the trees are pink.

Clouds like candy floss float through the pale sky, while little red figures play in the pink fields.

Izzy says, "I'm going to start by drawing the landscape in different shades of pink." And this is her drawing here.

Do you think you would do something differently? How do you picture this dreamscape? Now, Izzy says she's going to add the clouds and trees in the fields using different oranges and pinks.

So this is how her dreamscape has developed.

Can you see where the trees have been added in the fields and how she's done that in different oranges? And those floating clouds, how were they described? Yes, as candy floss.

Do you think they look like candy floss? Now, finally, Izzy's going to add the red figures and they're going to be dancing around the tree.

Can you see those there? Take a good look at that image.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Dreamscapes are a combination of reality, dreams, and the artist's what? Imagination, ideas, or images? Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think, and press play when you are ready to continue.

If you said that it's the artist's imagination, you are absolutely right.

Imagination is creating an idea in your head.

It might not be something you have experienced in the real world.

Aisha and Sofia are discussing how they can use their imagination to transform their dreams into Surrealist dreamscapes.

Aisha says, "Surrealist artists, like Leonora Carrington, combined dreams, imagination, and observation." And Sofia says, "Yes, I've drawn a guitar.

What if this guitar didn't play music but stars instead?" So here's an image of the guitar Sofia has drawn.

She's thinking, maybe it's not musical notes that come out of that guitar.

Maybe it's stars.

Now they build upon their first idea.

Aisha says, "Like in Surrealist art, where normal things become dreamlike?" "Exactly," Sophia says.

"The stars could float out like fireflies." So this is how they've developed their idea of a playing guitar becoming more Surrealist by adding those stars coming out of it as if they were the music.

Aisha and Sofia have another idea.

Aisha says, "What if the stars were floating towards the sky, but they were making a bird made of light?" Sofia says, "Great idea.

That sounds totally surreal, like a dream." Wow.

Take a look at how their drawing has changed.

Can you see how these stars now create a bird made of light? Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Dreamscapes will often include ideas where unlikely things happen.

Is this statement true or false? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner and press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said that's true, you are absolutely right.

Dreamscapes include unusual imagery, but can also include observations from reality.

This brings us to our final learning task.

I'd like you to illustrate this text describing a dream.

So here's the text.

Maybe close your eyes and think about what you would draw when you hear this.

A majestic castle stands tall against a twilight sky, its turrets so tall that they pierce the clouds.

Beneath its shadow, a peculiar goat with curling horns grazes nonchalantly.

Its coat shimmers like stardust while it nibbles on a colossal cabbage.

The cabbage sways rhythmically, almost as if it were dancing to an unheard melody, while the castle looms above.

So open your eyes again.

So pause the video here and give yourself enough time to illustrate this text describing a dream.

Make sure that you've got enough time to draw, and press play when you are ready to continue.

How did you find that? Well, maybe your artwork might look something like this with a towering castle reaching the clouds, a goat with large, twirling horns, a cabbage nearly as large as the castle, and maybe hazy edges to the cabbage leaves to show that they are moving.

Well done for having a go at drawing a dreamscape inspired by a text.

I hope you enjoyed drawing this dreamscape.

And remember, yours may look different to other people's because of your imagination.

Well done for having a go and completing that learning task.

Before we finish this lesson, let's summarise what we've learned about illustrating a piece of text about dreams. Dreams can inspire artists to create artwork, like the Surrealists.

Dreamscapes can combine unexpected or unusual imagery in one scene, using a combination of the artist's imagination, ideas from dreams, and things observed in reality.

Texts can describe a dream which the artist can portray using images.

Thank you for joining me in this lesson.

I hope to see you in the next one.

See you next time.