Lesson video

Hi, everyone.

I'm Miss Miah.

I'm so glad you've joined me for this lesson today.

In this lesson, we're going to dive even deeper into creating some amazing artwork inspired by the rainforest.

I hope you're ready, and you've got your imaginative thinking switched on.

Let's get started.

In this lesson, you'll learn how to sketch a rainforest composition and apply a range of painting techniques.

Your keywords are on the screen now.

I'd like you to repeat them after me.

Composition, texture, sketch/sketching.

Now, let's find out what these words mean.

Composition means how the images or elements are arranged within an artwork.

Texture is how something feels or how something looks like it would feel.

And lastly, sketching is when you make a quick and simple drawing to show ideas or the things we see.

Now, there are two lesson cycles.

Our first lesson cycle is to do with sketching a rainforest, and then afterwards, we're going to move on to painting a rainforest.

I'm super excited about this lesson.

I hope you are to.

Let's get started.

Izzy and Jacob discuss what to include in their rainforest sketch.

Features of a rainforest can include: various shades of green, small details, like tiny insects, overlapping leaves, vines, and flowers, visual texture makes the trees and leaves feel real, luscious leaves.

We can pick three features of a rainforest to include in our painting.

Jun says, "I'm thinking of including exotic plants, "trees, and animals." Nice one, Jun.

I think that's a good idea.

Sam says, "I'm thinking of focusing "on the luscious leaves, insects, and trees." That's also a very good idea, Sam.

Now, what features might you include in your painting? Have a think.

Now, you may have said that you'd like to focus in on the luscious leaves, the animals, and the insects.

It's up to you.

You're the artist.

You're going to pick which features you'd like to include in your rainforest painting.

Now, sketching involves drawing the basic shapes and details of the rainforest.

What do you notice about the lines here? Now, you can see that the lines are very light and quick.

This makes it easy for the artist to change it or to erase if the artist makes mistakes.

Only after the artist is happy with their sketch will they then go back and outline their work.

Over to you.

What is the main purpose of sketching when drawing the rainforest? To focus on adding colour and shading, B, to draw the basic shapes and details of the rainforest, C, to finalise the composition, or D, to paint the background and foreground first.

What do you think? You can pause the video here and click play when you've got the answer.

So what did you get? If you got B, you are correct.

The main purpose of sketching is to draw the basic shapes and details of the rainforest first.

Well done if you got that.

Now, you may have seen this image before.

We've got a photograph of a frog.

Now, when taking a photograph or making an artwork, we must consider the composition.

Now, composition refers to the arrangement of the different elements in an artwork, such as the shapes, objects, or colours.

We can divide the space into the foreground, middle ground, and background.

So here's your foreground, and that is what is the most closest to us.

The background is the furthest away, and the clue is in the name, background, all the way at the back, and the middle ground is usually in the middle, and also contains the subject.

We can describe the middle ground featuring the frog.

Over to you.

Look at the image below.

Label the different parts of the image as foreground, middle ground, and background.

Pause the video here, and when you've labelled the image.

So how did it go? Well, this is what you should have got.

So the background are the trees fading off into the distance, the middle ground focuses on the orangutan, and the foreground is, again, more leaves, but this time, they are closer to us.

Well done if you got that correct.

Fantastic work.

Let's move on.

Now, I do.

I'm going to start with the background.

You might choose to draw the sky, distant trees, mountains far behind the forest.

Now, remember, this is a sketch, so we're going to use light lines.

Over to you.

You choose what you'd like your background to be, and then I'd like you to have a go at sketching it.

So how did it go? You may have drawn some clouds, or you may have chosen to draw some trees.

Now, keeping the sketch light and simple means you can erase any mistakes you might make.

To me, I do.

With time, I'm going to add the middle ground.

You might choose to draw plants, animals, trees.

Now, these elements will be a bit closer.

What I'd like you to do is think about layering them behind the foreground elements.

So over to you, your turn.

I'd like you to think about what you're going to have in the middle ground and have a go at sketching that.

Pause the video here.

So how did it go? So in this example, we can see that the artist has chosen to draw more trees in the middle ground.

Using organic and geometric shapes makes it easier to sketch, and I hope you're using those too.

To me, I do.

Finish by drawing the foreground.

So this time, you might choose to draw the trees, plants, insects, animals.

Now, these elements, because they're in the foreground, should be the largest and most detailed.

You can pause the video here.

Have a go.

Think about what you'd like in the foreground.

So how did you do? In this example, the artist has decided to have an animal peeking through the leaves, and you can see that there's more detailed plants that have been drawn in, and they are very close to us.

So over to you.

For this task, you will create a detailed sketch of a rainforest.

Make sure to include at least three features in your sketch.

You might choose from tall, leafy trees, colourful and unique exotic plants, tiny or vibrant insects, hidden or visible animals.

You can pause the video here.

Remember, it is a sketch, so try keep your lines light.

Off you go, pause the video, and then when you're ready, click play to rejoin us.

So how did you do? You may have drawn something like this.

Now, it's okay if, for the sky, you've not drawn anything in that section because, remember, this is a painting lesson, so you will be able to fill that space in in a bit.

Fantastic work.

Let's move on.

Now, for our second lesson cycle, we're now going to paint our rainforest.

You may remember these techniques.

They create textures in our artwork.

So our first technique that we've got on the screen here is blending.

Our second technique is stippling.

And the third technique is sponging.

So blending can be used for creating smooth transitions between colours.

When might you use blending? Have a think.

Now, if I was to paint an artwork, I might choose to use blending when painting a leaf to show the tone of that leaf, and to make it more realistic.

So I go from dark to light using dark green, and then blending it into a lighter green.

Or I might use it when I'm painting the sky.

Create a sunset.

So in that case, I'd probably start with red, and then blend it through to a nice yellow, which means there may be orange in the middle.

Now, stippling can be used for adding texture and detail.

And you can see here that the artist is stippling using a very thin paintbrush.

Now, I want you to think about when you might use stippling.

Now, if I was painting a rainforest scene, I would use stippling to show the details and intricate patterns of the petals, and then I'd also use it to show the details of the leaves by painting in the veins.

Now, sponging can be used for creating soft textures.

When might you use sponging? Have a think.

Now, thinking about sponging, I might use sponging when it comes to painting the animals.

This would show the texture of the animal, especially if it's furry, or I might use it to show the texture of the bark.

So it's very important for us as artists to decide when we might be using these techniques when it comes to painting our rainforest, as it will make our painting look more realistic.

Over to you.

Izzy wants to paint a leaf.

Which technique could she use and why? Should she use blending, stippling, or sponging? Have a think.

I would suggest that Izzy should use blending when it comes to painting a leaf.

That way, she could show the tone in the leaf and make it more realistic.

She could also use stippling if she wanted to show some of the finer details of that leaf.

Well done if you got that correct.

Now, using different-sized brushes is a great way to add texture and detail to your painting.

So here, we've got some paintbrushes.

There are medium-sized brushes, large brushes, and small brushes.

Small-sized brushes can be used for adding fine details.

They can be used for painting patterns on leaves, highlighting features on animals, and creating delicate textures, like veins on plants.

What do you notice about the brush strokes? Now, you may have said that they are very small and very controlled.

When painting using small-sized brushes, it's very important that we control how we use the paintbrush.

Having more control of our paintbrush will lead to us painting a more realistic leaf.

Now, medium-sized brushes can be used for painting larger details, such as filling in areas like tree trunks, exotic plants, and bodies of animals.

Where else might medium-sized brushes be useful? Have a think.

It can also be helpful when adding in textures, such as blending colours or creating foliage.

Now, large brushes can be used for creating washes of colour or for covering bigger areas, such as the sky, background foliage, large tree canopies.

What do you notice about the brush strokes? Now, the brush strokes tend to be one sweeping motion.

This helps spread out the paint evenly.

And if you wanted to, you could layer over the top.

This gives it a very lovely smooth finish.

Over to you.

Look at this sketch.

What size paintbrush would be most suitable to use? Pause the video here and have a think.

When you're ready, click play to join us.

So what did you get? Well, using a medium-sized brush for painting the leaves and smaller branches will allow for more control over the details.

You could also use a large brush for filling in the background or larger areas of greenery.

So choosing both the paintbrushes will give you far more control and actually result in a more enhanced image of your painting.

So thinking carefully as an artist as to which tool to use is very important.

Over to you.

You will now paint your sketch using the following painting techniques to add texture to your artwork: sponging, stippling, blending.

You could try using different-sized paintbrushes as well.

Now, here are my top tips when it comes to using these skills.

So for blending, what you could do is overlap gently.

And this is how you do this.

So you're going to use the brush to gently blend where the two colours meet, and you're going to move in soft, circular motions to create a smooth transition.

Now, before you go into blending, you could also practise on paper.

So sponging, light taps, work best.

So you can do this by tapping the sponge lightly onto the paper or canvas, and this creates a cool textured effect.

And lastly, for stippling, be patient.

So take your time to fill in the area, as stippling is all about the detail.

And then once you've finished your painting, I'd like you to discuss with a partner what changes you would make if you painted the rainforest again.

Pause the video here.

Remember, you are the artist.

You make the choices of the tools that you're going to use, the colours, and you're also going to choose when you're using each skill.

So how did you do? Well, you may have painted something like this.

Now, you can see here that different brush sizes have been used because we can see that there is a lovely water wash for the background, so we can assume that a large paintbrush was used for that.

And then for the smaller details, we can assume that a finer paintbrush or a smaller paintbrush was to create the stippling effect, especially for the exotic plants that we can see in the bottom right corner.

I can see the sponging technique has also been used to create the foliage near the foreground.

Well done if you managed to create your painting of a rainforest.

I'm super proud of you.

Now, for part two, you should have discussed what you might change next time.

This is how Aisha and Andeep's conversation went.

Aisha says, "If I painted the rainforest again, "I'd add more sunlight peeking through the trees, "make the colours brighter, "and use a range of different greens." That's a good reflection, Aisha.

Andeep says, "I agree.

"I'd also add more animals, like toucans or monkeys, "to make it feel more livelier.

"I might also add a bit of mist "to make it feel more mysterious." That's a good reflection too, Andeep.

As long as you're thinking about which techniques you use to make your painting more realistic, you are beginning to think like an artist.

Fantastic work.

We've made it to the end of this lesson.

Well done.

We're now going to summarise your learning.

So in this lesson, you used your painting skills inspired by the rainforest.

You now understand that arranging features of a rainforest in the foreground, middle ground, and background creates a balanced composition.

Different painting techniques, such as stippling, sponging, and blending, can create texture.

And lastly, you understand that practising with different brush sizes, small, medium, and large, creates varied effects.

Thank you so much for joining me in this series of lessons.

I really hope to see you in the next one, bye.