icon-background-square
New
New
Year 1

Painting with water as a subject

I can use sketching marks and wax resist to paint water.

icon-background-square
New
New
Year 1

Painting with water as a subject

I can use sketching marks and wax resist to paint water.

warning

These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

Switch to our new teaching resources now - designed by teachers and leading subject experts, and tested in classrooms.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. I know that light marks can be used to sketch an outline.
  2. Artists can choose to hold their paper in a landscape or portrait position.
  3. Oil pastel or crayons and watercolour can be used to make a wax resist artwork.

Keywords

  • Sketch - a quick, simple drawing which is not detailed or perfect

  • Portrait - when the paper is taller than it is wide

  • Landscape - when the paper is wider than it is tall

  • Wax resist - where an artist draws on paper, and then paints over it

Common misconception

That portrait means the picture is always a person's face, and landscape means it can only be a big outdoor scene.

Remind children that portrait just means the paper is taller than it is wide, and landscape means it’s wider than tall. You can use both for many different kinds of pictures, not just faces or outdoor scenes.


To help you plan your year 1 art and design lesson on: Painting with water as a subject, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Wax resist works best with deeper pigments of watercolour, where contrast between two colours can be seen.
speech-bubble
Teacher tip
equipment-required

Equipment

Watercolour paints, wax croyons, oil pastels, sketching pencils, paintbrushes, water pots

copyright

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

Loading...

4 Questions

Q1.
Texture is a word to describe how something looks or ...
smells.
tastes.
Correct answer: feels.
Q2.
Is this artwork in a portrait or landscape position?
An image in a quiz
portrait
Correct answer: landscape
Q3.
Which word describes the texture of this water?
An image in a quiz
shiny
calm
Correct answer: foamy
Q4.
Which statements describe things a paintbrush does not like?
Correct answer: being left in water pots
being left on top of water pots
Correct answer: having their bristles make a fan shape

4 Questions

Q1.
How should an artist hold their paper if they are painting a scene outside?
landscape
portrait
Correct answer: It is up to the artist.
Q2.
An artist should use heavy, dark marks when sketching an outline.
True
Correct answer: False
Q3.
Curves and splatters might be useful for showing ...
a calm, still pond.
Correct answer: rough sea waves.
a river trickling gently.
Q4.
Which materials have been used in this image?
An image in a quiz
pen and watercolour
Correct answer: oil pastel and watercolour
pen and oil pastel