New
New
Year 1
Using the paintbrush tool to create digital pictures
I can change the style of my digital tools to work in different ways in a painting program.
New
New
Year 1
Using the paintbrush tool to create digital pictures
I can change the style of my digital tools to work in different ways in a painting program.
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Lesson details
Key learning points
- The paintbrush tool can change size to alter the thickness of the stroke.
- Tapping on a touch screen makes dots and holding your finger down makes lines.
- Clicking the mouse makes dots and dragging the mouse makes lines.
Keywords
Paintbrush size - how big the paintbrush is
Click/tap - a short press on a mouse button or on a touchscreen
Drag - when you hold down the mouse button and move the mouse or keep your finger on the touchscreen while moving it
Common misconception
Dots of colour only appear when you click and drag.
A single click with the paintbrush tool will make a dot of colour.
Points of colour are how computer displays create the images we view. This can be seen by using a microscope to view a phone screen close up. Encourage pupils to understand the similarities in this process to the creating paintings using points.
Teacher tip
Equipment
Pupils will require access to a device with software that provides freehand digital painting tools.
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
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Starter quiz
Download starter quiz
4 Questions
Q1.
In a painting program, I want to make my circle completely coloured in. Which tool should I use?
eraser
paintbrush
Q2.
I accidentally drew a line in the wrong place. Which tool should I use to get rid of it?
paintbrush
fill
Q3.
What does this tool do?
it changes the colour
it colours in the whole page
Q4.
I want to make a square border for my painting. What tool should I use?
fill tool
paintbrush tool
Exit quiz
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4 Questions
Q1.
You can change how the paintbrush tool looks by changing the ...
spoil
seam
Q2.
What will changing the brush size do?
change the colour
make the brush go invisible
Q3.
Match the way you use the mouse with the marks it will make in the painting program.
make a dot
make a line
Q4.
True or false? On a tablet, you can drag your finger on the screen to make lines of colour.
false