Inspired by local landmarks – connecting Geography and Art
As part of the Geography topic “our local area,” Year 2 planned and walked a route to a local landmark: The Mansion in Roundhay Park. The children carefully followed their selected route on their maps and they recorded the human and physical features they saw along the way. When they arrived at The Mansion, the children became photographers, using the iPads to take photographs of the landscape and landmarks.
Once back in school, Year 2 learnt about Atkinson Grimshaw. He was a local artist who painted many landscapes, including Leeds City centre and Roundhay Park. The children chose a photograph from the range they had taken, dividing it into four equal parts to support their sketching, where they thought carefully about the foreground and background. After learning more about Atkinson Grimshaw’s style of painting, Year 2 painted their sketches using watercolours where they applied their previous learning to support them in mixing their, colours rather than using the colour pallet provided. A range of different sized paint brushes were selected to achieve the different strokes and detail within their paintings.
The children found it very rewarding to be able to paint one of the landmarks they had actually seen in real life and they enjoyed learning new techniques to support them in mixing a range of tints and tones. This ensured their colours were appropriate for the landmark they painted.
