ART AND HANDWORK
Discuss an art activity where learners will experience colours by observing nature. This
activity should be suitable for learners from Grades 0 to 3.
Viewing an apple in bright light, it reflects a lot of light and it therefore has a light value;
If an apple is viewed in deep shade, it reflects less light and thus appears as a darker value;
That is why some leaves of the same tree appear dark, while others appear light – it
depends on the amount of light being reflected from the various leaves.
How will you differentiate between a 3-year old and a 6-year old’s use of colour? (If you
cannot answer this question now, return to it when you find the answer further on in the
guide)
Discuss the different elements of art as comprehensively as possible with suitable
examples:
Line
Children’s drawings and paintings are predominately linear – most children will never
use a paintbrush to draw lines;
The element of line concerns the linear quality of work art. A line describing an object is
a contour line;
The functions of line are:
a) Line is shape producing
b) Line can create the illusion of something going into and coming out of an area
c) Line can express rhythm
d) Line can be expressive
e) Line can be used to divide areas and to separate spaces
f) Surface lines can indicate form without shading
g) Multiple similar lines becomes texture
Lines can have different attributes, namely
a) kind – straight, curved or zigzag
b) direction – horizontal, vertical or diagonal
c) qualities – heavy or broad, thin or light
d) length – long or short
Shape
For a work of art to have a shape, it needs an edge – no matter how irregular or
indistinct that edge may be – to separate it from what is around it.
Everything we see, whether man-made or natural, is made up of shape and line, e.g.
one cloud in a clear sky is a shape, but the sky around the cloud is shape as well.
Shape -
a) is two-dimensional
b) allows us to identify a familiar object
c) can denote importance through contrast of large and small
d) can indicate movement
e) can create patterns
f) can be negative or positive
g) can be regular or free form
Colour
Our awareness of colour is a response to stimulation of the retina of the eye by light
waves reflected from what is around us.