In this activity students will create a collaborative outdoor tile artwork which explores painting skills and draws inspiration from nature. Students will create an artwork based on native birds. They will create an individual painted tile which can be presented as a larger scale collaborative artwork.
Collaborative Outdoor Tile
Lesson 1
Students explore a variety of native birds from their local area. Discuss different artists who use native fauna as their source of inspiration and different art styles which they could work with. Discuss indigenous artists and their artworks and how they draw inspiration from nature.
Students choose a bird to focus on for their painting. Students should consider the scale and composition of their work and how they can create a collaborative piece by joining all of their individual tiles together. Students draw their design of a bird on a branch on their tile and place them together to ensure that they all match up by first working as smaller groups for each branch and then together as a whole class.
Lesson 2
Students begin by painting the first layer of their tile. Students should focus on blocking in their colours for their first layer and then adding detail to each layer they paint.
Lesson 3
Students complete their painting by adding the smaller details and textures from their chosen bird. Once they have finished painting they can put their finished tiles together. They can then discuss where and how their work could be exhibited as a final piece.
Lesson 4
Reflection: Students can discuss how an artwork may be read differently depending on where and how it is presented. For example how may a large scale outdoor artwork compare to a small scale artwork presented in doors.
Extension and Differentiation: Students can work with a pre drawn design on their tile. Students can also work with paint markers instead of paint to complete their work.