Introduction

Explain that we are going to be using a variety of art tools over the coming weeks. We will be looking at a range of skills, some simple, some more complex, but all of our work will have a running theme of nature, and in particular, patterns in nature.

 

What is a repeating pattern? Can you think of some examples of where we often see repeating patterns?  Wrapping paper, wallpaper, fabric designs (clothing, curtains, bedspreads etc). 

 

 

Nature is full of naturally occurring repeating patterns. Leaves, flowers, stones and animal patterns are just a few examples of where we can find the most beautiful and amazing patterns. 

Take a look at the images in the first few slides of the teacher presentation and discuss the patterns the children can see in each image. 

 

Searching images

Ask the children to have a look for some images of their own. They should save about four or five images they like into their ‘My Documents’ folder.

Remind the students about the importance of online safety when searching online. We will be searching the web for images in this lesson and although the web content is filtered, they should understand that no filter is 100% safe. They should stick to the search terms they are asked to use, but if they do come across anything they think is inappropriate, they should immediately turn off the screen and calmly tell the teacher. 

Ensure they are using Google Safe Search, and ask them to use the search term ‘patterns in nature’ as a starting point. They may then want to elaborate their search to look for other examples of an image they find.

 

Saving images

Every image on the web is owned by someone. Sometimes people give permission for others to use their images, sometimes they don’t (out of choice or ignorance). Creative Commons (CC) is a licence that anyone can apply to their work (including images) that tells others it’s okay for them to use it, and it’s important that we respect other people’s things and don’t just take without permission.

You can do a Creative Commons search here. Photos for class, Pexels and Unsplash are other good sources of CC images. 

 

 

In Google Images you can find Creative Commons images by searching for an image, then clicking on Tools > Usage rights > Creative Commons licences. 

 

 

Remind them that when saving the image, never save the first thumbnail of the image that appears in the search results (unless you want a very small version of it!) Ask the children what is a ‘thumbnail’? (a much smaller and lower resolution of the image - so it loads quickly in the search results)

 

 

If they save it and enlarge it in a piece of work you will often see the image blur or pixelate (which looks awful). Instead, click on the thumbnail to open it, then click the ‘View image’ button, then save it by right-clicking and ‘save image as’ (or the equivalent as some browsers vary). 

 

A low resolution image that has been stretched will pixelate.

 

Creating your patterns

Log in to Purple Mash and go to Tools > Art and Design > 2Paint a Picture > Pattern.

 

 

Show how to create a simple pattern by drawing in the small box in the top corner. Emphasise attention to detail and using the different sized pens to help you.  Adjust the slider and options at the bottom to change the size of the pattern, and the lay out. 

 

   

 

 

 

Ask the children to take inspiration from the photos you showed and anything and think about the shapes and colours they see. They don’t necessarily need to include an entire part of a photo in their pattern.

Here are some example patterns alongside the photo that inspired them.

 

 

 

Ask the children to create a number of images inspired by different elements of nature. They should save each image separately into their Documents folder with a different filename e.g. James1, James2, James3 etc. They will be using all the images in future lessons. 

 

 

Plenary

Finish off by asking them to open on their screen their favourite pattern that they have created in the lesson. Give them a minute or two to look around the room at each other’s work and then ask them to give some feedback to each other. Ask:

• Which patterns did you like?
• Why?
• Can you tell which elements of nature inspired the pattern?
• Who has added lots of detail?
• Who has done the most original piece?