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Learning intentions
Learning intentions
I can make art with birds as my subject.
I can view art by other artists and appreciate aspects of the art, such as how it was made, use of colour, line, texture and composition.
Success Criteria
Success Criteria
I can experiment and make art about birds.
I can notice bird features, shapes, colours, and this can be the subject of my bird art.
I can research about birds, their behaviours, communication and habitat, to help me create my artwork.
I can appreciate and discuss work by other artists.
I can appreciate and reflect upon my own art making processes.
Challenge 4 - Artistry
Challenge 4 - Artistry
Birds have long fascinated artists with their fantastical colours and flight.
Art can be sculpted out of clay or other materials; collaged, rendered, drawn, inked, paint-brushed and washed. Artwork can come from your nature bird journal, which can include your scientific observations.
We are looking for
We are looking for
In this competition we will appreciate your art work and think about the way you have:
created an artwork with birds as the theme.
created an interesting composition. Composition is about the arrangement of elements in your artwork. This includes the thickness, position and direction of lines and shapes. Notice how your eye focuses on different parts of an artwork, the lines that it follows. Think about colour combinations, contrasting elements, use of space, and shading in your composition.
expressed yourself through your medium.
You can experiment with different materials, such as acrylic or water-based paints, clay, ink, collage using fabric, paper and natural materials. You can try out different ways of applying mediums, for example you can add textures such as sand and clay to paintings. You can dab it on and apply it thickly, or experiment with thin layers of watercolour on thick paper. In mixed media you can use a range of mediums, such as paint, ink and drawing. Collage is a technique for adding different materials, and layering them to make interesting textures and patterns. Sculptural art is three dimensional, and includes paper-mache, clay work, carving and assemblage.
Bird drawings and paintings by children
Nature journal by Celia, Royal National EEC
Nature journaling
Nature journaling
Many artists can find inspiration from nature around them. A nature journal is a place to record our observations with drawings, materials and words.
Pick up some paper, pencils and get ready to nature journal with Georges River Environmental Education Centre. Here are some nature journaling tips from the Royal National Environmental Education Centre for botanical, animal and landscape drawing.
Artists' creative processes and galleries
Artists' creative processes and galleries
See inside the studio of Jeannie Baker, and visit larger than life bird paintings in online galleries.
Circle by Jeannie Baker,
Published by Walker Books Australia and New Zealand.
Jeannie Baker's collages are carefully created, as she works with different materials to build up layers of details in her natural compositions.
The video (top left) is about Jeannie Baker making the collage for Circle.
The video (on the left) is about how Jeannie Baker uses different techniques in making collages, and how you can collect and used found and natural materials in your artworks.
Trace Balla shows us some cartooning tips and how she draws cartoons in this video.
Trace Balla shares her exquisitely drawn nature journal. You can visit Trace's website for more ideas.
Trace Balla's stories take you on a meandering journey with a child learning about the animals and plants that live around them. Rivertime (Allen and Unwin, 2014) and Rockhopping (Allen and Unwin, 2016) are two of her graphic novellas.
You might like to start a nature journal, and the bird illustrations for your nature journal can be entered into the artistry challenge for the Bird Olympics.
How to make a bird, by Meg McKinlay and illustrated by Matt Ottley. Published by Walker Books Australia and New Zealand.
In the Resource notes Meg writes, "How to Make a Bird began in the way of all my work, as a series of fragments jotted down in a notebook -- a line here, a thought there, a mess of questions and ideas, raw material for pondering.
The first line was with me from the start and in many ways set the tone for the piece. "To make a bird/ you will need a lot of very tiny bones"...
The collaboration and the exploration of ideas, notes, and illustrations show that writing and art are a process; actions and thoughts weave, reflect and grow.
Matt shares preliminary drawings (above and below) and how he approached ways to illustrate Meg's writing.
Learn about Matt's artistic process and collaborative projects in a series of guides, including the Resource Notes for The incredible freedom machine illustrated by Matt Ottley and written by Kirli Saunders.
In the Resource notes for How to Make a Bird, Matt writes, "Meg's text is so beautifully spare, with a richness of language that makes it a wonderful standalone poem as well as a picture book text. I wanted to reflect the poignancy of the words, and to infuse the images with the same kind of space and atmosphere, so I chose slightly muted colours for the paintings, with only occasional splashes of stronger tones..."
Geoffrey Carran's bird art
Geoffrey Carran's bird art
Geoffrey Carran has been painting Australian birds for many years.
You may like to see his website and all the larger than life murals.
Nicky Shelton
Nicky Shelton
Magnificus - Red-Tailed Black Cockatoo is bigger than life and intricately painted. Visit Nicky Shelton's online gallery.
Her birds are so lifelike that you might see their feathers ruffle.
Albrecht Durer
Albrecht Durer
Little Owl, painted by Albrecht Dürer in 1506. Dürer is well-known for his intricate etchings and drawings.
Jan Asselijn
Jan Asselijn
The Threatened Swan, painted by Jan Asselijn in 1650. This life size painting is full of drama; a swan defends itself from a dog by honking and flapping its wings.
Powerful owls are our largest owl species. They are vulnerable in NSW. They need large tree hollows to nest and raise their chicks.
Rainbow lorrikeets are highly social animals. This one is looking for nectar. They need tree hollows for homes.
Greater egrets live in wetlands. They wade through shallow water and fish for small aquatic animals.
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