Highlights from The Arts

Student of the Month

The Art Department is pleased to announce that Year 10 Art student Ameelia A is the new winner of the Student of the Month award. This award recognises deserving students and aims to encourage their continued commitment to art practice.

Ameelia is a hard worker, excellent with her tonal drawing skills and use of colour. Ameelia has successfully developed responses to sub theme ‘Distortion’ within a topic of ‘Identity’. In her most recent artwork, Ameelia was inspired by famous British painter Lucian Freud and used a photocopy machine to distort her self portraits, which she then used to create beautiful drawings and paintings. Ameelia’s observational skills and her attention to detail and tone; and experimentation with composition and use of colour, distortion and motion blur was outstanding and unique. Furthermore, Ameelia is always up to date with her coursework and makes sure that every single page in her sketchbook receives some love. Congratulations Ameelia!

Year 12 UAL Art & Design

Our students have been working on a number of briefs directly related to books and theatre this term.

Their initial Graphics project required them to design the cover of a book retelling the story of Little Red Riding Hood, students used their imagination and creative licence to reinvent the story in different genres from thrillers to romance novels and graphic novels to murder mysteries.

For their Textiles brief students were asked to design and make part of a costume for one of the characters from their story. They had to take into account the setting of their story and their character’s traits as well as the target audience.

Literacy and Art

Not only is literacy important for the practicalities of day to day life but it can also be an essential part of an artistic career. Literature in the form of novels, plays and poetry have long been a huge inspiration for artists and designers, and in some cases certain artistic careers are intrinsically linked to books and literature.

The job of a Book Designer is to sell a book before the customer has read the first page, never has the saying ‘a picture paints a thousand words’ been more true! Similarly the work of an Illustrator is to enhance the story and help take the reader on a journey. Neither of these jobs could be done without a thorough knowledge of the relevant books and that knowledge can only be gleaned through reading.

There are many creative careers in Theatre and Film, two that spring immediately to mind are Costume or Set Design, both of which rely heavily on an understanding of the play or story being told. The challenge of the Theatre Designer is to communicate the subtleties and nuances of a character or a scene, this can only be done if the designer has a robust understanding of the original material.

Seasonal Wreath Workshop

Last term the art department ran its second annual wreath workshop with the help of professional florist Lucy Guimaraes. These workshops are a fun way to spend time together as a community, getting to know each other better and learning new skills.

This festive event was organised to raise funds for the Art department and the Macmillan Cancer Support, it was a resounding success and in total over £600 was raised. We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who supported the event.

Testimonials

"Went to a wreath making workshop at Capital City Academy. It was fab and she was really helpful. Lovely festive treats and mulled wine too! Feeling very festive. Thank you."

"The wreath workshop was indeed brilliant and was such a nice event to host here! Everyone's wreaths looked so fantastic at the end of the afternoon!"

"A beautiful, relaxed environment with a great wreath workshop - so much foliage to choose from, exceptional event. It was lovely meeting everyone :)"

Art Trips

All Year 11 Visual Art students all went on trips this month to help them prepare for their GCSE exam which has officially begun! Excursions and gallery visits are crucial in stimulating ideas and gathering research.

The Year 11 Art and 3D students visited the V&A Museum, the Graphics students attended the British Museum and the photography students went to Kensal Green Cemetery. Students were asked to explore visual and other sources of information and record their responses through photography and drawing. This opportunity allowed students to develop their breadth of study and critical understanding.

‘Art, craft and design embody some of the highest forms of human creativity. A high-quality Art and Design education should engage, inspire and challenge pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design. As pupils progress, they should be able to think critically and develop a more rigorous understanding of art and design. They should also know how art and design both reflect and shape our history, and contribute to the culture, creativity and wealth of our nation’.

-National curriculum in England