French and Art News

The Year 3's have been looking at the French artist Claude Monet in great detail as part of a combined Art and French unit this semester. In both lessons, we examined his biographical details, learning about where he was born and how he progressed with his art education. In French, we examined four paintings in detail - two landscape paintings and two with people in them. The boys have been revising their colour vocabulary and can now identify the colours in each painting in French. After a collection of spoken activities, the boys are now confident enough to progress onto explaining which of the four focus paintings is their favourite and will be able to explain in French how the feel of the picture appeals to them. In Art, the boys began by discussing the impressionist style in 'Bridge over a Pond of Waterlilies'. They then each created a mixed media watercolour. Firstly, the boys used tape to mark out the bridge and then layered their watercolor paints. Through experimental risk-taking, they applied a delicate salt technique, creating unexpected textures. In their following session, the boys worked over a black and white master copy, applying water soluble oil pastels to imitate the rich seasonal colours of Haystacks and End of Summer. The results were outstanding, displaying a variety of inspired outcomes.

Madame Vinton
French Specialist

Jane Roche
Junior Art Specialist