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Saying goodbye to the Art
scholars on the final day
of term was a touching
experience and put me in a
melancholy frame of mind.
I walked back through the empty corridors
to the Art room and cleared up the
remaining work.
Arthur Nicolle
,
Jago
Gourlay
,
Mark Lindgren
and
Valentin
Ershov
had each given his all for the
scholarship, but it was to be Arthur and
Jago who were the fortunate ones to walk
away with a medal.Whatever the outcome
has been, they all possess the drive and
determination to become accomplished
artists. The same can be said of those invited
to join the Portfolio Group, who showed not
only talent but also an enjoyment that drew
them to the Art room whenever there was a
spare moment. It was great to see the space
mural begin to take shape in the new games
room (formerly the changing room) and the
zealous grins of each boy as he was passed
a spray can to do his bit. It will be finished
next term ... watch this space.
At the other end of school, the 1st Years
created some wonderfully quirky ceramics.
The pirate pots they made allowed for a
huge variation of outcome. They also looked
at the Book of Kells, an ancient manuscript
from 8th century Ireland, and created their
own capitals ‘illuminated’ with knotted
patterns, mythical beasts and symmetrical
motifs. These were sumptuously decorated
with a specific palette and metallic acrylics.
The other four year-groups all tackled
two large still-life projects. It’s easy to get
boys to draw – they just need distracting.
Motorbikes work well. Drums too. Noisy
things, really. Give them something to draw
with, that no normal person would ever
consider suitable (a burnt stick for example)
and you have a recipe for success. The
realisation that they’ve started a ludicrously
difficult task dawns on them half way
through, at which point you overload their
senses with Renaissance masters and tell
them to go away and mimic their style.
Works like a dream. There were some really
super drawings in conte, charcoal, pen &
ink and watercolour. The drum studies
were especially challenging; ellipses are
notoriously difficult, but many boys were
able to find a way to represent the objects
realistically after some simple instruction.
The Fifth Year also created a huge variety of
very impressive ceramic shoes which looked
fantastic when displayed in real shoe boxes.
The main task for the start of the year
Art Department
“they all possess the drive and
determination to become
accomplished artists”
S u m m e r F i e l d s
2 0 1 5 – 2 0 1 6