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Year 6 - Art and design

Drawing: create a character for a story

Meaning and symbolism in art: drawing and painting

Unit Summary

Pupils will investigate how artists create meaning and tell stories through their art. They will investigate symbolism in art and develop understanding that visual art, craft and design has multiple meanings beyond its surface depiction to support the development of their own visual literacy.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to design a character that uses symbols and colours to show meaning for your own story.

Key Notes

Character design combines imagination with visual clues for the audience.
Characters can use symbols (colours, shapes, objects) to show personality or meaning.
Artists plan and sketch ideas before creating final designs.
Colour and shape choices help tell a story or express mood.

Vocabulary To Learn

mood: the feeling or atmosphere an artwork creates
character design: the process of creating the look and personality of a character
sketch: making quick and simple drawings to show ideas or the things we see

Common Mistakes To Avoid

Characters just need to look good, they don't need to mean anything.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

1. Explain the lesson in two key points.

Character design combines imagination with visual clues for the audience. Characters can use symbols (colours, shapes, objects) to show personality or meaning.

2. What does this key word mean in this lesson? 'mood'

the feeling or atmosphere an artwork creates.

3. Correct this common mistake.

Mistake: Characters just need to look good, they don't need to mean anything. Correction: Great character design includes meaning with symbols and design choices conveying personality and mood.

More Lessons In This Unit

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