Secondary Colours:
Primary Colours:
Know that green purple and orange (colours
made from mixing primary colours) are
called secondary colours.
Know that red, yellow and blue are commonly
referred to as the primary colours, meaning they
are colours that cannot be made from mixing
other colours together.


Blue + Yellow = Green




Blue + Red = Purple
Observe and discuss the use of colour in:
Blue + Yellow = Green
Claude Monet, The Beach at Trouville, 1870
Blue + Red = Purple
James A. McNeill Whistler, Arrangement in
Grey and Black No.1, 1871
Red + Yellow = Orange
Red + Yellow = Orange
Core Knowledge
Visual Arts Unit Overview– Year Two
Elements of Art: Colour
Recap knowledge of colour mixing from Year 1. Can
children confidently mix primary colours? Give children opportunities to show what they remember
and can do independently. Knowledge gained from
this assessment can be used to inform future
teaching and learning.
Colour collages: children create a collage of the
three primary colours using paint, coloured paper
and any other available and appropriate materials.
Dot finger prints of primary colours inside a predrawn shape. Children can make patterns using
different primary colours.
Creative application of
knowledge

The Dot by Peter H Reynolds

My Many Coloured Days by Dr Seuss

Camille and the Sunflowers by Laurence Antholt
Stained glass windows: children paint a scene or coloured shapes before adding black strips of card or
thick paper.
Dip the rims of cups into black paint and print rings on
white paper. Wait for the paint to dry before using a
range of colours to paint the spaces.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/
colour-mixing-from-primary-colours/7725.html
Explore the work of Wassily Kandinsky and his
use of colour. Children can create pieces inspired by ‘Study of Abstract Squares’ by repeatedly folding a square piece of paper in half, and
half again until you have a small square. When
children unfold the paper they are left with a grid
of squares. They can paint or use pastels to create circles within each square. They can select
different colours to outline the circles in Kandinsky’s style. The coloured rings around the circles
an be different thicknesses as well as different
colours. An extra level of challenge could be added by asking children to alternate between warm
and cool colours within each square.
Geometric shapes in art work:

Square, rectangle, triangle, circle, oval
Texture:

Old masters such as Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man, 1492
Tactile texture– texture in real objects we
can touch.

Pablo Picasso’s images of Sylvette David, 1954
Visual texture– depicted or ‘shown’ in works
of art.
Geometric shapes in nature:

Square, rectangle, triangle, circle, oval
Core Knowledge
Visual Arts Unit Overview– Year Two
Slice an orange in half– look at the shape, also
look at pictures of hexagons in bee hives, symmetry in passion fruit flowers, snowflakes, spider webs etc.
Show children images of a starfish, the spiral of
a snail’s shell, a cross section of a chilli pepper
and any other naturally occurring shapes in
nature. Children can draw the patterns to create their own art work.
Elements of Art: Shape and Texture
Creative application of
knowledge
Children can use geometric shapes to create
their own art work. They can paint or cut out
the shapes they want from coloured paper. Matisse’s Beasts of the Sea (1950) shows how geometric shapes can be combined with irregular
shapes.
Children can draw overlapping shapes using a
black pen, then colour or paint sections of the
shapes in different colours.

Describe qualities of texture (smooth,
rough, ridged etc) in:

The King’s Gold Belt Buckle (early 7th century from Sutton Hoo burial)

Albrecht Durer, Young Hare, 1502

Johannes Vermeer, The Music Lesson,
1662-65
Children can study Durer’s Young Hare closely,
looking at how lots of very fine lines can give the
appearance of texture. They can also look at how
Vermeer painted the surface of the floor, in contrast to the fabric of the throw over the table.
Portraits
Drawing People


Children will begin to develop
drawing skills, learning that proportion is important when drawing people.
A portrait is art work that shows a
real person.
Self Portraits

A self-portrait is a representation
of an artist created by the artist.

Many famous artists have created
self portraits.

Rembrandt van Rijn, Self-portrait in a Flat Cap,
1642

William Hogarth, Self-Portrait at an Easel, 1757

Vincent van Gogh, Self-portrait, 1889
Core Knowledge
Children should be taught how to draw a human face. Our hand is roughly the same size as
out face, so children can put their hand on a
piece of paper and draw a small dot by their
wrist and one by the end of their middle finger.
They can then join these lines by drawing an
oval shape. This creates the shape of a face.
After that, children can draw a horizontal line
across the middle of the oval and a vertical line
down the centre of the oval. This indicates
where eyes and the nose should be drawn.
Other features can be added based on the position of the eyes and nose.
Visual Arts Unit Overview– Year Two
Portraits and Self Portraits
Creative application of
knowledge

Leonardo da Vinci, Mona Lisa (Portrait of Lisa
Gherardini), 1503-06

Hans Holbein the Younger, Edward VI as a Child,
1538

Sir Anthony van Dyck, Equestrian Portrait of
Charles I, 1637-38
Children can draw or paint portraits of each other or
of a willing model. They can discuss what we can
find out from a portrait by looking at the person’s
clothes, any objects in the portrait etc.
Children can use mirrors to study their features
closely. They can draw particular features in isolation to practice e.g the shape of their eyes.
They can think about what colour paints they
might need to mix to reflect their skin and hair
colour. Skin tone paints can be purchased from
most educational suppliers.
Look at and discuss:

Look at and discuss:


The Great Sphinx
Animal Gods in Egyptian Art

A bust of Queen Nefertiti
Mummy cases: Sarcophagus of King
Tutankhamun
Find out about:


The Rosetta Stone

Cuneiform writing
Hieroglyphic writing
Core Knowledge
Children can look at pictures, or visit a museum to
see examples of Ancient Egyptian art. They can discuss how art can give us clues about Ancient Egyptians and their lives.
Art from Ancient Egypt could take the form of wall
paintings, hieroglyphics, sculpture, or architecture.
Children can look at colour symbolism in Ancient
Egyptian art: red for life, fire, victory, anger, or chaos, blue for the sky, heaven, creation and rebirth,
green for growth, regeneration, fertility and joy.
In Ancient Egypt, the sphinx had a body of a lion
and the head of a man. The sphinx was a guard for
the temples and had great strength. Children could
create their own clay sphinx.
Visual Arts Unit Overview– Year Two
Art of Ancient Egypt
Creative application of
knowledge
Children can see a picture of the bust of Queen
Nefertiti on page 180 of What Your Year 2 Child
Needs to Know. They can copy the shape of Nefertiti’s eyes and draw some of their own versions imitating the Egyptian style. Children
could also research the shapes used in Ancient
Egyptian crowns and create some of their own.
www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-history/art-history-400c-e--ancient-cultures-1/ancient-egypt/v/thutmose--bust-ofnefertiti--c--1340-bce
Children can study hieroglyphic writing and cuneiform writing, looking at the shapes and symbols used. Children can explore the shapes in cuneiform writing by carving into clay or plasticine.
Children can draw and decorate a cartouche and
write their own name using hieroglyphs.
www.childrensuniversity.manchester.ac.uk/
interactives/history/egypt/hieroglyphs/
Observe and describe the Celtic style of illumination as seen in:

The Lindisfarne Gospels (British Library
London)

Discover the variety of art treasures of England’s early medieval rulers by finding out
about:

Sutton Hoo Ship Burial (burial treasure
of an Anglo-Saxon King, 7th Century,
Sutton Hoo, Suffolk)
The Book of Kells (Trinity College Library, Dublin)

Illuminate means ‘fill with light’
After studying some examples of Celtic style illumination, children can design an illuminated letter of
their own. It could be an individual letter, or the
first letter of a word, or perhaps a short passage
they like from their favourite story.
Children will need to look at the shapes and designs closely, practicing formations or patterns first.
Discover the variety of art treasures of England’s early medieval rulers by finding out
about:

Core Knowledge
Bayeux Tapestry (embroidery showing
events leading up to the Norman Conquest)
Visual Arts Unit Overview– Year Two
Christian and Medieval Art
Creative application of
knowledge
Children can read about the historical context of
illuminated letting on page 183 of What Your Year
2 Child Needs to Know.
Look at images of the Anglo-Saxon treasure, visit the British Museum or the Sutton Hoo National Trust site in East Anglia.
Tracing letters and formations will help children to
create the shapes of their lettering and then they
can go on to add their own colours and embellishments.
Discuss how the Anglo-Saxons had decorated
practical items, making them special and not for
everyday use. Study the patterns and pictures
on the items such as on page 182 of What Your
Study images from The Bayeux Tapestry and
talk about the episodes depicted. Find out
about how the tapestry was made, discuss
that a tapestry is actually woven on a loom,
this ‘tapestry’ is actually an embroidery on
fabric.
Children could design their own shield as described on page 15 of this BBC Primary History activity pack: http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/
Year 2 Child Needs to Know.
schools/primaryhistory/lesson_plans/anglo-saxon/
normans_lp_hoh_hastings.pdf
Make papier-mâché or clay bowls and decorate
them with patterns on gold paint.
http://www.bayeuxtapestry.org.uk/
Some murals are painted straight onto
ceilings.
A mural is a piece of art that is painted
straight onto a wall.
Michelangelo painted the ceiling of
the Sistine Chapel.
Leonardo da Vinci painted a famous
mural called The Last Supper.
Mosaic murals are made from small
glass or ceramic tiles, or stones.
Core Knowledge
Visual Arts Unit Overview– Year Two
Recap cave paintings from Year 1.
Children can look at a range of murals depicting many different scenes. If possible, organise a space in the school where children
could design and make a mural. If no permanent space is available, a display board could
be backed with thick plain paper and used for
children to paint onto. Children could brainstorm ideas and sketch designs of what they
would like to reflect in their mural.
Leonardo da Vinci, The Last Supper, 1495-98 Refectory, Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan)
Types of Art: Murals
Creative application of
knowledge
Children can learn about Michelangelo, who was
predominantly a sculptor, but was asked by the
Pope to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
Children should continue to look at a range of
murals including those below:
William Hogarth, The Pool of Bethesda (1736)
and The Good Samaritan (1737), Staircase hallway, St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London
Paula Rego, Crivelliʼs Garden, 1990 (Sainsbury
wing restaurant, National Gallery, London)
Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel Ceiling, 1508-1512, The
Vatican, Rome)
For teacher’s own interest:
www.webofstories.com/play/paula.rego/40
Paper can be stuck to the underside of tables to give
children the opportunity to paint (or draw) on a
‘ceiling’.
Children can complete their class mural. If finding
wall space for a permanent mural is difficult, paper could be stuck onto walls temporarily for
children to paint onto.
Children can continue to work on their designs for
the class mural.
Children can complete a mosaic.