This week Year 4 have been on their art pieces for our new ‘Extreme Earth’ topic.
For our art study this year we have been studying the work of Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) who was a Japanese artist during the Edo period in Japan.
His most famous work, ‘The Great Wave off Kanagawa’ is the first wood block print in a series of 36 titled ‘Thirty-six views of Mount Fuji’. It shows a giant wave threatening boats near Kanagawa and was made using the ukiyo-e technique which usually show beautiful Japanese scenes and landscapes.
To make our own interpretation of ‘The Great Wave off Kanagawa’, Year 4 looked at a colour wheel to spot ‘warm’ and ‘cool’ colours and discussed how they made us feel. We learnt how to mix colours to create a mood in our paintings through different shades of warm and cool colours. Using these shades, we created a contrast between the dark, threatening waves in the foreground, with the warm, peaceful colours in the background to show the unpredictability and power of the waves.
Although is it unlikely ‘The Great Wave off Kanagawa’ is a tsunami, the print has been used as a symbol of extreme weather events such as tsunamis and the extreme power of the ocean across the world. Japan is a place which experiences tsunamis and earthquakes often, and we will be studying the tragic tsunami of 201 1 later on in the term.
What was your favourite part of our art lessons this week?
I loved doing the tsunami paintings. It was so fun because art is one of my favourite subjects.
Great pieces of artwork year 4, what a great topic.
I liked it when we paint the wave because there was so much blue which is relaxing.
I reallyed enjoyed doing art in class. I found it relaxing, I enjoyed mixing different colours together to get the right shade. I used a paintbrush and did soft strokes. I feel pround that my work is displayed in my class.
I loved doing the great wave of Kanagawa. It was so satisfying mixing the colours together, it was very relaxing.🙂