London Olympic Games Activity Booklet - Zart Art

People in Action
…and in First Place!!
Central to the Olympic Games are
the athletes i.e. people in action. The
ancient Greeks saw beauty in the
graceful movements and muscular
bodies of their athletes and enjoyed
watching them perform naked with
only olive oil rubbed onto their
skin. Choose a sport and look at
images of the different body
positions that are required for a
particular event. Talk about the
precision of movements, the
stretching of muscles and the
strength and stamina required. Find
out about the diet and regime of
these athletes. See if you can get a
class member to “freeze” into some
of these positions for a series of
quick sketches.
Focus: Positive and negative shapes
Two of the elements of art are Space
and Shape, they work together to
form a work of art. There are many
shapes but only two kinds of space:
positive and negative. Positive spaces
are those occupied by the main
subjects of the work. The Negative
spaces are the areas around and
behind the positive spaces. Stencil
work is an excellent way to explore
positive and negative space.
Show examples of positive and
negative spaces in artworks. Look at
Rubin’s vase in which the negative
space around the vase forms the
silhouette of two faces looking at
each other.
Ready, Set, Go – Running
Materials
Cover Paper A3 , Cartridge Paper
A3, Oil Pastels, People in Action
Rubbing Plates, Glossy Kinder
Squares
1. On a sheet of Cartridge
Paper, take multiple rubbings
of the runner from the People
People in Action
1. Select a Cardboard People
in Action figure to use in your
collage.
2. Create a positive and
negative image by using
the selected figure and the
sheet it was pressed from and
smudge dry pastels into and
around each of the stencils.
Use a finger to smudge the
dry pastel around the positive
shape and then inside the
negative stencil.
3. The negative stencil will
create a positive shape of
colour and the positive stencil
in Action Rubbing Plate.
2. Cut out rubbings and
arrange them on a sheet of
Cover Paper.
3. Collage background
scenery and flags using Kinder
Squares.
will create a negative shape
of colour.
4. Use the negative stencil to
colour additional figures on
to a sheet of Cartridge Paper
to be cut out and used for the
collage.
5. Arrange all figures on to
the background using off
cuts of Polystyrene to lift the
foreground figures away from
the background.
6. Use assorted colours in
Cover Paper to display the
work.
Olympic Sport
Materials
Cover Paper, Zart School Colours,
Permanent markers, Pastels,
Rubbing Plates, Acetate Sheets,
Rollers
1. Observe and discuss the
work of Frank Stella – Jarama 11
2. Prepare a set of papers to
represent objects, sounds,
movements or feelings of an
Olympic Sport.
3. Papers may be painted,
collaged or printed and explore
the elements of line, colour,
pattern or shape.
4. Use these papers to
represent an Olympic sport in
a 3D way.
Ph: 03 9890 1867 • Fax: 03 9898 6527
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