This week we started our new ‘Extreme Earth’ topic by producing our own art pieces to recreate the “The Great Wave”.
For our art study for this term, we have been learning about 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 interpretations 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 then discussed why we felt Hokusai wanted to show the Great Wave in this way and how he could have been feeling at the time. 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.
What was your favourite part of our art lessons this week? What did you enjoy most?
I found this activity really fun. Learning about ‘The Great wave of Kanagawa’ was very interesting. I am looking forward to learning more about Extreme Earth.