Take One Picture Art work Summer 2023

The summer term at Church Langley has been extremely exciting as the children have taken part in the National Gallery’s ‘Take One Picture’ project.

Every Year, the National Gallery in London selects one of its paintings to inspire pupils across the country. Teachers involved in the project use the chosen masterpiece as a stimulus for cross-curricula learning.

This year the chosen painting was ‘Surprised!’ by the French artist Henri Rousseau.

Before seeing the painting, the children listened to a soundscape to imagine what they might see, feel, encounter, etc. before drawing a scene to represent what they thought the painting is about. They then studied small sections of the painting, discussing the colours and range of tones, what was happening in the background and foreground and the movement they observed within the painting. After these introductory activities, the whole painting was revealed, and the children worked collaboratively to form a bank of questions they could ask about the painting and the artist. Finally, they completed a series of quick sketches focusing on line, direction, layering and weaving and colour.

Later in the term, each year group – with the exception of Reception – enjoyed an exciting day out in London to view the ‘real’ painting in the National Gallery. During their visits, the children were thrilled to see the actual painting they had studied so closely and were amazed by the sheer size and quantity of many of the masterpieces they glanced at as they toured the gallery with an official guide.  They listened enthusiastically with interest to the guides who told them many interesting facts about the artist and the painting. We were delighted to receive so many comments about the children’s excellent conduct during our visits; their attentiveness and the quality of their observations and questions.

Back at school, the children created a piece of artwork inspired by the painting ‘Surprised!’ It has been lovely to see the children’s sense of pride and in some cases surprise at quality of their artwork.

It was an absolute pleasure to showcase the children’s artwork at our own Church Langley Gallery in July, which was so well attended by family and friends of the children.

Quoted below are some of the children’s reflections about the experience.

‘I enjoyed creating my own painting and overlapping the plants. My sloth painting was very cute!’ Aryan

‘Going to the National Gallery was extremely exciting. I feel lucky to have taken part in the project. I am amazed with how my painting turned out especially the time it took to complete.’ Olivia

‘I am extremely happy with the way my painting turned out. The leaves and background turned out better than I thought they would. Our Church Langley Gallery was amazing; I enjoyed looking at everyone’s artwork.’ Emilia

Click here to view the Take One Picture Art Gallery work - scroll down the page to find the Art work