UKS2: Britain since World War 2
Session 7: Pop art album covers
Theme 2: Media World
Art/History
Session 7a: Create album cover
Art
Range and Breadth: Art: 5a Explore a range of starting points for practical work. His:
Range and Breadth: Art: 5b Work on their own in two dimensions.
PoS
PoS
Art: Knowledge, skills & understanding
Objectives
Create their album cover. 1c Collect information to help them
11b Study Britain since WW2.
Art: Knowledge, skills & understanding
[Main]
Objectives Plan their own album cover. 1b Select ideas to use in their work. 1c Collect
visual & other information to help them develop their ideas. 2c Design
images to communicate ideas & feelings.
PoS
History: Knowledge, skills & understanding
Objectives Look at a variety of album covers from the 1960s. 2b Study cultural
diversity of British society.
[Main]
develop their ideas. 2a Investigate & combine visual & tactile
qualities of materials & processes & match these to the purpose of
the work. 2c Use a variety of methods to design & make images. 4a
Find out about visual & tactile elements including colour, line & tone,
and how these elements can be organised for different purposes.
Whole class teaching These sessions could be taught alongside the English Plan 6: Poetry– Song
Whole class teaching These sessions could be taught alongside the English Plan 6:
Show chn the set of British stamps (session resources) that were issued on January 7th
2010. They show some classic album covers (LP covers). The very varied art is part of the
history of music in Britain. The covers were eye-catching & would help encourage people to
buy the music & were considered important enough to be issued as commemorative stamps.
To look at a wide range of 1960s album covers visit (or bring some in to show chn if poss.)
Discuss the designs for album covers that chn have planned. Look again at some
of the Andy Warhol paintings. He used silk screen printing, photographs, plastic,
acrylic paints, metallic & fluorescent colours etc. Show chn the PPT presentation
found at http://edu.warhol.org/ppt/Pop_Art.ppt. Which material would be best
to use – felt tips, water colours, crayons, pen & ink, collage (of fabric, other
materials, photos), pastels, charcoal, acrylic paints, etc. Show chn the range of
available materials & allow time for them to experiment with them. Chn should
try different brush sizes, pen nibs, etc. Encourage them to try different lines,
shading, etc. Lines - straight, curved, wavy, zigzag, vertical, horizontal, diagonal,
outline, broken, thick, thin, thick to thin lines. Shading – hatched, cross-hatched,
pointillism (dots), marks in all directions, smudges (pastels or charcoal are good
for this). Chn could try printing to achieve the repetition seen in many of the pop
art pictures. Discuss how they could do this – use polystyrene tiles with designs
drawn on firmly to cause depressions & a paint roller – see an excellent demo at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/making-a-print-from-polystyrenetiles/7733.html, or potato prints (a similar technique using the cut faces of a
potato dipped into paint). A second colour can be added on part of the design by
cutting away parts of tile/potato or making further indentations.
Lyrics, which can also be found on the site under English.
http://rateyourmusic.com/list/imperium_of_bodies/evolution__50_glorious_album_covers__the_60s/.
Look in detail at the first one – Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by the Beatles
(released in 1967). Can chn spot the Beatles (twice – the second time as wax models!)?
Which other heads have been used (session resources) in the collage? They were actually
life-size cardboard cut-outs of the well known people. Do chn recognise any of the figures?
Consider the time it must have taken to produce that design! The cover was designed by
Peter Blake & his wife Jann Haworth & won a Grammy Award for best Album Cover in 1968.
Look at some examples of Andy Warhol album covers (session resources) & some of his other
paintings. Discuss – repetition, vivid colours, More images at
http://www.art.co.uk/gallery/id-0/prints.htm?ui=2AF45231C0774F8FBEF8F43E256AE58F&searchstring=andy+warhol.
Warhol was one of the pioneers of the pop art style of painting which began in the mid
1950s & produced images based on mass media & modern culture – adverts, comics, consumer
products, cultural icons & so on.
Poetry– Song Lyrics, which can also be found on the site under English.
Easy/Medium/Hard
Easy/Medium/Hard Chn might need more than one session to experiment &
Chn plan their own album cover for a 1960s artist (group or solo artist) in the pop art style.
Choose an artist from the websites given in Session 6. While chn are planning their design
have 60s music playing in the background.
Imagine a second set of album cover postage stamps is going to be released.
Plenary
We need to pick the best ten albums to be featured.
produce their cover. Chn create their album covers on paper cut to the correct
size – square with 31.5cm sides. Have 60s music playing in the background while
chn paint/draw/stick or print!
Plenary Put on a display of covers. Which are most effective? Take a secret
vote & ask volunteers to explain why they chose their favourite.
© Hamilton Trust 2010. This activity may be adapted for use by a teacher in his/her own class. It may not be reproduced for any other purpose.
UKS2_BSWW2_S7_7a Media World