Year 6 Art and design: Still life

In this topic, pupils revisit their still life skills, creating a variety of pieces influenced by different artists and using a range of mediums. They use charcoal, erasers and paint to depict their chosen composition of special objects before using them to construct a memory box to showcase their work.

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Art and design > Upper key stage 2 > Still life

Please note

This unit has now been replaced by the Year 6 unit Painting & mixed media: Artist study. Kapow no longer updates these lessons, and they may not reflect the national curriculum or current guidance. They remain a permanent part of your subscription and will continue to be available for reference and use. We recommend that you explore the new versions of the lessons.

Choose your lesson

Lesson 1: Still life composition

Using a selection of objects meaningful to them, children learn the subtle art of composition, sketching as they go

Lesson 2: Charcoal still life

Using the same arrangement as last lesson, pupils draw inspiration from the abstract artist Camargo and use charcoals to create a new still life piece

Lesson 3: Negative medium still life

Learning to see light and shade in a new way, children pick out the shapes of their composition using erasers on a lightly greyed out background

Lesson 4: Still life in colour

After looking at still life paintings from Cezanne, pupils mix and use paint to bring colour to their still life with a range of tints and hues

Lesson 5: Assembling the memory box

Children showcase their still life works by creating a box with a different piece on each face, topped with a graphic representation of the memories they evoke

Assess your pupils

Assessment resources for use at the start of the unit to assess where pupils are in their learning and at the end of the unit to assess progress. Go to assessment resources