This Art and Design scheme of work video introduces pupils to gestural mark making—a technique where artists use expressive movements to capture energy and emotion in their drawings.

Pupils will explore how sweeping, curved or scribbled marks can suggest motion, like a ballerina spinning or a ball flying through the air. They’ll be encouraged to use their whole arm to draw, focusing more on movement and feeling than on accuracy or detail. The video emphasises to pupils that gestural mark making is not about drawing something perfectly—it’s about reacting to what they see and expressing it freely on the page. The aim is to let the marks tell the story of the motion.

This activity builds confidence in observational drawing, supports creativity, and helps children connect physical movement with artistic expression.

This video is part of Kapow Primary’s Year 5 Drawing: Depth, emotion and movement unit.

Art and Design, Year 5, *Updated* Drawing: Depth, emotion and movement, Lesson 1: Expressing movement.