Digital Art (Year 4) — Year 4 Lesson Plan
National Curriculum: Art and Design KS2 — To improve their mastery of art and design techniques; to know about great artists and designers; to use digital tools as part of their art and design practice.
Overview
Pupils explore digital tools as a legitimate medium for creating art. Using tablets with drawing or painting apps, they learn how digital tools replicate and extend traditional art techniques through brush settings, layers and colour tools. Inspired by David Hockney's iPad paintings and the data art of Refik Anadol, pupils develop a digital artwork that demonstrates creative decision-making rather than just technical operation.
Learning Objectives
- To use digital drawing tools with developing skill, including brush settings, opacity and layers
- To understand how digital art relates to and extends traditional art practice
- To know about artists who use digital and data-driven tools in their work
- To produce a resolved digital artwork demonstrating intentional artistic choices
Key Vocabulary
Suggested Lesson Structure
Show pupils David Hockney's iPad paintings of the Yorkshire landscape and his quote about discovering the iPad as a painting tool. Then show a short clip or images of Refik Anadol's data-driven installations. Ask: is this real art? Does it matter what tool the artist uses? Establish that digital tools are simply a new kind of art material.
Using the class tablet and projected screen, demonstrate the key tools in the chosen app (e.g. Tayasui Sketches, Procreate or ArtRage): selecting a brush and adjusting size and opacity; creating a new layer; drawing on different layers and understanding how they stack; using the undo function productively.
Pupils explore the digital toolbox freely for 10 minutes, creating an experimental page with notes in their sketchbook about what each tool does. They then begin a digital self-portrait or landscape using at least two layers: a background layer and a foreground detail layer.
Pupils refine and develop their artwork, making deliberate choices about colour, composition and brush style. They are encouraged to reference their sketchbook work for the composition and to think about the mood or feeling they want to create. Final works are saved and, if possible, printed or displayed on screen.
Digital gallery: pupils share their work on the class screen for 30 seconds each. Peers offer one observation and one question. Class discussion: what can digital art do that traditional art cannot? What can traditional art do that digital cannot?
Common Misconceptions
- Pupils sometimes think that the undo function means they do not need to plan — reinforce that good digital art still requires thinking about composition, colour and intention before starting
- Some pupils spend too long changing tools and settings rather than making marks — limit the exploration phase and insist on making artwork rather than playing with menus
Prior Knowledge
Pupils should already be able to:
- Experience with tablets for literacy and computing from previous year groups
- Painting composition skills from the Year 4 Still Life unit
- Colour mixing and tonal understanding from Year 2 and Year 3
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