"...Made him King of all Wild Things"

Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are is one of the most loved picture books. It uses poetry and lavish illustration to tell the story of a young boy making peace with his animalistic side. The book reminds us all to attend to (and befriend) the more hidden aspects of our nature.

In this session, students worked in clay to create their own 'wild things.'  I chose clay as a medium as its robust physicality lends itself well to the creation of a personalised beastly creature.

We started the session with the book, taking some time to read through it and enjoy the pictures. Most students had come across the book before, but they gained a different appreciation of it through re-reading.

After reading through the book as a group, and discussing the themes of the story and the images, I introduced the artistic concept of anthropomophism. Students then considered where else they'd seen the combination of the animal and the human. We made links to the fantastical paintings of  Heironymus Bosch and the soft sculptures of  Claes Oldenburg.

Students then set to work and created their own clay Wild Things!

Lines from Letters - Creating a Logo

In this session, students took the initials of their name or a favourite catchphrase and twisted the lines and shapes of the letters around until they formed an abstract composition. They then simplified and further experimented with the lines until they formed an image resembling a corporate logo. Once they were happy with the design, student's redrew the image at a much larger size and coloured with tempera paint.

This session works really well as a way or learning about line, or can be used alongside this lesson as part of a unit on graphic design or word art.