This was the first time I had visited Stanhope Primary School, nestled up on the North East coast. It was a real pleasure to spend time there working with the Year 4 and Year 5 students, who took part in one of my favourite sessions, the Space Character Illustration Workshop.
This particular workshop is designed to really stretch the imagination. Once the theme of space is introduced, the possibilities open up almost immediately. Suddenly the students are thinking about aliens, rockets, asteroids, strange planets, spaceships, lasers, moons, satellites and all sorts of other cosmic curiosities. It does not take long before the ideas start flowing.
What is always lovely to see is how quickly the children become absorbed in the process. With pens moving across the page and ideas bouncing around the room, the classroom fills with energy and excitement. The workshop encourages students to think creatively, combine unusual elements and invent their own strange and wonderful characters from the depths of space.
Each child approaches the challenge in their own way. Some design peculiar alien creatures, others create elaborate spacecraft or adventurous space explorers. Even though everyone begins with the same theme and techniques, the results are always wonderfully varied.
By the end of the session the tables are covered with a whole universe of imaginative creations. The characters that evolve are often surprising, sometimes hilarious and always a joy to see. It is one of those workshops where the enthusiasm of the students really shines through and their ideas take the activity to places you could never quite predict.
EMELBI (“,)
This Character is one of the images I produced during a quick tutorial.
Take a look at their creations below.
