You will need
- Sketchbooks or notebooks
- Drawing materials, such as pencils, pens or pastels
- Scissors and tape
- Photographs of staff from across your school community if possible
Charlie Phillips
Be inspired by artist Charlie Phillips and make your own portrait drawings that explore documentation and display
Explore the artwork
Charlie Phillips OBE
Notting Hill Couple (1967)
Tate
Your students don’t need to know anything about an artwork or artist to start exploring it.
Use these quick group activities to build their confidence and curiosity in sharing their first responses to the artwork. Some artworks they might like straight away, some they might not. Discovering art can be new, exciting and sometimes confusing. There are no right or wrong ways to respond!
In pairs or as a group, take it in turns to imagine the artworks answering these questions and telling their story.
- What are you made from?
- When were you made?
- What has happened here?
- Do you want me to feel sad or joyful, or something else?
- What else would you like to say?
In pairs or as a group, use your body to respond to the artwork.
- Mirror movements or shapes in the artwork
- Imagine sounds the artwork might make
- Trace the artwork in the air with your hands
- Move like the artwork
- What else could you do?
About the artwork
Notting Hill Couple 1967 is a photograph of two people, a Black man and white woman, posing together for a portrait. The couple are sitting close together, their foreheads touching and the man’s hand is on the woman’s shoulder – by looking closer, we can imagine what their relationship might have been like. By photographing this couple, who are young and of different racial heritages, Phillips reveals the shifts taking place in London in the 1960s due to post-war immigration from the Caribbean and around the world. As such, this photograph becomes an image of newer communities in London, representing a particular moment in the city’s history.
Phillips was born in Kingston, Jamaica, moving to Notting Hill, London in 1955 to join his parents. He was given a camera as a gift and taught himself photography by taking pictures of the community around him. Over many decades, Phillips has captured both significant and everyday moments in the area, creating a record of daily life and the world around him.
Make
Phillips prompts us to think about our communities, and what changes we can see in the world around us. In this activity, create your own record of your school community.
- Think about the word ‘community’ – what does it mean to you? Write a list of words that come to mind when you think about ‘community’.
- Join up with a partner to compare your lists – do you have anything that’s the same, anything different?
- Now, think about your school community – students, teachers, staff and more! Who do you see regularly and who do you see less regularly? What things do members of your school community do day-to-day: cook meals, fix broken things, open gates, take the register? Make a list as a class.
ADAPT
Take photos of each other and print them out as large as possible. Include people from across the school community.
Working together, stick all the images up on the wall, talking about them as you go.
Now use wool to connect the images together – this could be students and Teaching Assistants or connections between friends – be imaginative and make sure everyone is connected to at least one other person.
Invite people from across the school to drop in to the classroom to see themselves represented as part of the whole school portrait!
5. Begin making a large collaborative drawing display by drawing your class. Work with a partner and draw their portrait while they are drawing yours. Be bold! Use pencil or graphite to make black and white images inspired by Phillips’s photograph.
6. Try these drawing tips:
- Sketch the outline of your partner’s head; don’t worry too much if it’s not perfect.
- Draw this outline a few times until you are happy. Then, choose the lines that work best and start adding in further detail.
- Look at your partner at least as much as your paper, that will help!
7. At the end of your lesson, bring all of your drawings to the front of your classroom and look at them together. Find each other’s portraits and celebrate the artwork you’ve just made!
What have you learned by drawing your school community?
Who is missing from your display? Keep drawing more portraits of people to add to the display and think about how all these people interact.
What does this record of your school community mean to you?
Extend
Invite the students to work in pairs or small groups, taking an area of your school and walking around it.
Note down any object that might be connected to an activity, or any space that might be connected to an activity, e.g. tables in the school canteen or the office where the school administrator works. Note down (or draw) the object/space and the activity.
If you meet anyone while you are doing this politely ask their name (if you don’t know it) and ask them what do they do for this school community (teach, clean, cook, organise).
Return to the classroom and add your notes and drawings to your display.
How to use art makes
Making art is a powerful way to learn new skills, explore ideas and express ourselves creatively. Encourage your students to discover new materials, techniques and methods inspired by great artists at Tate.
- Prepare
- Project the artwork in your classroom and/or print off copies for your students to have in front of them.
2. Explore (10 minutes)
- Invite your students to respond to the artwork through the group activity.
- Read the background information on the artwork and the artist.
3. Make (30 minutes)
- Follow the step-by-step instructions.
- Use the Adapt section for accessible alternatives to this activity.
- Use the Extend activity within the same lesson or in a future session.
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