Year 5 pupils enjoyed a trip to The Lowry Theatre in Salford; here they visited the exhibition of LS Lowry’s work. They tested out their artistic skills by drawing portraits of their friends: first with their eyes closed, working from memory, and then a detailed version with their eyes open!

Model Magic Clay was used to create portrait sculptures similar to that of Lowry’s portrait drawings. An artist based at The Lowry showed the pupils how to use watercolours in the same way that real artists use them. Lowry’s paintings, such as ‘Head of a Man with Red Eyes’, ‘Portrait of Ann’ and ‘Head of a Boy’ were all recreated by the pupils.

They went on to work with watercolour paint and water, subsequently blowing the paint carefully so that it sprayed paint in a chosen pattern. Sketching skills were also enhanced as the pupils sketched the bridge in Salford Quays; this was particularly impressive as they were not allowed to remove the pencil from the paper until the drawing was complete.

The pupils and staff enjoyed the private tour around the gallery, where paintings worth millions of pounds were exhibited, whilst listening to stories about LS Lowry’s life. After the trip, this experience certainly ensured that the pupils’ biographies about this talented individual were full of relevant and interesting detail.