Havelock North artist Josh Lancaster with Ava Ware and Eloise Thompson at landscape painting lessons. Photo / Warren Buckland
Havelock North artist Josh Lancaster with Ava Ware and Eloise Thompson at landscape painting lessons. Photo / Warren Buckland
A Year 6 class at Te Mata School reached out to Havelock North artist Josh Lancaster while learning about New Zealand artists.
Year 6 team leader and teacher Danielle Burroughs said her class had been talking about New Zealand artists when the pupils got into a discussion about the paintedapples they saw around Hastings.
The pupils wanted to learn about the artist's apple project and how he became a painter, and Lancaster was more than happy to come in for a chat.
Lancaster chatted to the school pupils about a few different things, including his process when painting a landscape.
Burroughs explained her class then got so inspired and decided on the spot that they would like to give landscape paintings a go, and Lancaster offered to pop back to start us on our own journey.
"Luckily for us he popped back several times to guide us through the process," she said.
The pupils started by finding a picture of a particular place they had to draw in pencil.
Havelock North artist Josh Lancaster helps Te Mata School students Khalil Alexander, Arlo Rendle and Zoe Dawson on their landscape painting journey. Photo / Warren Buckland
Before the 10-year-olds could start painting, they had to learn how to scale their chosen picture to a canvas.
The landscape artist talked at length about this process and the layers involved.
Lancaster continued to pop in on the class throughout the stages of their painting.
When asked if the kids liked having Lancaster in class, Burroughs said they loved having him in and would wait patiently to ask him questions and get advice on their work.
Lancaster said he has "loved spending time with the kids at Te Mata school".
"It really reminded me of being their age and that feeling of frustration when the paint just won't do what you'd hoped it would," he said.
The artist has tried to share some of the little tricks he has picked up along the way with the pupils, and he hopes they have all found something in there that helps them on their own creative journeys.
"It's been beautiful watching their pieces grow from a conversation to thumbnails and a sketch and then emerging at the other end as a colourful canvas," Lancaster said.
This is a Public Interest Journalism funded role through NZ On Air
