Being in a new city, country and culture has really influenced my lessons. Wanting to connect to both the city and local artists, I reached out to Louis Sketcher who is an author, artists and illustrator. Interested in the architecture of the past and present, Louis Sketcher wrote and illustrated the book Bangkok Shophouse. Year 4 students looked at his work to create their own shophouse as well as connect to their units of inquiry in Humanities as they learned about different structures and buildings in various cities.
Students began by looking at the artwork of Louis Sketcher and copied his illustrations of famous shophouses around the city of Bangkok. Beginning with pencil, students worked hard to get proportions and perspective right before tracing over their lines in black fine liner marker. Once complete, I scanned and made copies of their shophouse so they could keep the original. Students then began painting their shophouse using watercolor.
I then scanned each class and made a poster of all of their shophouse together. The composition imitated the cover of Louis Sketchers book. Excited to connect, Louis Sketcher agreed to come to our school for a meet and greet and book signing. We displayed the students Shophouses for the event which was a huge success. The poster of the shophouses was so popular many faculty and staff have asked for copies for their homes and offices.
This experience has really inspired me to reach out to local artists and find ways to connect to the community and to my new city, school and home.