Shapes in a picture
Art & Design · Early Years · The School
Shapes you already know
Circle. Square. Triangle. You already know these shapes. Artists use these very same shapes to build a picture, not just in maths lessons like you might think. Shapes are all around us once you start to look. Look at a wall. Look at a door. A shape is hiding in almost all you see.
A house made of shapes
A house can be a square. Its roof can be a triangle on top. A window can be a small square too. Look at a simple house and find the shapes hiding inside it. There are more than you first think. Try drawing the shapes first, then adding the rest. It is often the easiest way to start.
Building with shapes
Try to build a snowman from shapes. Three circles, one on top of the other. Add a small triangle for a nose. Two thin rectangles become arms, one on each side, and a small triangle on top makes a pointed hat. Shapes can become almost anything you want, with a few good ideas and some glue.
Spotting shapes in real pictures
Look at a picture in a book. Can you spot a circle? A triangle? A square? Shapes hide inside lots of pictures, even ones that look hard to draw at first glance. Look slowly and carefully at each part.
Make your own shape picture
Cut out some circles, squares and triangles. Put them into a picture of your own. A boat. A robot. A rocket. Shapes are what you start with, and the rest comes after, with your own ideas and colours added on top.