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It’s unsurprising that Sydney native Ken Done, whose vibrant and kitschy artwork can be described as almost child-like, is putting up free online classes for kids.
Done, whose career spans 40 years, is known best for his colourful oil and acrylic paintings depicting the Sydney Opera House and the Great Barrier Reef. But you’re just as likely to find his art on doona covers, beach umbrellas and picnic rugs as you are to find it hanging in a gallery.
Sydney’s Ken Done Gallery opened in 1994, with shows often honing in on iconic Australian places as well as native flora and fauna. A few years ago, an art teacher working at the gallery designed worksheets as a resource for teachers and school groups. Done signed off on them, and often refers students to them when he speaks at schools.
Now, the artist and his team have released three worksheets for free online. They’re divided into three school-age brackets: years three to six; seven to eight; and nine to eleven.
Younger children can draw their own interpretations of Done’s paintings, design their own T-shirts, count jellyfish in Done’s Swimming in Jellyfish Lake painting, and add sea creatures to his Morning Dive.
Worksheets for older students explore the use of colour and shape, set creative tasks such as finding examples of specific brush-strokes, and get students thinking about point of view and the use of drawing as an expressive form.
The worksheets are available to download and print for free here.
