WORKSHOPS & PROJECTS
ONE OF THE MAJOR PARTS OF MY WORK HAS BEEN WORKSHOPS IN SCHOOLS, GALLERIES AND WITH COMMUNITIES.
These workshops can be tailor-made to fit your requirements - whether it is to cover topics on the curriculum or a project for a space or with certain groups. I will happily meet with you to discuss what you need and how to proceed.
Most recently I have been doing workshops and talks about my book and the process and development of characters a the stages I go through to produce the book. These can be for Primary, Secondary and Sixth Form Colleges.
I charge £270 per day.
Contact me if you may be interested in a school visit.
Most recently I have been doing workshops and talks about my book and the process and development of characters a the stages I go through to produce the book. These can be for Primary, Secondary and Sixth Form Colleges.
I charge £270 per day.
Contact me if you may be interested in a school visit.
character workshop with Salford primary schools
Every year I work with a handful of pupils from 5 primary schools in Salford - Holy Cross and All Saints, St Gilbert's, St Mary's, St Joseph The Worker and St Teresa's.
I show them the process of developing a picturebook - looking through sketchbooks, character designs, inspiration, rough drawings, writing the story, producing dummybooks and then the final illustrations. I then read my books to them and show them how I draw my characters. They then go on to create their own characters and develop identities for them. They end up making a three dimensional model which keeps on growing by adding elements of their identities! Here are some of the wonderful work that they produced!
I show them the process of developing a picturebook - looking through sketchbooks, character designs, inspiration, rough drawings, writing the story, producing dummybooks and then the final illustrations. I then read my books to them and show them how I draw my characters. They then go on to create their own characters and develop identities for them. They end up making a three dimensional model which keeps on growing by adding elements of their identities! Here are some of the wonderful work that they produced!
MURAL FOr St John's Primary school Library, Chorlton
Based on pupils workshop drawings - Sept 2019
Some time ago I was contacted by St John's Primary School to see if I would be interested in painting their new library. After a couple of meetings we decided that I would run two days of workshops with all classes to get an idea of what they would like on the walls of their Library.
I then developed some ideas and started to paint - and now it is complete!! Here is the finished result!
I then developed some ideas and started to paint - and now it is complete!! Here is the finished result!
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BOOK BENCH with Medlock Primary School
I had the pleasure of working with a group of pupils from Medlock Primary School in Manchester to create a bookbench for the Manchester Book Bench Trail in Summer 2017. The bench had been selected to be on display at the Manchester Museum so we decided to base the bench on a trip from school to the museum.
We started with a trip to the Manchester Museum to draw and select object that we would like to picture on the bench.
We started with a trip to the Manchester Museum to draw and select object that we would like to picture on the bench.
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Om returning to school they selected images to make drawings of and we started to plan what would go on the bench
We then collated all our ideas and I started to paint the bench which would feature the childrens work on one side and images from my book on 'The Boy Who Really Really Really Loves lizards' onthe front
Despite the limited time we had and the weather being so hot! we managed to complete the bench in time and it was situated in the foyer of the Manchester Museum for the duration of the Summer holidays. It has now returned to the school to be enjoyed by the pupils! See more on the benches here
HISTORY TIMELINE with St Gilbert's RC Primary School, Eccles
MARCH/APRIL 2017
In April I revisited St Gilbert's RC Primary School to continue on the History Timeline for their Hall. Last Summer we produced 6 canvases.
This time we did another 9 canvases covering various section of our History.
Working with all classes for half a day, we looked at the topic they were studying for history and looked at how we could illustrate it in a painting.
DAY ONE
The first group was Year 4R and they were doing the Normans and we decided to look at the Bayeux Tapestry and make our own miniature version. We looked at the figures, buildings and animals in the pictures and created our own.
This time we did another 9 canvases covering various section of our History.
Working with all classes for half a day, we looked at the topic they were studying for history and looked at how we could illustrate it in a painting.
DAY ONE
The first group was Year 4R and they were doing the Normans and we decided to look at the Bayeux Tapestry and make our own miniature version. We looked at the figures, buildings and animals in the pictures and created our own.
The second group was Year 6 and they were looking at the Domesday book.... Not a strong point in my history education but they knew more than me! We decided to make an old looking book using chalk and pastels - and we looked at various coats of arms from around that time. WE completed the canvas by creating our own version of the Feudal system showing the King through to the paupers.
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DAY TWO
We looked at the Romans with Year3. They were focusing on making metallic shields. They then made soldiers heads to hide behind the shields. Lots of foil and metallic paper!!
We looked at the Romans with Year3. They were focusing on making metallic shields. They then made soldiers heads to hide behind the shields. Lots of foil and metallic paper!!
DAY THREE
In the morning I was working with Year4N looking at tIce Age. There were some very talented artists int this group who drew Sabre tooth Tigers and Rhino. We created a very woolly Mammoth with some of the pupils. For the background they collaged the surface and water using tissue and glue. The icebergs were made using polystrene.
In the afternoon I worked with Year 2 to produce a canvas based on Florence Nightingale. They collaged the figure and produced beams to come from the lamp, using coloured cellophane and foil. The other half of the group worked on patients in bandages.They enjoyed using chalk pastels and got extremely messy which I think they enjoyed!
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DAY FOUR
I worked with year 2 again for this half day. This time they were covering the Great Fire Of London. We created lots of houses and lots of flames. As they enjoyed using the pastels and cellophane, they decided they wanted to use them again. This time we found lots of sequins which we added to the flames.
I worked with year 2 again for this half day. This time they were covering the Great Fire Of London. We created lots of houses and lots of flames. As they enjoyed using the pastels and cellophane, they decided they wanted to use them again. This time we found lots of sequins which we added to the flames.
DAY FIVE
Worked with year 5 looking at the Tudors. We decided to create a portrait of Henry VIII and portraits of his wives around him. Again we had some wonderful artists who produced great images for the wives painted in watercolour and the portrait of Henry. We made a decorative frame to complete the portrait of Henry.
In the afternoon I worked with Year 1 to produce a portrait of Explorer Christopher Columbus. The group were very excited and rather loud! We made our main character, plus his boat, objects like his compass and telescope.
Worked with year 5 looking at the Tudors. We decided to create a portrait of Henry VIII and portraits of his wives around him. Again we had some wonderful artists who produced great images for the wives painted in watercolour and the portrait of Henry. We made a decorative frame to complete the portrait of Henry.
In the afternoon I worked with Year 1 to produce a portrait of Explorer Christopher Columbus. The group were very excited and rather loud! We made our main character, plus his boat, objects like his compass and telescope.
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DAY SIX
For our final day I worked with Year 1 again looking at the theme of RExplorers. This time it was Neil Armstrong and his walking on the moon. We used an old paper outfit to make his spacesuit. We filled it with cotton wool and made buttons and badges to go on it. We created craters for the moon and an American flag for the background. We produced an image to be laminated for the reflection in his visor. It was a great end to a great project. I cannot wait to see the canvases on the wall!
For our final day I worked with Year 1 again looking at the theme of RExplorers. This time it was Neil Armstrong and his walking on the moon. We used an old paper outfit to make his spacesuit. We filled it with cotton wool and made buttons and badges to go on it. We created craters for the moon and an American flag for the background. We produced an image to be laminated for the reflection in his visor. It was a great end to a great project. I cannot wait to see the canvases on the wall!
A big thank you to all the staff at St Gilbert's RC Primary School for their involvement and help over the course of the project. I could not have done it without your help! And a big well done to the pupils for all the hard work they put into the canvases and for making it such an enjoyable and memorable project!
Creating picturebooks - St Marys RC Primary school , Levenshulme
I had the pleasure of returning to St Mary's RC Primary School in Levenshulme. Manchester, in June to work with Miss Quinn and the year 3 pupils. .
They looked at the design and layout of the picturebook and creating characters. The two classes then went on to write their own stories as a class . I then worked with small groups to create a page each for their books. Some of the images they came up with were amazing and the amount of work we produced in the short time made the books look fantastic!
The school then had the books printed so that each pupil got their own copy.
Take a look at the work they produced here - it think you will agree that they did really well!
They looked at the design and layout of the picturebook and creating characters. The two classes then went on to write their own stories as a class . I then worked with small groups to create a page each for their books. Some of the images they came up with were amazing and the amount of work we produced in the short time made the books look fantastic!
The school then had the books printed so that each pupil got their own copy.
Take a look at the work they produced here - it think you will agree that they did really well!
book 1
book 2
POP UP MAGICAL PETS WORKSHOP at GODFREY ERMEN PRIMARY SCHOOL, ECCLES
21 / 22 Nov 2016
Two day workshop working with Yr 3 and Yr 4 pupils at Godfrey Ermen Primary School in Eccles. The children have started reading Harry Potter and the school decided on the idea of creating their own Magical pets! We looked at names for their characters, what their magical powers are and other facts!
They produced some great characters and setting for their characters too! They are continuing the project to produce some stories to tell me what their pets get up to - looking forward to seeing them when they are complete!
They produced some great characters and setting for their characters too! They are continuing the project to produce some stories to tell me what their pets get up to - looking forward to seeing them when they are complete!
CHARACTER WORKSHOP
WITH LONGSIGHT COMMUNITY PRIMARY SCHOOL - 9 Nov 2016
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Another brilliant day with Longsight Community Primary School in South Manchester.
I worked with Yr2, Yr3, Yr4 and Yr 5 - a full on day but they produced some wonderful characters and the start of some great stories! More pictures of the day to follow!
I worked with Yr2, Yr3, Yr4 and Yr 5 - a full on day but they produced some wonderful characters and the start of some great stories! More pictures of the day to follow!
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BEOWULF DAY AT GREAT MOOT JUNIOR SCHOOL
7 Oct 2016
I spent a great day working with a year 5 class at Great Moor Junior School in Stockport.
We talked about my work and how I use stories in my paintings. We talked about my use of sketchbooks fand how important they are for my work. We looked at what the sketchbook is for and how it can be used in the classroom.
We then looked at drawing characters and did lots of sketchbook drawings of animals and settings.
After break we looked at the story of Beowulf, which the class have been reading. We talked about the two main characters and how the book describes them. We get a very clear ideas from the text how each of the characters look and we looked at how other artists had illustrated them.
The pupils then went on the draw their own version of Grendell or Beowulf . They did some great idea in their sketchbooks then went on the create a main character for their final piece. We then created setting for their characters and thought about which stage of the book they were illustrating. Some went for the dark swamp /woods, some went for the banqueting hall and other went for the scenic view of the Viking boat.
The results were brilliant! Well done yr 5! - a big thank you to Mrs McManus too for her input!
We talked about my work and how I use stories in my paintings. We talked about my use of sketchbooks fand how important they are for my work. We looked at what the sketchbook is for and how it can be used in the classroom.
We then looked at drawing characters and did lots of sketchbook drawings of animals and settings.
After break we looked at the story of Beowulf, which the class have been reading. We talked about the two main characters and how the book describes them. We get a very clear ideas from the text how each of the characters look and we looked at how other artists had illustrated them.
The pupils then went on the draw their own version of Grendell or Beowulf . They did some great idea in their sketchbooks then went on the create a main character for their final piece. We then created setting for their characters and thought about which stage of the book they were illustrating. Some went for the dark swamp /woods, some went for the banqueting hall and other went for the scenic view of the Viking boat.
The results were brilliant! Well done yr 5! - a big thank you to Mrs McManus too for her input!
Salford Primary schools DAY At St Patricks High SCHool
MAking 3-d Character MODELS -july 2016
At the end of the summer term, selected pupils from five Salford Primary Schools came to spend the day with me at St Patricks High School in Eccles. They were St Gilberts, St Mary's, All Saints and Holy Cross, St Joseph the Worker and St Teresa's. We did a character workshop, showing them how I produce my characters and then we all had a go!
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We then came up with names for the characters and built up identities for them. They had to decide where their character would live, what his favourite food is, who are his friends and what are his hobbies. They then went on to produce setting for the characters and create a whole world for them to stand in.
They had a great day and went away some some wonderful work. It always amazes me how different each piece is and how individual they all are. I hope the teachers back at their schools were pleased with the results!!
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HISTORY / ART WEEK AT ST GILBERT'S RC PRIMARY SCHOOL , ECCLES
I had a great week working with the pupils at St Gilbert's in Winton, Eccles, Salford.
The challenge was for each class (from reception to year 6) to each produce a canvas depicting a period in History and using different materials to create it. The final canvases are going to form a History Timeline around the Hall.
Each class had half a day each and worked in groups of 6 for 20-30 mins each. It was indeed a challenge but the pupils were brilliant!!
I started with Year 6 who had World War One as there theme and they wanted to use buttons to create a poppy field. We decided on a silhouette view of soldiers walking over a filed of poppies.
The field of poppies looked great and the figures worked really well.
The challenge was for each class (from reception to year 6) to each produce a canvas depicting a period in History and using different materials to create it. The final canvases are going to form a History Timeline around the Hall.
Each class had half a day each and worked in groups of 6 for 20-30 mins each. It was indeed a challenge but the pupils were brilliant!!
I started with Year 6 who had World War One as there theme and they wanted to use buttons to create a poppy field. We decided on a silhouette view of soldiers walking over a filed of poppies.
The field of poppies looked great and the figures worked really well.
The second group were Year 2 and there theme was 'The Industrial Revolution' using charcoal and watercolour.
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None of the pupils had used charcoal before so they enjoyed getting messy and using the rubber to get back to white. They rubbed out windows and doors and created lots of dark and moody looking factory buildings which we then layered onto the watercolour landscape.
The third group were Year 3 who were working on 'Egyptians'. They wanted to use tiles to decorate it. They decided that they wanted to create an mummy mask and have hieroglyphics tiles around the side. The background would be a desert landscape with pyramids.
The fourth group were Year 4 and their theme was 'The Vikings". They had to produce it in 3D, so they decided to make a boat on a stormy sea with sails and vikings aboard. The girls got more chalk pastel on themselves than they did on the picture but they had a great time!
And what a brilliant Viking Boat!!
And what a brilliant Viking Boat!!
The next group to do their work was Year 2/3 and their topic was Salford Quays/Media City. They were using collage to produce their image.
We talked about what they knew about Media City and Salford Quays and what the main attractions were there. We came up with the Lowry Theatre, The Trams, The red bridge, and the buildings forming Media City. We decided that we would create a reflection of the city in the water.
We talked about what they knew about Media City and Salford Quays and what the main attractions were there. We came up with the Lowry Theatre, The Trams, The red bridge, and the buildings forming Media City. We decided that we would create a reflection of the city in the water.
The next group was the year 1 pupils and they were doing the Trafford Centre as they saw that as a landmark for where they live. They too were using collage. They had already produced some wonderful drawings of how they saw the Trafford Centre with its domes and statues. We decided to include people shopping and transport.
The last group was Year 5 and they had been studying the Mayans. They wanted to do something using geometric shapes. We found lots of triangle shapes and produced a Mayan temple using stripes. We created a Mayan mask and looked at Mayan tiles.
And that was the end of my four days with the wonderful pupils of St Gilbert's and I want to say what an absolute pleasure it was! The work they produced in the time that they had was amazing and I hope that they are all very proud of the work they have each done for their canvas!
A big thank you to all of the staff for their input, their support and their help over the four days.
Well done everyone!
A big thank you to all of the staff for their input, their support and their help over the four days.
Well done everyone!
YOUNG CARERS SUPER HEROES!!
This is a great ARC project I have just finished with Young Carers at the Signpost centre in Heaton Moor, Stockport.
The aim of the project was to create their own superhero characters based on the tasks they do as a young carer. It may be that they help with the shopping, do the cooking, look after someone, listen to someone or to make somebody laugh. All of these things makes them super and makes them heroes!
We worked with five groups for one session each and they all managed to produce some excellent superheroes! The two displays produced were vibrant colourful and a credit to all of the super things that these kids do to support others - Well done everyone!!
For more information on ARC go to http://www.artsforrecovery.com/
The aim of the project was to create their own superhero characters based on the tasks they do as a young carer. It may be that they help with the shopping, do the cooking, look after someone, listen to someone or to make somebody laugh. All of these things makes them super and makes them heroes!
We worked with five groups for one session each and they all managed to produce some excellent superheroes! The two displays produced were vibrant colourful and a credit to all of the super things that these kids do to support others - Well done everyone!!
For more information on ARC go to http://www.artsforrecovery.com/
CREATING PICTUREBOOKS
WITH ST MARY's RC primary school, Levenshulme, manchester
I recently had the pleasure of returning to St Mary’s RC Primary School in Levenshulme, Manchester where I worked with the year two classes to write, design, illustrate and produce their own books.
We started off looking at my sketchbooks and talking about the observation drawings produced at the museum. We then looked at my character designs for the characters in my book.
The classes then went on to design their own characters based on an animal dressed up. The classes had their own onesie day where the class could dress up as an animal for their character.
For their half term homework they had to produce a story for the characters they had designed. We talked about building an identity for the characters by giving them names, creating a family and home environment for them. We also listed the characters likes and dislikes, favourite things and any hobbies it may have.
For their half term homework they had to produce a story for the characters they had designed. We talked about building an identity for the characters by giving them names, creating a family and home environment for them. We also listed the characters likes and dislikes, favourite things and any hobbies it may have.
For my second visit to the school each class had come up with a story that we were going to illustrate as a group. We split the story into a number of pages and began to produce a storyboard for the book with the text. The class then split into small groups and we each worked on the content for the pages they were working on. They came up with some amazing ideas, objects, settings and background ideas for the pages especially as we only had a short time with each group.
I then made a dummybook for each class, to show them how the finished book would look using the ideas and images that the classes produced.
I then made a dummybook for each class, to show them how the finished book would look using the ideas and images that the classes produced.
In the final visit we collated all the images and added them to the backgrounds, worked on the layout of the pages and any other missing elements that could be added.
BOOK 1
book 2
The books were then finished and ready to be printed. We made a final full colour dummybook as guide for the printers then sent it away!
And here it is !! back from the printers just in time before the pupils finished for summer!
And here it is !! back from the printers just in time before the pupils finished for summer!
Well done everyone! They look brilliant!
A big thank you to Ms Quinn, Mrs Thorley and Ms McGuire for their help and support during the workshops and to the kids in New York Class and Belfast Class for the hard work they put into doing the books.
A big thank you to Ms Quinn, Mrs Thorley and Ms McGuire for their help and support during the workshops and to the kids in New York Class and Belfast Class for the hard work they put into doing the books.
CHAracter workshop with st thomas more Primary school,
Another great workshop with Years 1, 2, 4 and 5. See some of their work on my blog site at
http://johnhamiltonartist.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/illustration-workshops-at-st-thomas.html
http://johnhamiltonartist.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/illustration-workshops-at-st-thomas.html
YOUNG CARERS v THE WORLD! - LARGE SCALE BOOK
with St JOSEPH's PRIMARY SCHOOL, REDDISH
Another ARC project, working with Young Carers and the organisation Signpost. Iworked with a wonderful group of Young Carers at St Joseph's Primary School in Reddish. Before this project I was unaware of the role of young carers. They are children from 6 - 12 who have some form of responsibility caring for a member of their family. It may be that they have parents, brothers or sisters, with illnesses or disabilities and they have a role in caring or looking after them. Their schoolmates may be unaware of this but it can explain why sometimes their friends are tired, worried, often late or absent from school. The aim of this project was to produce a large- scale book that could be used in school assemblies to explain the role of the Young Carers and how other pupils can be aware and help them in school. I worked with a group of 10 children - 5 carers and 5 of their friends, for half a day, for five weeks. We came up with ideas for what we wanted the book to say and that we would illustrate it together. The idea we had was to do a two sided book which compared what the pupils do and what the young carers do. The work they produced, in such a short time was brilliant. The book is now used in schools across Stockport to illustrate the role of Young Carers.
MONOPRINT WORKSHOPS AT ARC
Some wonderful monoprints produced by the group at ARC - They had never used the technique before and were encouraged to play around and experiement with the mark-making. I thought they were great prints and great use of colour.
ARTWEEK AT MANCHESTER HIGH SCHOOL FOR GIRLS
I had the privilege of working with the Jess Newton and all of the primary school groups at Manchester High School for Girls as part of their Artweek. The work would form part of a large display - one for each class.
We looked at my book and at the development of characters and how to create identities for them. Each class decided on a theme for their display and they each chose a character/animal to work on. As well as their characters they had to think about the environment for their characters and a background that would be suitable for all of the characters produced. Themes included the Zoo, The Forest, The Jungle and the Garden.
I worked with each class for about 90 each, which gave me time to chat with them all and help them with their drawings and gave ideas if they needed them!
Later in the week I went around the classrooms to give some help with the backgrounds and helped with assembling the displays. The results were amazing! Considering the time that they had they produced some wonderful, bright and colourful displays.
CHARACTERS PRODUCED
We looked at my book and at the development of characters and how to create identities for them. Each class decided on a theme for their display and they each chose a character/animal to work on. As well as their characters they had to think about the environment for their characters and a background that would be suitable for all of the characters produced. Themes included the Zoo, The Forest, The Jungle and the Garden.
I worked with each class for about 90 each, which gave me time to chat with them all and help them with their drawings and gave ideas if they needed them!
Later in the week I went around the classrooms to give some help with the backgrounds and helped with assembling the displays. The results were amazing! Considering the time that they had they produced some wonderful, bright and colourful displays.
CHARACTERS PRODUCED
THE FINAL DISPLAYS