See also: Design and Technology

This is a vast subject area that is undertaken for enjoyment and appreciation as well as taught in schools from primary through to GCSE exam level and beyond. For this reason, there is a wealth of information available from books, magazines, blogs, online databases, national organisations, art collections and, of course, the internet. Art has been with us for a long time so this is to be expected! It is navigating through this offering that requires some guidance in order to cherry pick those sources that provide good information, access to searchable collections and resources that support learning or understanding. It is not just about being shown a picture or object, we want to know more.

Art is divided here into several sections looking at the basics first under Information – use this for art definitions and terminology. The Learning Resources and Activities centre around resources for learning or teaching, such as toolkits or activities to support family-learning or family fun because this too is learning and, better still, inspiring. We are fortunate in that many of the UK's national galleries and art collections have created and developed such tools for everyone to use. Some are specific to art themes and those have been sub-divided here by topic. And whilst we all know that art techniques are plentiful on YouTube and Instagram, the suggestions here include an interesting range from many quality-assured organisations and galleries from around the UK.

There are, of course, hundreds of colouring sheets to be found on the internet. There is a small concession made here to a few that are particularly interesting and could possibly be missed!

Information

Art Online

www.tate.org.uk

The Tate Gallery art online resource is fabulous. With 78,000 artworks, 4,000 artists and 22,000 archive items, it is a must for any teacher, parent or child looking for a painting or image. To help the search process there is the Art by Theme facility, which has subjects of artworks such as Animals and Art; Black Identities and Art; Weather and Art; and Family and Art, along with many more.