Drawing & Painting (2D)

This page summarises the extraordinary wealth of opportunities that 2D (two-dimensional/dimensions) processes and techniques in art, craft and design can provide for children and young people.

These processes and techniques have been organised into six distinct approaches that provide popular creative pathways when working largely on a flat surface.

2D provides an excellent place for the exploration of the formal elements: Line, shape, space, colour, form, tone, texture, pattern and composition. It is a place where images can be realised through numerous methods.

Working in 2D provides opportunities that are hugely varied whilst also being one of the most accessible formats, which, at their most basic level, require little more than a sheet of paper and a medium to apply to it.

A challenge would be, however, to ensure that when working in 2D there continues to be innovation, ideation (the activity of forming ideas in the mind) and discovery… not simply a default medium of practical convenience.

Equally, young artists need to appreciate the relationship between 2D and 3D (three-dimensional) and activities that balance these two approaches often prove to be doubly rich and rewarding. 

The following processes and techniques will inspire young artists, makers and designers to explore diverse 2D processes and techniques that enable them to become confident and effective creative practitioners.

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