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Visual Arts I Curriculum 2013-2014
Note: each project begins with sketches & must be approved by me before you begin. (based on a 45min class period/40 students per class)
This year our classroom goals are…
1. To think and be more creative.
2. To master skills, techniques, and a variety of media
3. To produce and create
4. To exhibit art more beautifully
4 main goals for learning art include:
1. Contemporary or Art history – timeline of major historical events in art, famous artist represented (appropriate artwork only is to be studied by students, as inappropriate artwork is also available from most artists)
2. Skill and techniques – basic applications such as drawing, painting, creating
3. Mediums – materials used, what the possibilities are for creating artwork
4. Composition/Aesthetics – how to appropriately place the following together and create a visibly appealing work of art.
a. Elements of Art – Line, Shape, Value, Color, Texture, Form, Space (size)
b. Principles of Design – Balance (symmetrical, asymmetrical & radial), Contrast, Emphasis, Movement, Pattern, Rhythm, Unity
c. Rule of Thirds (nine grid formula)
d. Golden Mean (Geometry)
e. Aesthetic response
f. Harmonious relationships
g. Lighting
h. Perspective, direction, viewpoint
Critiquing artwork is also an important aspect that will be discussed and facilitated through each project. Every student is required to participate in both verbal and written critiques.
Semester 1
Intro: (1 week) introduce art room rules, expectations, syllabus, sketchbook, etc…
Pretest: written and drawing element to see placement of each student
Sketchbook and Creativity lessons: (2 weeks) see attachment detailing creative skills and thinking lessons
1. Art history – contemporary art using Pinterest and Instagram
2. Skill and techniques – drawing, use of color, layering, ideas unlimited
3. Mediums – pencils / colored pencils / crayon / marker / sketchbooks / erasers / found objects
4. Composition – Line, shape, color, texture
Unit #1: Getting to know art-Word Design/History lesson/Sketchbook prep (1 week)
Description: graphic design project creating an image using the word assigned and the definition of that word, full 8.5 x 11 page/sketchbook lessons daily/art history discussions
1. Art history – Hieroglyphics, Greek Writing, Prehistoric Work – Lascaux caves France, Milton Glaser, Robert Indiana, Charles Demuth, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
2. Skill and techniques – drawing, use of color
3. Mediums – definitions from book / drawing paper / pencils / sharpies / markers / colored pencils
4. Composition – Line, shape, color
Unit #2: How to critique a work of art properly (2 days)
Description: 4 steps (describe, analyze, interpret, judgment), vocabulary use & constructive comments
Draw from a “hat” descriptive words to prompt their critiquing. Idea Link: http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org
Unit #3: Drawing on the right side of the brain – How to Draw
a. Stravinsky Drawing-upside down technique (1 week)
Description: learning how to draw using lines & shapes only, shade the image afterwards using proper colored pencil techniques – must use a color scheme and complete the image and/or add to the image
1. Art history – Betty Edwards, Pablo Picasso
2. Skill and techniques – drawing, shading, color use
3. Mediums – 12 x 18 drawing paper / pencil / colored pencils / sharpies
4. Composition – line, color
b. Blind Contour Drawing-seeing what you are drawing (1 week)
Description: Draw using the hand, shoe and still life (plant)/portraits – no looking at paper or picking up pencil, and concentrate, final still life drawing outlined or created in black sharpie marker/add color
1. Art history – Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, James Culleton
2. Skill and techniques – lines draw blindly, lines drawn partially blind
3. Mediums – 12 x 18 drawing paper / pencil / sharpies
4. Composition – line, direction, shape
c. Figure Fridays (4 Fridays) [summative grade over 4 weeks]
Description: Drawing figures in short periods of time, learning the human body and the proportions
1. Art history – Graham Sutherland
2. Skill and techniques – quick sketching, distance drawing, visual measurements
3. Mediums – charcoal, pencil, newsprint
4. Composition – proportion, balance, movement
d. Values – Chiaroscuro style (2-3 weeks)
Description: hatching, crosshatching, shading samples; positive/negative space studies; project is a still life drawing in black & white
1. Art history – Renaissance period
2. Skill and techniques – understanding space and values working together
3. Mediums – black paper / white charcoal or colored pencil / still life (white) /paint
4. Composition – Values, texture, form, space
e. Facial Features (1 week) [continue value skills here]
Description: Drawing the human face, learning the human skull and proportions
1. Art history – Andy Warhol, Linda Huber, Murphy Elliott
2. Skill and techniques –visual measurements, right brain drawing
3. Mediums – charcoal, pencil, newsprint, drawing paper
4. Composition – proportion, balance, movement, shading
f. Portraiture, Grid style (2-3 weeks) [value skills more developed]
Description: Self portrait, friend, family that is divided into a grid and drawn square by square onto a drawing page that has the same proportional grid
1. Art history – Chuck Close
2. Skill and techniques – shading, values, understanding realism
3. Mediums – photos / drawing paper / pencils / erasers / rulers
4. Composition – Value, Form, proportions
g. Zentangles-drawing from imagination (1 week)
Description: designs, textures, imaginative shapes, organic and geometric shapes
1. Art history – contemporary art
2. Skill and techniques – understanding shapes and various lines
3. Mediums – white paper / colored pencil / sharpies /colored pencil or marker
4. Composition – shape, texture, line
h. Collaborative Grid Art (1 week) [possibility, not great project last year]
Description: Use 1 image per class divided into even squares, draw them onto squares that are all exactly the same size (@2”x2”), no one sees the final image, when complete put the image back together
1. Art history – post impressionistic artists: Munch, van Gogh, Matisse, Gauguin, etc…
2. Skill and techniques – right brain thinking, oil pastels/markers/paint
3. Mediums – art history image / drawing paper / pencils / oil pastel / paint / markers/ tape
4. Composition – Value, Form
i. Exquisite Corpse: (1 week)
Description: creative drawings using group ideas
1. Art history – Monster art
2. Skill and techniques – right brain thinking, colored pencils
3. Mediums –drawing paper / pencils / colored pencils
4. Composition – Shape, line
Semester 2
Creative Expression
Creative thinking sketchbook refresher week 2-same as first semester
Sketchbook and Creativity lessons: (2 weeks) see attachment detailing creative skills and thinking lessons
1. Art history – contemporary art using Pinterest and Instagram
2. Skill and techniques – drawing, use of color, layering, ideas unlimited
3. Mediums – pencils / colored pencils / crayon / marker / sketchbooks / erasers / found objects
4. Composition – Line, shape, color, texture
Unit #4: Perspective Drawings Banksy style (2 weeks)
Description: Drawings using 1pt and 2pt perspective technique, final drawing of a city or place of your choice (imagined or from a photo, 3 bldgs min, 3 windows min, 2 doors min), real or surreal theme USE TAPE ON THE WALLS TO CREATE PERSPECTIVE
1. Art history – M. C. Escher, Dick Thermes, Dali, Magritte, Bansky
2. Skill and techniques – using a ruler, perspective points, spatial/visual perspective
3. Mediums – rulers / drawing paper or newsprint / pencils / erasers / tape
4. Composition – line, shape, space, form, repetition, variety, geometry
Unit #5: Contemporary Art history Research: (1 week)
Description: students will research a body of work and an artist to discover more information about. PowerPoint’s are created and extra credit given to presenters. Maybe this could be group projects.
Unit #6: Wire sculptures - Abstract Art (2 weeks)
Description: create a sculpture learning what abstract concepts mean, subject must be a based off of a subject such as a banana, face, animal, etc.
http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/middle/middle23.html
1. Art history – Giacometti, Picasso, Alexander Calder, Naomi Grossman, Elizabeth Berrien, Henri Moore, Jean Arp, Deborah Butterfield
2. Skill and techniques – 3D modeling, wire handling
3. Mediums – Wire / wood block / gel medium or acrylic medium
4. Composition – abstract, line, movement, form
Unit #7: Composition on paper/in a box (2 weeks) [add: drawing from the composition (2 week)]
Begin with a collage of story or movie. Discuss textures, layout and composition extensively to prep for box design.
2 project grades: box design and drawing (colored pencils)
Description: shoe box or box top composition, use the corrugated paper to create a composition or create it from various objects; drawing using a viewfinder to frame a section (abstract)
1. Art history – Lichtenstein, R. Rauschenberg
2. Skill and techniques – creating a proper composition, creating an artwork from the original composition, understanding abstract art
3. Mediums – paper box / blade / healing mat / glue / watercolor / acrylic / paint
4. Composition – shape, space (positive/negative), harmony, emphasis, repetition, texture
Unit #8: Utilitarian Art, Wax media, and Eastern Culture: Crayon Batik Lanterns (2 weeks)
Description: Create a wax resist image, use the fabric to create useful item-lanterns, bag, pillowcase...
1. Art history – Indian culture, Eastern Hemisphere
2. Skill and techniques – understanding the relationship between wax and water (dyes), color theory
3. Mediums – wax / ink / paint / simplistic image / paper or fabric
4. Composition – shape, line, space
Alternative Lessons
Lesson #11: Illustrate a story-plate design (2 weeks) Alternative assignment – Folding Box Design
Description: 1Patterns and shapes drawn to illustrate a poem, 2plate design based on the history of the Blue Willow story or 3another story using watercolor (VA I project “Blue Willow” unless unique class)
1. Art history – Vaserly, Miriam Schapiro, Mexican Culture
2. Skill and techniques – creativity, problem solving, illustration
3. Mediums – pen & ink on paper plate or watercolor on fabric paper or paint on tile
4. Composition – shape, pattern, repetition, movement, variety, line, rule of thirds
Lesson #12: Watercolor introduction: teach first year students how to use watercolors using copied images
Lesson #13: Mixed media mosaic/Torn paper design (2 weeks) TEXTURE? rice, sand, etc.
Description: Use white paper to create a design in relief, cut and tear shapes to create the composition
1. Materials: drawing paper / scissors / image for reference
2. Art History: Chuck Close
3. Elements & Principles: shape, form, repetition, pattern, movement
Lesson #14: Shoe Still Life (3 days) Alternative Assignment – add painting as 3rd medium same still life
Description: Drawing of shoes using medium of charcoal and separate drawing of graphite
1. Art history – Andy Warhol, Durer (for texture ideas)
2. Skill and techniques – using one subject to create a great composition, vary the composition
3. Mediums – shoes / drawing paper AND charcoal paper / pencils / charcoal / white charcoal / erasers
4. Composition – Texture, form, values, variety, balance
Lesson #15: Oil pastel fresh/cut fruit (1 week)
Description: Drawing of fruits using oil pastels, small squares of each and mounted together
1. Art history – Van Gogh
2. Skill and techniques – blending, oil pastel skills, composition
3. Mediums – fresh fruit / drawing paper / oil pastels / blending stumps
4. Composition – Color, form, texture, medium
Lesson #16: Magazine Bowls (2 weeks)
Description: Create a bowl out of recycled magazines and glue
1. Art history – Recycled Art
2. Skill and techniques – folding papers to specified sizes, gluing them to create a sculpture shaped of a bowl or bowl like
3. Mediums – Elmer’s glue or modge podge / magazines
4. Composition – shape, form
Lesson #17: Color Theory Collages (3 days)
Description: create a random collage using magazine clippings
1. Art history – Robert Rauschenberg
2. Skill and techniques – how to be creative using randomness, swap headlines with others, use all color-based images (complimentary scheme, split complimentary, etc.)
3. Mediums – paper / magazines / scissors / glue / oil pastel / paint / sponges
4. Composition – color, emphasis
Lesson #18: Zoomin’ In On Nature – Flower Still Life (6 days)
Description: Drawing of the flowers using a cropping tool and 3 different mediums, 3 different drawings
Materials: plastic flowers / view finders / drawing paper / sharpies / paint / markers / oil pastels
Art History: Georgia O’Keeffe
Elements & Principles: Composition, varied mediums
Shows and Competitions:
Doodle for Google
Reflections competition
Toast project
S PICKENS All lessons are subject to change at any time as well as the order taught. Last updated 5.29.13