8th grade overview

Course Description:

Eighth grade students attend art everyday for one trimester. Using visual arts learning goals and the elements of art and principles of design as a springboard, students will explore a number of different art styles and techniques including drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, and pottery making. Throughout the trimester students will experiment with materials such as oil pastels, clay, pencil, watercolors, colored pencils, inks, and tempera paint, and use art elements such as color, line, texture, shape, space, form, and value to help guide them towards their artistic goals. In most cases, students will complete the following projects:

Oil pastel design/ Ink Painting:

Learning Goal: Students will learn and illustrate the use of value, tints, shades, and how light effects a three dimensional form.

Perspective drawing:

Learning Goal: Students will learn about and illustrate one and two point perspective, as well as how to show depth and distance on a two dimensional surface

Clay Sculpture:

Learning Goal: Students will become familiar with the three clay hand building techniques (slab, coil, pinch) and use them to create a ceramics sculpture.

Scratch Art/ Dry point etching

Learning Goal: Students will effectively use line to create texture and value in a scratch board and/or dry point printing composition.

Still Life:

Learning Goal: Students will reacquaint themselves with the color wheel. They will use color and value to create a three dimensional (with highlights and shadows) watercolor still life composition.

In addition to classroom projects, students are given occasional drawing assignments to do outside of class time in the sketch pads they’ve been asked to provide. These assignments allow them to practice their drawings skills as well as reinforce concepts we cover in class.