Beginning Art

Beginning Art (Art 1/2) is the first drawing and painting class students will take. While the title would indicate that it is only for true beginners, that is not the case. Students of all ability levels will be in this class and will learn skills to help them progress in their art no matter how advanced (or not) they may be.

The first half of the year focuses on creating interesting compositions using the Elements of Art starting with Line and then progressing to Shape, Form, and Value. We will spend a significant amount of time on Value (shading) in order to create more realistic forms. Skills and techniques that are taught include, but are not limited to, conveying emotions with line, learning how to create the 5 basic forms and learning how to accurately apply value. This leads to students creating still lives, landscapes, and portraits. Students are given a lot of artistic license to showcase their creativity within these projects.

The second half of the year focuses on Perspective and Color, as well as the Principles of Art of Pattern, Balance, and Movement. Students will learn about 1pt Perspective both in Bird's Eye and normal views and will create their own perspective artwork. Following that, Students will learn about color theory and how to apply color schemes to their work. They will also learn about how cultures around the world have created and used patterns in their artwork in order to create their own unique patterns that utilize movement and balance. Projects include a painted color wheel, an abstract painted color/balance artwork, and a concluding piece of their choice.

Throughout the year students will also learn about historical and contemporary artists. This is not a history of art class, so we are limited to the number of artists we have time to study, but there is a list in Schoology of diverse artists around the world that is 74 pages long that students can view at any time.