This is a studio-based course which investigates thinking and working more abstractly in both 2D and 3D mediums. The focus of this class is to develop individual artistic expressiveness through explorations of materials and techniques. Studio time is provided for students to envision and design their own long-term studio inquiry project.
How does creating enrich people’s lives?
How do artists express their ideas through their work?
How can I express my ideas in ways I have never considered before?
What materials/ techniques allow me to feel most creative?
Essential Questions:
How can I create a new visual language to express myself?
How can working abstractly (non-representational) allow me to express ideas and experiences in a way I have never considered before?
Major Content:
Phase 1: Developing an abstract visual vocabulary
List words that describe you (that your family/ friends would use to describe you, or how you would describe yourself)
Start creating lines, shapes, textures, and colors that represent those descriptive words. No recognizable symbols (hearts, peace signs…)
Phase 2: Using the colors, lines, textures, and shapes from the chart create a design. Emphasis on overall composition.
Phase 3: Abstract Timeline
Paint a timeline of your life using non-representational colors, shapes, textures and lines.
Begin by brainstorming a list of your life starting with birth (your earliest memory, or your interpretation of the beginning of life) through right now (many are about to finish high school – how do you represent the excitement of the unknown, mixed with the emotions of leaving?)
What are the significant events in your life that have made you who YOU are?
Unit Assessments:
Create an abstract self-portrait using the lines, shapes, textures, and colors from your chart.
Create an abstract timeline of your life.
Written reflection.
Essential Questions:
Why do artists keep journals?
How do artists interpret ideas in their own way?
How can text/ mixed media enhance a design?
How do artists express themselves?
Major Content:
Visual journaling techniques workshop (watercolor, watercolor pencils, colored pencils, markers, collage, photo/ tape transfer, adding repetitive shapes/ designs, lines, hashes, embellishing the text/ lettering/ key words, break up the space with lines, block letter words, adding textures and patterns (stripes, checkerboard, hatching, cross hatching…
Expressing a theme in your work.
Unit Assessments:
Two weekly visual journal entries (one based on given prompt, one on personal choice based on a list of prompts)
Essential Questions:
How can I represent familiar landscapes in a new and unfamiliar way? Who were the Fauves and how did they use color to express their ideas? What is wool felting and what tools and procedures do I need to do it?
Major Content:
Workshop: Abstract watercolor landscape including birch trees, wool felting, oil pastel drawings of local landmark buildings using Fauvist inspired color palette.
Unit Assessments:
Students create an original “unexpected landscape” artwork using any combination of media introduced in the workshop.
Written reflection.
Essential Questions:
What is identity? What makes up a person’s identity? How does your identity impact the way you view/ experience the world?
What’s the difference between personality and identity?
How do you identify and represent yourself? “Who am I right now?” What do I believe? “Who” do I come from?
How do you describe yourself? How do others describe you? How might a stranger describe you?
Major Content:
Introduce students to a variety of contemporary artists exploring issues around identity in their work, discussions, reflections, sketchbook work, brainstorms/ lists, videos, etc. with the class as we explore many facets of identity and expression.
Unit Assessments:
Students create an original piece of art exploring and expressing their own identity. Written reflection.
Art/ Artists discussed: “Trade”: Jaune Quick-To-See-Smith, “Unidentified 48”: Kyle Meyer, “Some/ One”: Do-Ho Suh, “Portrait with Cropped Hair”: Frida Kahlo, TC Cannon, Kehinde Wiley.
Major Concepts:
How do I want to express myself artistically? What ideas/ images/ creativity do I have to share? How can the Artistic Thinking Process help me to organize my ideas and time while working on a project?
Major Content:
Application of cumulative concepts, practice, and self-expression.
Unit Assessments:
Create an original piece of art following a personal inquiry.
Reflection questions:
You were asked to ENVISION interesting ideas, and create original (not copied) art. How did you come up with the concept for your piece? What were you inspired by, or what were you interested in investigating? How did you work through the brainstorm/ sketching process? (CONCEPT/ IDEA)
Part of the assignment was to “explore and investigate with the materials; trying different ways to use them until you feel like you have control of your abilities with them”. Discuss taking the time to DEVELOP CRAFT and what you learned about the materials that added to the success of your piece. How did you “dip into” previous knowledge? (USE OF MATERIALS)
When you STRETCH, you are trying things that might be hard, challenging yourself, experimenting, and taking risks. When you EXPLORE, you are discovering new ideas and ways of working (playing, trying new things, making mistakes, and learning from them). How did you Stretch and Explore with this piece? (THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX)
When you PERSIST, you stick with it even if the work gets hard. You problem solve, revising and improving your work along the way, correcting or incorporating “mistakes”. How, specifically, did you persist while working through this piece? (FINDING SOLUTIONS, NOT GIVING UP)