Mrs. Ripp's Art Course Descriptions

Introduction to Art

This is a beginning art class involving various art media, techniques, general art history, and art criticism. While learning the elements and principles of art, basic skills are introduced and practiced in two dimensional as well as three-dimensional projects. These projects include drawing (pencil charcoal, colored pencil, pastels, and ink); painting (tempera, watercolor, and acrylic); pottery (hand building and glazing or painting). Some writing assignments are required along with the study of art history,

and weekly sketchbook assignments. Students will be supplied with their own sketchbook, kneaded eraser, and clay.

Supplies Needed: Pencils, erasers, & sketchbook.

Length of Course - 2 Semesters

Open to grades 9-12

Advanced Art

This course is designed for students having successfully completed Art I. Projects are more detailed and advanced. More emphasis is placed on individuality, imagination, and originality. Students will further explore the variety of media available, however, with the knowledge of media techniques, these students will be encouraged to mix mediums, in a creative manner, while developing an individual style. Students will work more in depth with paint and clay. Two dimensional projects will include the use of water color, acrylic, oil paint, ink, pastel, colored pencil, charcoal, and airbrush; three-dimensional projects will include functional and non-functional - hand built pottery.

This class may be taken multiple times and counts as 2.5 credits per semester beginning with the Class of 2015.

Prerequisite - Art I

Length of Course – Full Year

Open to grades 10-12

Ceramics (1^st Semester)

This course is intended for those studying ceramics for the first time and is a comprehensive introduction to the craft of clay working. The primary emphasis is on studio work leading to a portfolio of finished pieces by the end of the semester.

The main goal of this course is that you will be able to create as well as appreciate expressive, beautiful three dimensional clay forms. You will begin to be proficient at forming clay objects yourself. We will research contemporary ceramic pieces on the Internet.

Sculpture/3D Design (2^nd semester)

Students will work with various sculpting materials from cardboard, foam board, plaster, metal, wire, wood, junk items, collage, and much more. We will study contemporary sculpture as well as sculpture throughout history.

Instructional Goals for Sculpture Courses

• Students will apply their skills to the creation of original works of art that reflect their comprehension and personal experiences (creative expression)
• The student will experience cultural and historical connections to each area of artistic study and compare this knowledge with their personal experiences (cultural - historical context)
• The student will create work which communicates meaningful response to their world views, and integrate academic knowledge, making relevant connections between art, the world, and other academic disciplines. (aesthetic valuing)
• Students will organize a working portfolio that they can continue to develop and expand throughout their high school education. This will provide students with evidence of having addressed expected student learning (connection, relations, and application).

Open To Grades: 9-12

Photography/Photoshop (Semester 1 – intro)

• Must have a digital camera and card reader or USB camera cord
• A zip drive
• Some DVD’s or CD’s for photos you take

Students will learn about photography composition, lighting, shutter, aperture, trick photography, and special contemporary photo techniques. Various assignments will be given to broaden the students’ photography skills. Subjects will include people, flowers, nature, scenery, and still life objects.

Photoshop Goals:

Students will be introduced to the program - Photoshop, all the tools and some of the basic techniques the program is used for. As we go along 1^st semester….we will work with photo editing and simple graphic design assignments such as, cards, invitations, posters and picture collages. The beginnings topics I cover include The Work Area, Tools, Navigating, Using the Bridge (File Browser), Making Selections, (Tools & Methods), Layer Basics, Layer Styles (FX), Resolution, Resizing, File Size, Image Adjustments & Basic Photo Corrections.

After the basics, I can continue on with topics such as Retouching & Repairing Photos, Masks, Channels, Painting, Editing, Paths, Pen Tools, Shapes, Type, Advanced Layer Techniques, Filters, Special Effects, Optimizing, Saving for Web, Printing & Collages.

Photography/Photoshop (Semester 2 – Advanced)

Students successfully completed Photography/Photoshop 1^st semester before taking it 2^nd semester. We will work on more advanced graphic design assignments and explore the Photoshop program on a deeper level. Emphasis will be on creativity and high quality designs. Students will work on tutorials, product advertisements, business ads, and much more!

Open To Grades: 10-12