Art

Aims/Objectives

Students are encouraged to plan and develop their own creative ideas independently. Students will also become skillful in a variety of practical techniques. It is the aim of the YIS Art Department to develop a critical approach to creativity and a life-long appreciation and enjoyment of Art and design.

Skills

Students will develop a variety of practical skills, working in both 2D and 3D, including; drawing, painting, printing and ceramics. These practically skills are developed concurrently with their critical skills, where they look at the work of others and learn to both write about their own work, (in formative and summative assessment tasks), and to talk about it, (in class and group discussions and presentations), employing subject specific vocabulary. They will also develop the ability to identify areas for improvement in their own work and how best to achieve them.

Assessment

These skills are assessed against the MS Art subject criteria, which are:

(A)    Knowledge and Understanding
(B)    Application
(C)    Reflection and Evaluation
(D)    Artistic Awareness and Personal Engagement

MS Student Art is assessed on each of the above criteria, and obtains a level, which is recorded in the end of semester report. Students maintain a record of their MS Artwork in their individual Folios, (Student Assessment Folios), which they maintain for the full three year course. These folios contain a visual record of their work over this period, and are designed to help students, parents and teachers track the progress of student learning.  

Students complete a range of assessments, both formative and summative, over the course of each of the two projects. These take the form of planning exercises, formative assessment exercises, a record of the completed final work along with summative assessment exercises.

Course Description

ALL MS students will participate in the MS Art program. Students engage in one phase of Art each semester, for four lessons a week, for an average of 5 weeks.

Grade 6 Art

Portrait Drawing
Students create portraits using 2B pencils and erasers to create positive and negative tonal areas.

Portrait Painting
Students look at expressionist Art and use this as a reference to develop their portrait work in a more creative direction.

Grade 7 Art

Drawing
Students investigative different styles of drawing, focusing on the drawing techniques and styles of Vincent Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Durer, and Chinese painting, using various textural and tonal effects. Students also learn how to plan a composition, utilizing back/mid/fore grounds elements and overlapping.

Lino Printing
Students investigate patterns from different artists and cultures, such as Chinese, Egyptian, William Morris, south American, Celtic, and their own sources. Students will investigate how these are constructed and use these as a resource in developing their own designs. They will consider the balance between the positive and negative space within their designs, and have the opportunity to integrate interlocking elements into the designs.

Grade 8 Art

Surrealist Drawing
Students will be introduced to basic one point perspective drawing over a series of exercises. They are then introduced to the work of the Surrealist artist Rene Magritte, and develop and produce their own surrealist room, which they render in colour markers.

Ceramics
Students are introduced to several construction techniques, including pinch pots, slab technique, moulds. They will learn to etch elements to the main structure, such as handles, and how to decorate in relief, employing a variety of pre-firing techniques, including etching, relief detailing. Students will then experiment with the use of under and over glazes on the biscuit fired pieces. Students will complete their own personal ceramics collection.