Unit One: Understanding, Appreciating, & Creating Art

Purpose of Unit:  Chapter 1: You will be introduced to the elements and principles of art.  Chapter 2: Teaches you how to analyze and evaluate artwork.  Chapter 3: Exposes you to the different types of art through history.  Chapter 4: Career opportunities in art.

Chapter 1: The Language of Art

Exercise:  Look through the illustrations in Chapters 1-4 and choose a favorite. Write down what about that artwork appeals to you. (5 minutes).  Share.

Purpose of this Chapter:  The purpose of Chapter 1 is to teach you the correct vocabulary to use when you describe artworks.  Read pages 5 – 6 stop when you get to the 2 nd paragraph “The Elements of Art”  Create an outline of the things you think are important for you to know.

Important things to know from this section:  Art is a way to communicate without having to use words.  Art has no language barriers, everyone around the world can understand it.  Art has its own language.  When you learn the elements and principles of art, you will learn the language of art.

Read starting at “The Elements of Art” paragraph and stop when you get to “The Principles of Design”. Continue making your outline.

Important things to know from this section:  In art we use visual symbols to communicate ideas.  The elements of art are the basic visual symbols that an artist uses.  The elements of art are: 1.Line 2.Shape 3.Form 4.Space 5.Color 6.Value 7.Texture  All artwork will have at least one of the elements of art.

Read starting at “The Principles of Design” and stop at the “Media and Processes of Art” Continue making your outline.

Important things to know from this section:  The Principles of Design are how the elements of art can be organized to create different effects.  The principles of design are the rules you use when creating art.  The principles of design are: 1.Rhythm 2.Movement 3.Balance 4.Proportion 5.Variety 6.Emphasis 7.Harmony 8.Unity

Exercise:  Choose one element of art.  Create an abstract composition emphasizing that element by eliminating the other elements.  For example, if you choose shape, you would change the shape, but keep the color the same.  What is an abstract composition???  Art that does not depict recognizable scenes or objects.

DAY TWO

Read starting at “The Media and Processes of Art” and stop at the end of page 10. Continue making your outline.

Important information from this reading:  Medium is the material used to make art.  If you are talking about more than one medium at the same time, you use the plural word media.  Examples of media: graphite pencils, colored pencils, markers, charcoal, pastels, paint, watercolor, clay (and many more).  A type of medium: Drawing – The process of moving a pointed instrument over a smooth surface to leave a mark.  It is important to develop perception. Perception is the act of looking at something carefully and thinking deeply about what is seen.  It is important to draw sketches to record your ideas and improve you perception of things.

Activity:  Each student gets a blank piece of paper, write you name in the top right corner.  Begin a drawing with one object or shape.  You have 30 seconds before you have to pass the drawing to the next person.  Continue the process until your original drawing gets back to you.

Activity continued  How did doing this affect what you originally started to draw?  How did having various other people add to the picture affect the drawing?

Read page 11 and stop reading at the end of “Painting” section Continue making you outline.

Important information from this reading:  Painting: The process of applying color to a surface using tools.  The surface is the material the paint is applied to.  The way a painting looks depends on the different media, tools, and surface the artist uses.  Examples of different types of paints are: acrylic, tempera, oil, and watercolor. They all are made up of different components that create different effects.

Activity:  Work with a partner.  Brainstorm examples of the types of media, tools, and surfaces that painters use or might use.  Think about what you have already read and about other possibilities.  Write them all down to discuss with the rest of the class.

DAY THREE

Read beginning with the “Printmaking” section and stop on page 14. Continue making your outline.

Important information from reading:  Printmaking: the artist makes multiple original images from one prepared surface.  The 3 steps of printmaking:  Creating a printing plate.  Inking the plate.  Transferring the image.  A series of prints made from the same plate is called an edition.

The 4 Printmaking techniques ① Relief printing: the artist cuts away the parts of the surface not meant to hold ink. The image is printed of the raised surface. ② Intaglio: Means “to cut into”. Ink is forced into lines that have been cut into a metal surface.

The 4 Printmaking techniques ③ Lithography: based on the fact that grease and water do not mix. The image is drawn on a surface with a greasy type of crayon. Once it has been chemically treated and rinsed with water. When inked, only the greasy parts will hold the ink. ③ Screen printing: A stencil is placed on a fabric screen stretched across a frame. Ink is squeezed through the fabric not covered by a stencil.

Read page 16 stop before you get to “Crafts” Continue making your outline.

Important information from reading:  Sculpture takes up space.  You can view freestanding sculpture from all sides.  Relief sculpture is attached to a flat background, such as a wall.  The processes of sculpture are modeling, carving, casting, and assembly.

The 4 Sculpture Processes ① Modeling: a soft material is built up and shaped. Examples of materials are clay, wax, and plaster. ② Carving: the artist cuts or chips a form from a mass of material. ③ Casting: use melted metal or another liquid substance to pour into a mold to harden. ④ Assembly: the artist uses found objects of different materials to construct a sculpture, usually by welding.

Exercise:  Experiment with different types of media and processes used by artists to create art.  Charcoal  Pastel  Oil Pastel  Modeling Clay

Discuss:  Which materials did you like? Why?  Which materials did you not like? Why?

DAY FOUR

Read Page 17 “The Work of Art” & stop on page 18 before “The Credit Line” Continue making your outline.

Important information from reading:  Works of art are defined by 3 basic features: ① Subject ② Composition ③ Content ① The subject is the image viewers can easily identify in a work of art (hint: it is the person, place, or thing)  Nonobjective art is art that has no recognizable subject matter. (ex: abstract art).

Important information from reading: ② The composition is the way you use the principles of design to organize the elements. ③ The content is the message the artwork communicates (what the artist means).

Activity:  Look at the image on page 15.  What is the subject? What do you think is the content? How did the artist make the composition successful?  Look at the image on page 4.  What is the subject? What do you think is the content? How did the artist make the composition successful?

Read page 18 section “The Credit Line”. Continue making your outline.

Important information from this reading:  A credit line is the list of important facts about a work of art.  When artwork is in a book, magazine, etc., it most always has a credit line.  Most credit lines include 6 or more facts.

A Credit Line: 1)Name of the artist. 2)Title of the work. This is always in italics. 3)Year the artwork was created. (Sometimes a “c.” appears before the year. This is an abbreviation for circa, which means “around” or “about” in Latin.) 4)Medium used by the artist. (If the artist used more than one type of medium the credit line may read “mixed media”. 5)Size of the artwork. (The 1 st number is always the height, the 2 nd the width, and if its 3-d, the 3 rd number indicates the depth. 6)Location of the artwork. (Location names the gallery, museum, or collection where the artwork is.)

What is the location? Gustave Courbet. The Fishing Boat Oil on canvas. 25 1/2 x 32 in. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Gift of Mary Goldenberg, 1899.

What is the title? Michelangelo Caravaggio. The Denial of Saint Peter. Oil on canvas. 37 x 49 3/8 in. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

What is the size of the work? How many feet is that? Jackson Pollock. Autumn Rhythm (Number 30) Enamel on canvas. 105in. x 207 in. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

What type of media was used? Chuck Close. Lucas. 1986–87. Oil and pencil on canvas; 100 x 84 in. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

What is the title? Wassily Kandinsky. The Garden of Love (Improvisation Number 27) Oil on canvas. 47 3/8 x 55 1/4 in. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

What is the size of the work? J. Stanley Connor. Cain Marble. 26 x 21 1/2 x 17 in. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Who is the artist? John Wesley Jarvis. Alexander Anderson Oil on canvas. 34 x 27 in. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

When was this work created? Andrea della Robbia. Virgin and Child. 15th century (ca. 1470–75). Glazed terracotta. 37 3/8 x 21 5/8 in. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Class work Assignment to be turned in:  Page 21 – Critiquing the Work and Comparing the Works.  Page23 – Chapter 1 Review. Building Vocabulary (1-12) & Reviewing Art Facts (1-10) Quiz on Tuesday! All of Chapter 1. Use your notes to study.