Elk Grove High School
Art 1
Self-Portrait Relief Tiles
Reliefs date back all the way to cave art around 25,000 BCE. The oldest relief sculptures are in France: the Venus of Laussel (23,000 BCE). During civilizations of the Ancient World (3,500-600 BCE), reliefs were commonly seen of surfaces of stone buildings. Low reliefs were very common to begin, with figures being flat against the surface, and high relief did not become common until classical antiquity (500 BCE). Reliefs were commonly used in religious architecture during the medieval period, and during the renaissance, combinations of high and low relief were used to add distance in compositions. Even today relief sculptures are being made, one of the most famous high relief sculptures in America is Mount Rushmore National Memorial (Visual Art Cork). During this unit, students worked on self-portrait low relief tiles. They will begin with a rough sketch idea for out their piece may look. Then they etched their self-portrait into the tile and removed/dug out any clay to add dimension, then they will build up to create a low relief. Students also learned the stages or clay, molding, modeling, and working from observation.
Photography
Texture, Reflection, and Shadow
Reflections are projections caused when light bounces off a surface. Shadows, on the other hand, are the dark shape that's cast off a subject when it blocks the light. Both reflection and shadow add depth and complexity to photographs by creating dynamic compositions that allow the viewers eye to move throughout the piece. Texture is also an important element in photography because it varies the visual feeling of the photo. Texture, like reflection and shadow, should be used to create a more dynamic composition, not take up the whole frame. The students shot photos in a copy stand studio with objects with the theme of texture, shadow, and reflection to create well composed images that clearly demonstrate each texture, shadow, and reflection.
Art Survey
Still Life Drawing
Foundational drawing skills are the central focus that drives this unit. Many of the students in this course are new to art and this unit gives them the opportunity to combine and apply the foundational skills they need to create and analyze formal qualities in works of art. Prior to this unit students have learned formatting, contour line, value, and the principles of light. Topics in this unit include but are not limited to line, shape, value, shading, and composition. While practicing these foundational skills, the students are also learning problem solving, developing good hand-eye coordination, and using their right brain muscles to be more observant of details. Building a foundation with drawing skills is valuable because everything that is made or designed utilizes these basic skills of line, value, and composition in one way or another. Foundational drawing skills are a necessary base for developing any work of art and so by first learning line and value students can then experiment with ways it can be used to create. Units thus far have been building off of each other to create a foundation for drawing and art making, and lessons in this unit continue to do so and lead to an end result where students will combine the foundational skills and knowledge they have gained and apply them in a still life drawing.
2D Art
Self-Portrait Oil Painting
Early self-portraits sculpted in stone date back to 1365 BCE in Egypt. The earliest surviving self-portraits after Antiquity are believed to be those by the Flemish Northern Renaissance painter Jan Van Eyck (1390-1441). According to convention, Italian painters during the Renaissance tended to avoid producing formal self portraits, but frequently inserted images of themselves in their painting. During the Baroque/neo-classical period (1600-1800) with the advent of easel-painting and the widespread use of oils on canvas, portraiture of all kinds; including those of family, friends, groups and oneself, became more commonplace. Through the 19th and 20th century self-portraiture grew to be full of narrative and metaphors. Today self-portraiture exists in many mediums and formats, and it is easy to take a self-portrait anywhere. For this self-portraiture oil painting assignment, students learned the process of underpainting, and worked from observation to create a portrait painting of themselves while focusing on tones, shadows, and highlights.
3D Art
Elements and Principles of Design Sculptures
The Principles, of visual design include Contrast, Balance, Emphasis, Movement, Repetition, Rhythm, Pattern, Unity, and Variety. These principles of design work together to create something that is aesthetically pleasing and optimizes the viewer experience. The elements are Line, Shape, Space, Form, Color, Value, and Texture and they are what go into creating an artwork. Students made cardboard sculptures that are based off of 1 dominant element (excluding color). Also including at least 3 shapes with 3D form, showing repetition with variety, overlapping forms, and contrast. This assignment got the students to think about dynamic 3-dimensional compositions, as well as, how the elements and principles can be applied in sculpture.
