Syllabus for Art Major
Art Major is a portfolio development course. Students spend time solving problems through critical thought and reflection in the areas of design, drawing, painting and mixed media. Verbal and written critiques are part of this course. Students experience a breadth of approaches to making art, as required by university portfolio reviewers. Weekly homework assignments are required. Students will work toward the development of a portfolio for college admission. Requirements for the portfolio may be obtained through contact with universities of interest.
ADVICE FOR STUDENTS:
- Colleges look for independent thinkers and want to accept students who are thoughtful about their work and enjoy learning. Students should understand the importance of communicating their potential to colleges through their visual portfolio. Schools want to see a balance of drawing skills and personal voice.
- Preparing a portfolio takes time and commitment and should be planned for well in advance. Thinking about the portfolio preparation process will allow students to work through their ideas.
- Student work this year should demonstrate exploration, inventiveness, and expressive manipulation, as well as knowledge of compositional organization (arrangement of the elements and principles of design)
- Exemplary work should clearly indicate experimentation and a range of conceptual approaches. It is possible to do this in a single medium or in a
variety of media.
Classwork and Sketchbook Assignments:
Whether using a single medium or a variety for sketchbook assignments —all work must show a range of approaches, techniques, compositions and subjects. There are many possibilities for each assignment. Following is a list of expected approaches to your work:
- The use of various spatial systems:
- linear perspective,
- the illusion of three-dimensional forms
- aerial views
- other ways of creating and organizing space
2. The use of various subjects, such as the human figure, landscape and
still-life objects
3. The exploration of various kinds of content:
- Drawings derived from an observational study
- an expressionistic viewpoint
- imaginary imagery
- social commentary; political statements
- other personal interests
4. The use of different tools and materials and processes to represent form and space:
- rendered (careful drawing showing detail and form through shading)
- gestural (quick motion of a position of form)
- painterly
- expressionist
- stylized
- abstract form
5.The exploration of expressive mark-making
Enduring Ideas:
Similar to themes, enduring ideas deal with life issues extending beyond specific disciplines and have lasting human importance. These ideas reflect inquiries about the human experience over time, guide us toward understanding our personal nature, and cause us to reflect on our relationships with others.
Enduring ideas include faith, identity, freedom, justice, power, nature, conflict, celebration, hope, emotions, survival, relationships, life and death, good and evil, life cycles, change, ritual…and more.
Art Major In-Class assignments:
- Collage Portrait
- Figure drawing
- Colored Pencil fruit study
- MidTerm exam drawing
- Free-hand architecture elevation drawing
- Sunflower observation drawing
- Sunflower personal statement assignment
- Memory Project (FInal Exam)
- Color Theory Assignment
Note: In addition to this course, some students enroll in pre-college workshops offered on Saturdays and during the summer at U Arts, Moore, Tyler School of Art and PAFA. These universities send me vouchers to offset the price of these opportunities for students who are interested. Students may also opt to take a portfolio prep class with a private art instructor.I recommend that students interested in majoring in art in college begin planning for their college portfolio as soon as possible.
Sketchbook Assignments
Sketchbook Criteria:
- All visual expression must be done neatly.
- All visual expressions must not be rushed.
- Work from your heart
- Integrity: approach your work without distraction, wholly committed, spending time working out the meaning of your work.
- Apply knowledge of the elements and principles to EVERY visual assignment
(elements: color, shape, line, texture, space, value {full range of light to dark},
All dates below represent the DUE DATE:
9/11 (2 assignments for next week)
- Cats in Bed (see handout)
9/16- Choose an artist from the Artist List. Choose a work by the artist you chose. Print out the painting and paste it into your sketchbook. Write a critique (guidelines for critique are attached) about the painting on your sketchbook. DECORATE the PAGE in the style of the artist! J
9/26 Giraffes (see handout)
Due on Halloween 10/31:
10/1-10/31- Inktobers. 22 drawings due at the end of this month (not 31 drawings). We do not count days off from school as days for drawing, but you can if you want! Either do the whole month, 31 days, or 22days. Extra credit for whole month.
Due on Halloween 10/31
Note: Sketchbook assignment below is also due this month…
10/23- Choose an artist from the Artist List. Choose a work by the artist you chose. Print out the painting and paste it into your sketchbook. Write a critique (guidelines for critique are attached) about the painting on your sketchbook.
Due 12/2: Huevembers
11/1-11/30
16 drawings due this month- not 30. We do not count days off from school as days for drawing, but you can if you want! Either do the whole month, 30 days, or 16 days. Extra credit for whole month.
11/11- Index card multiples
11/18- Choose an artist from the Artist List. Choose a work by the artist you chose. Print out the painting and paste it into your sketchbook. Write a critique (guidelines for critique are attached) about the painting on your sketchbook.
12/13- Imaginary Creatures (see handout)
12/18- Eyes only (see handout)
12/21-12/31 Decompressembers:
1/3 -Due upon return from winter break: choose five of any of the prompts listed below.
Five Golden… Drawings (but not gold, as in the hue, I mean…spectacular drawings. J)
1/6 Choose an artist from the Artist List. Choose a work by the artist you chose. Print out the painting and paste it into your sketchbook. Write a critique (guidelines for critique are attached) about the painting on your sketchbook.
1/10– Wrong-handed portraits (see hand-out)
1/13- Choose an artist from the Artist List. Choose a work by the artist you chose. Print out the painting and paste it into your sketchbook. Write a critique (guidelines for critique are attached) about the painting on your sketchbook.
1/21- two assignments are due:
- 1. Draw an image depicting Conflict (class discussion)
Draw an image depicting “joy”
- 2. Choose an artist from the Artist List. Choose a work by the artist you chose. Print out the painting and paste it into your sketchbook. Write a critique (guidelines for critique are attached) about the painting on your sketchbook.
1/30- One-liners (see handout)
2/3 Picasso Dogs (see handout)
2/19- 100 faces (see handout)
2/26- Choose an artist from the Artist List. Choose a work by the artist you chose. Print out the painting and paste it into your sketchbook. Write a critique (guidelines for critique are attached) about the painting on your sketchbook.
3/4 – One-Eyed Monsters (see handout)
3/11 – Draw a still life arrangement of three personal objects: any medium
3/18 – Draw a song, poem or quote
3/26- Reflect on your life thus far from as far back as you can remember until now. Write about people, places and things you have experienced. To what do you look forward? What are your dreams? Draw a doodle illustrating some of what you wrote.
Artist List
Joan Miro
Geninne Zlatkis
Paul Klee
Gustavo Aimar
Katherine Dunn
Keith Haring
Frida Kahlo
Henri Mattisse
Auguste Renoir
Camille Pissarro
Edward Hopper
Elaine Bailey
Johannes Vermeer
Vincent Van Gogh
Jaques-Louis David
Richard Estes
Stuart Davis
Peter Paul Rubens
Honore Daumier
Mary Cassatt
William Bouguereau
John Kuhn
Marilyn Levine
Michelangelo
Alfred Henry Maurer
Modigliani
El Greco
Or whoever you find on an official museum website, art history website, or gallery