2019-2020 School Year: Fine Art Fundamentals

Fine Art Fundamentals projects are designed to be fun and engaging with emphasis on building technical ability and developing personal style. Students begin to look at values, or lights and darks, to create form. All projects are based on observation and each brings a different composition challenge, requiring students to re-think how they place their marks and shapes on the page.

New Fine Art Fundamentals students are required to take a pre-requisite Form Class. This class demonstrates how to use values to create form and starts students on weekly homework drawings. Check out the Fine Art Fundamentals section of our Parent Board to find the weekly assignment.

Fall Session:  clay fish, still-life oil pastel drawing, iconic structure soft pastel drawing

Late Fall Session:  clay mask, landscape watercolor, glass/reflective objects watercolor, still life watercolor using notan

Winter Session:  clay and mixed media

Spring Session:  acrylic painting on canvas

Composition Challenges

  1. Create a composition with a portion of all objects off the page
  2. Create a dynamic composition using line and supported by other elements of art
  3. Create a composition forcing verticals or horizontals to be more dominant within a square format
  4. Create a composition using atmospheric perspective as the primary tool to create depth
  5. Visually unify a composition of still life selections with random and disparate connections
  6. Balance and unify fragmented perspectives
  7. Balance positive and negative space allowing negative space to dominate
  8. Create a composition with the shadow(s) as the dominant element
  9. Use Tonal Value in composition with emphasis on shade
  10. Apply Radial Balance with an unpredictable center