Course Syllabus
ART 1 Honors
Prd 2B, Room 250 (Butler Building)
Instructor Information
Melissa Rioux is the teacher for this course as well as Visual and Performing Arts Dept chair for George Stevens Academy. She joined the GSA community in Sept 2020. She spent ten years teaching and writing curriculum for Publicolor, a not for profit in NYC, and teaching jewelry making at the 92nd St Y before moving home to raise her family in 2015.
School Phone: 374-2808 ext email: m.rioux@georgestevens.org
Office Hours: By Appointment during Prd 4
Textbooks and Other Materials
Students are given sketchbooks that they are expected to work on throughout the course. These should be brought to class each day, and only be left in the classroom for grading. Students are expected to check their Canvas accounts daily for posted material. Students are allowed to sign out materials with the instructors permission and signature.
Additional books TBA
Course Description
In Art 1 Honors students will acquaint themselves with the 1) Elements of Design and the 2) Principles of Art through different projects that also teach basic technical and creative skills. The major difference between Art 1 and its' continuation curriculum, Art 2, is the mile wide/inch deep approach which will cover as many methods, media and processes as time allows. The loose outline below can be seen as a preview to the course, and potential investigations. This class is taught using a differentiated approach, the modules may be moved around to meet student need, interest or the possibility of remote learning.
Art History, art appreciation, design, documenting art, displaying/installing art, etc are incorporated into our investigations and not as stand alone projects.
Introduction week
- Become familiar with room: studio etiquette
- Expectations and class descriptions
Drawing
- Line, Pattern, Shape, Scale and Design/Composition
- Gridding
- Mediums: Pencil, pen, charcoal, oil crayon, conte
- Abstract and Naturalistic drawings using line
- Drawing from life vs. imagination – teaching confidence in creativity
and technical skills
- drawing people/proportions (usually pops up in multiple sections within this class)
- One point perspective
- Two point perspective
- Drawing perspective from life (blocks/buildings, etc)
Color theory
- Color wheels/charts in watercolor
- Tint, Tone and Shade exercises
- Teach various color theory vocabulary through a series of creative projects
Painting
- Techniques in Watercolor
- Techniques in Gouache
- Techniques in Acrylic and Acrylic inks
Printmaking
- Gelli plate monotypes
- Relief Printing with lino/wood
- Drypoint
- More advanced reduction prints
Textile
- Paper-weaving to learn about basic weave structures
- Lap Loom weavings
- Floor loom section: a wallhanging or a piece of product design
Sculpture
- Clay: figurative and ceramic explorations
- Wire and paper crafting
- Book arts
Mixed media
- Collage
- Book arts/paper crafting
Culminating Assessment can look like either:
- End of the year semi-independent project
- Teacher prompted, but student driven semi-independent project in which
students work on a piece based on skills they’ve acquired (usually has a theme
and certain criteria, but open to interpretation)
- Project that can bridge with the communuty
Learning Objectives
- Demonstrate skills in representational drawing including line, shape, value, space, scale and proportion.
- Describe the process and techniques of making art, elevated by the articulations and understanding of the elements of art and principles of design.
- Apply the rules and principles of linear perspective to the visible and the imaginary world.
- Recognize the vocabulary of the visual arts in reference to drawing, painting, printmaking, textiles and multimedia.
- Analyze the creative process and its role in thinking skills.
Assessment and Grading
Assessment will reflect the effort in learning skills and techniques in concert with a students's artistic outcomes and the cultivation of their creativity. There will be the copying and study of Master works as well as the time for original works. Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Students will be graded on their sustained use of a sketchbook for both classwork and homework. Assignments will be posted and submitted through Canvas. Students are expected to zoom into class if classes go remote (Virtual Classroom on the Canvas navigation bar). Class Field Trips TBA.
Timely submission of work is encouraged, there is no guarantee that late work will be accepted.
Attendance and Participation
Students are expected to arrive on time, with their projects/sketchbooks, prepared to work. All students are expected to participate in classroom discussion and class critique to the best of their abilities. If a student is expecting to miss multiple days of school it is their responsibility to keep up and to communicate about their absence with the teacher.
Course Summary:
| Date | Details | Due |
|---|---|---|