Alternate Introduction Page: This is for student populations that may benefit from more intense engagement. This introduction is the same as the original, with the addition of a comment from the mentor,. In my experience working with at-risk youth and even many mainstream students, they need to be convinced early on that you are real. They need to know that you are somewhere close to being on their wavelength and that you have something that feels meaningful to offer. I have endeavored to provide that in the original introduction, this is just stepped up a notch.

You know your student population the best. One introduction will meet your students where ‘they’re at’ more naturally than the other.

* Request your preference.

Unit 1

Introduction:

The Language of Art

Do What You Love, spray acrylic & stencils, Jasper Ellis 2008

we

are the

passionate

creators

of our own

lives

Anonymous

Our passions fuel us, direct our decisions, & essentially, create our lives…I suppose it is not a bad idea to know what they are.

This is where we begin. One of the most important things you will do in this course is to get in touch with your own pulse. What is it that makes your pulse race, soar, rage or relax and mellow out?

This is where you become more aware of what you feel passionate about. Through experiments and noticing, you will begin to express your feelings and beliefs with a clear strong visual ‘voice.’ There is a load of ‘how to’ information here that will make it easier and easier for you to create the images you want, to say what you want through art, and to have a good time doing it.

You will be learning more about drawing, painting, tattoo designing, sculpting, collaging, printmaking, mask making and creating mixed media art objects. Some of the different things you’ll be working with are wire, clay, paper, graphite, charcoal, acrylic paint, chalk pastels, print block & printing inks, mixed media, found objects…and your bare mind.

‘ This is gonna hurt like ---- (heck)!’ to quote songwriter, Sarah McLaughlin. Well, I’m sorry to get you all revved up about the prospect of pain - but there isn’t going to be any. There will, however, be adrenaline pumping through your body for good reasons. As you get closer to putting your finger on what it is you love or hate (or many other emotions) and figure out how to speak that powerfully on paper, you will notice how excited you feel. ‘This is gonna feel so ---- (good)!’

Introduction: You will learn about the language that art uses to speak to us & how we can use this language to create art that speaks to others.

When you talk to someone or write a letter, you communicate. You share your ideas and feelings with that person. You use words- either spoken or written- to communicate a message.

You can also communicate through the arts. They are languages for expressing ideas and feelings that everyday words cannot explain. The arts talk in ways that go beyond simply describing something or telling a story.

The arts can cross the language barriers of different countries. *Say you are from Canada, for example, and you cannot speak Russian. You can still understand at least some of what a Russian artist is ‘saying’ in her painting without talking to her because visual language (art) is universal.

NASA scientists even chose visual art as the best language to communicate with the beings their spacecraft, the Pioneer 10, might encounter when they sent it into space. The spacecraft carries a plaque with drawings of a human man and woman as well as a diagram of our solar system.

Languages have their own system of words and grammar as well as rules for how to put those words together. The language of visual art has its own principles that guide how to arrange the basic elements of art to make clear, effective statements.*

Arttalk (quote & * paraphrase)

Here they are:

Elements of Art: are the "what" - the basic visual ‘words’ in the language of art (line, shape & form, space, color, value, and texture)

Principles of Design: are the "how" - the rules that organize how artists put the elements of art together (rhythm, movement, balance, proportion, variety, emphasis, harmony and unity)

Read: pages 5-10, Arttalk, to learn more about the language of art. (Time: 45 min.)

This is a brief introduction to the principles of art & design. It will help give you an idea of what the basics or the skeleton of art is made up of. We will look at each of these elements & principles more closely throughout the course.