Fine Arts

Course Description:
Develop traditional observational and drawing technique, beginning with a simple line. Learn to render value and form through a study of light and shadow. Color will also be introduced. Explore basic media, including graphite, charcoal, and colored pencil, and develop compositional awareness with an emphasis on the elements and principles of design. Subjects will include a series of object studies and personal reference images.

Course Description:
Continue to develop foundational drawing and observational skills through exposure to new media and subject matter. Study portrait and figure drawing, further explore composition, and also create a project of choice. Media introductions and exploration may include work with pastel, pen and ink, scratchboard, printmaking and watercolor.

Course Description:
Further foundational drawing and compositional techniques with a keen focus on intensifying observational skills. Develop individually creative directions through classroom projects and enrichment activities. Participate in an interactive classroom environment that is rewarding in terms of quality production as well as an enjoyable creative process. Work with a variety of media, including graphite and colored pencil, conte crayon, charcoal, and pastel. Build a strong base for use with drawing or any other art medium.

Course Description:
Individual drawing skill and technique will grow further through landscapes, portraits, and figures as well as through an opportunity to develop personally directed themes and imagery. Media will expand to include others of interest including mixed media. As skills and confidence develop, individually stylized mark making will begin to emerge.

Course Description:
Experience, practice, and develop work with several painting mediums. Begin developing initial painting techniques through watercolor with an introduction to color and brushwork. This will be followed by exploration of Acrylic painting through studies followed by a final painting. Subjects will include landscapes and other personal visual references.

Course Description:
Study traditional oil painting techniques, learn to mix and apply color, and explore brushwork after learning to stretch a canvas. Work also with pastel and learn to develop layers of pigment and detail through this dry painting medium. Subject matter includes life and object studies, landscapes, figures, portraits, or other personal visual references. Develop a level of confidence in painting through experience and practice with various media. Time may allow for pursuit of a final work in a media and subject of personal choice.

Course Description:
An introduction to traditional printing techniques from simple mono prints to linoleum prints and embossments. Learn to design and produce a template from which to create original prints onto paper especially made for printmaking purposes. Learn a traditional art form while making multiple copies of work by hand.

Course Description:
Photography students engage in art history, art criticism, aesthetics, and production leading to the creation of portfolio quality works. This course is designed to give the student an experience and understanding of photography and how it relates to the visual arts. The students will have extensive darkroom experience in which they will process film and develop prints for each of their projects. The focus is on composition and technical skills.

Course Description:
This course is structured to give the student a basic knowledge of design as it relates to the visual arts. There will be a focus on graphic design, page layout, and composition with a special emphasis on learning the Adobe Creative Suite. Macbooks are provided and used in class.

Course Description:
Explore personal artistic directions through the two-dimensional art of drawing, painting, printmaking, mixed media, and various other art forms. Enjoy advanced studio time through which individual subjects and themes may be explored and developed. Develop work in a single medium, or create from a variety of media with the opportunity to explore new techniques. Create personal artwork while building a portfolio for college or work. Practice the serious and self-motivated work habits of a self-disciplined artist.

Course Description:
Continue to work with a variety of media from drawing and painting to printmaking, mixed media, and various other art forms. Enjoy advanced studio time through which individual subjects and themes may be explored and developed. Develop work in a single medium, or create a variety of media with the opportunity to experience new techniques. Create personal artwork while building a portfolio for college or work. Practice the serious and self-motivated work habits of a self-disciplined artist.

Course Description:
Create a Drawing portfolio focused on the Quality, Concentration, and Breadth of work produced: Concentration developed through the investigation of concepts, issues, and personal themes and subject matter, Breadth represented through experimentation and development through various art solutions, Quality presented through five strongest works. Must exhibit personal maturity and independent work habits, and accept the committed challenge of a rigorous studio art program. Along with the change to receive college credit and/or advanced placement for college, develop artistic skills while preparing a portfolio of art for college or work. AP portfolio exam submissions are required, conducted through formal evaluations according to national standards of performance.

Course Description:
Create a 2D Design portfolio focused on the Quality, Concentration, and Breadth of work produced: Concentration developed through the investigation of concepts, issues, and personal themes and subject matter, Breadth represented through experimentation and development through various art solutions, Quality presented through five strongest works. Must exhibit personal maturity and independent work habits, and accept the committed challenge of a rigorous studio art program. Along with the change to receive college credit and/or advanced placement for college, develop artistic skills while preparing a portfolio of art for college or work. AP portfolio exam submissions are required, conducted through formal evaluations according to national standards of performance.

Course Description:
A two year program that develops aesthetic, imaginative, and creative faculties in a flobal context, with emphasis on critical thinking, multicultural undesrtanding, and exposure to various viewpoints. Develop knowledge and skills around a Research Journal, which becomes a personal record of development and evolution as an artist. Discover original inspiration through media exploration to create a fully developed body of work. Examinations will be conducted regarding Comparative Studies of other artists' work, presentation of experimentation and development of artwork through a Process Portfolio, and completed work through Exhibition. Final evaluations are conducted through formal evaluations according to International Baccalaureate standards of performance.

Course Description:
Explore three-dimensionally. Focusing on the elements and principles of design, create forms through additive and subtractive methods from a variety of materials. Media may include working with plaster, wood, ceramics, and found objects. Create designs that explore visual space beyond flat work. Enjoy the challenge and experience of working with three-dimensional sculptural materials.

Course Description:
This course is a basic introduction to ceramics. Hand building techniques including slabs, molds, pinching and stamping will be learned using low-fire clays. All work will be kiln-fired using slip decoration and low-fire glazes. Accurate journals will be kept to record data using iPads. Additionally, iPads are used for research on the internet.

Course Description:
Handbuilding and wheel throwing will be explored using high fire clays, with a concentration on form. Surface application techniques, slip decoration, resist, underglazes and glazes will be used on clay forms. Historical and technical information along with kiln firing will be learned. Accurate journals will be kept to record glazing data. Ipads are used to research projects and record progress. Many illustrated books , as well as current ceramic magazines as well as current magazines are available for students to use. 

Course Description:
This course is designed to further develop the ceramic skills beyond Ceramics 2. Students will continue to learn wheel throwing techniques and broaden their investigation of hand building techniques. Design Thinking and Product Design projects will be incorporated throughout the semester.

Course Description:
The student and teacher work together to create an individual curriculum that explores advanced 3-dimensional disciplines and techniques beyond the student’s previous coursework and knowledge. This course is also designed as a university or college preparatory class to fill-in or rework gaps in the presented body of completed works (portfolio). A class requirement will be to complete one art service learning project within the semester.

Course Description:
This course is a continuation of Advanced 3-Dimensional Art I. The student and teacher work together to create an individual curriculum that explores advanced 3-dimensional disciplines and techniques beyond the student’s previous coursework and knowledge. This course is also designed as a university or college preparatory class to fill-in or rework gaps in the presented body of completed works (portfolio). A class requirement will be to design a self-promotional piece that can be sent to universities and colleges with his/her application.

Course Description:
This portfolio is intended to address sculptural issues as related to depth and space. Design involves purposeful decision making about how to use the elements and principles of art in an integrative way. For this portfolio, students are asked to demonstrate proficiency of 3-D design through any three-dimensional approach, including, but not limited to, figurative or nonfigurative work that makes use of (appropriates) other artists’ works (including photographs) and/or published images must show substantial and significant development beyond duplication.

Course Description:
This course, which is equivalent to an introductory college art history survey, focuses on developing students’ art historical skills as they examine and analyze major forms of artistic expression from a variety of cultures from ancient times to the present. This course involves critical thinking and will develop an understanding and knowledge of diverse historical and cultural contexts of architecture, sculpture, painting and other media. While visual analysis is a fundamental tool of the art historian, art history emphasizes understanding how and why works of art function in context, considering such issues as patronage, gender, and the functions and effects of works of art.