Developmental+Differences

** Developmental differences and thoughts on building towards the concentration  **  · At all levels of arts education, building connections between developing skills, personal creativity, and student voice is important. Middle school students typically view art as an extension of who they are, and use drawing, painting and sculpting as a way of exploring their interests and ideas. Most students at this level are enthusiastically engaged in the creative process and eager to acquire skills to improve their work and express their interests in more dynamic ways. Introducing skills like composition, shading, perspective, and color relationships will help the middle school student expand their abilities. Making students aware of the common threads in the projects allows them to see their skills improving and introduces the meaningful idea that an artist expands their ideas and skills as they create. These threads might typically be the concepts that will be present in all their work, like composition, texture, values, and negative space. The connections can also be thematic, like exploring a place or idea in a related series of drawings or sculptures. Assignments might include- One-point perspective drawings of imaginary cities Observational drawing of a flower or insect Construct a family of gargoyles from clay Traced outline self portrait Clay Animal cups  · Students in the early years of high school are typically at the foundational level. They are beginning to acquire familiarity and perhaps a level of proficiency with techniques and processes. They are more capable of understanding and engaging with abstraction and conceptual approaches to art. Students are beginning to be able to engage in critical thinking about art in general and their work in particular. Children at this age also tend to be easily frustrated with the limitations of their abilities. Some will have a discomfort with venturing beyond the familiar and engaging in techniques that they are not yet good at. They are also perfectly situated to expand their skills and broaden their thinking about art. Reinforcing elements and principles of art and design, teaching skills of observational drawing, composition, design, color theory, and encouraging engagement with ideas will move students forward in their art making. Assignments might include- Perspective drawing of their room Contour drawings of classmates/self Still life as self portrait Clay vessel modeled on Egyptian funerary urns Abstract painting based in emotion Family history vessel patterned after Mimbres bowls  · At AP level students should be applying and synthesizing the elements of art and principles of design in all their pieces. They should have the ability to bring the practice of critical thinking to their work and the work of their classmates. They should have some familiarity with historical and contemporary art and artists. While skills are still being developed, there is an expectation that the students are solidly grounded in observational drawing, composition, color theory, manipulation of surface, negative space, and a range of materials and techniques. It is at this level that ideation and conceptual development gains more prominence. The skills and techniques acquired previously are now fully in the service of the students ideas and voice. The students should be comfortable working in series and pursuing an idea through stages of development and change. Assignments might include- Still life painting Expressive Self Portrait Landscape as metaphor Composition that combines text and image Abstract expressionist paintings   Perspectival drawings of familiar objects The concentration section of the AP portfolio is frequently the most daunting aspect of the AP studio classes for students. They are asked to generate an idea compelling enough to hold their interest (and by extension, the interest of the potential viewer) and explore this theme through twelve related works. Introducing students to working in series and encouraging ideation in previous courses will help make the process more familiar and accessible. Mini-concentrations are an effective way of teaching the skills of ideation and thoughtful exploration of themes in art.  · Possible ideas for Middle school Construct three objects out of clay that share a theme Three animal cups Differing shapes that share the same elements of decoration Heads with different expressions A series of drawings of the same place or idea Morph one object into another  · Early high school foundational level Three drawings of a room Create three objects about one sense Dual self portraits, one observed, one imagined Tell a story through abstract form in several paintings Do a series of images of one thing  · AP level Early in the year it is useful to have students develop a possible concentration topic and make three works on that theme. This familiarizes the students with the challenges and possibilities of the process and gives them a chance to get a jump on the twelve pieces. Conversely, this allows the students to try out an idea and see its limitations so that a better idea can be generated for their actual concentration.
 * VTG  **