Dear parents, house parent or guardian,

Over the duration of the year 8 art course it is vital that students complete homework on a weekly basis. This is broken down into six weekly blocks of work that should be completed by attempting a little each night. At the beginning of each week we will be going through the work in class and putting the concepts into practice through completing various art activities.

To give you an overall idea of what all of the homework sheets will cover, let me introduce The Elements and Principles of Design. These are the building blocks for consideration in both making and looking at other artworks. So what are they?

Elements of Design are the basic components used by the artist when producing works of art. The Elements that will be covered this term will be:

Line, Texture, Tone, Form, Shape, and Colour.

Principles of Design are the particular qualities that come about in the choice and arrangement of the Elements when producing a work of art. The Principles that will be covered this term will be:

Balance, Focal Point, Contrast, Isolation, Radiation, Repetition, Movement and Rhythm.

And for those of you who are curious

Design - An effective design is one in which the Elements and Principles have been combined to achieve an overall sense of unity.

In homework sheet 1 on the following page, there are 5 key suggestions for successfully completing the sheets. Please have a good look at these and remind your child or student of them periodically throughout the term.

I need your signature. The reason for this is accountability. If I know that you are aware of the homework requirements, then hopefully together we can give our children/ students the encouragement, support and accountability they need to complete the work in an appropriate time frame and therefore give them the best chance of achieving a great result on their end of term exam. The exam questions are only constructed from the information and activities within the homework sheets.

Thank you in advance,

Mr. Matthew Rutherfoord

Parent, house parent or guardians name:__________________________________________

Please print

Signature:________________________________________

HOMEWORK SHEET 1.

So today we begin our journey of artistic discoverywhats that you say? youve done heaps of art beforeyou did the same thing with your last teacher in primary school you hate art you cant do art you dont get art. Before we get too bogged down in negativity, it is very important to realise that art is creative expression. That means that it can have a wide variety of appearances, including the very abstract. That in turn means that with a little training, guidance and lots of practice we can all be artistic!!!

Here are just few tips that will help you get through these homework sheets with the best possible results:

READ! All of the instructions and definitions are given in the homework sheets. This also means just about ALL OF THE ANSWERS ARE RIGHT THERE.

Attempt to answer all of the questions. Marks will add up by the end of term.

ITS NOT A FIVE MINUTE JOB to complete the night before. It is very easy to see who is putting in the effort with the exercises, especially the drawing. Either put in a little effort each night or a couple of hours

3 NIGHTS BEFORE ITS DUE. That way you have time to ask questions.

BE CREATIVE with your drawings and try to show as much skill as you can.

KEEP THEM ALL IN A SAFE PLACE! Get yourself a folder to keep them in because this is what you will need to study from for the end of term exam. Yes, EXAM!

Ok, so are you still with me? Do you think you can manage? Are you freaking out just a little? Be assured, I have tried to make the homework sheets as logical, as clear, as sequential, and as easy as I can without spoon feeding you too much. Give everything your very best attempt and youll be fine!

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So lets start at the start Line

There are two ways to think about line. Firstly if I were to ask you to tell me what a line is you would probably describe for me some kind of mark made with a pen or pencil on a piece of paper. Well done. You would be correct! To be technical though, line is a mark with a greater length than its width.

The second way to think about line is to take a look at the horizon. It appears as though the sky is touching the ground, but in fact they never meet. This is known as an implied line. Another way example is to look at the side of a building. Although we know it is a three dimensional object, the wall implies a line that breaks the building from the background.

What characteristics can a line have?

1. Width: thick, thin, tapering, uneven,

2. Length: long, short, continuous, broken,

3. Direction: horizontal, vertical, diagonal, perpendicular, parallel, zigzag,

4. Focus: sharp, blurry, fuzzy, choppy,

5. Feeling: sharp, jiggered, graceful, smooth,

Q.1. So how does this look on paper? Using a pencil, draw these five characteristic types using a combination of the descriptions given. These dont have to be of anything in particular.

Width Length Direction Focus Feeling /5

What are some other types of lines?

1. Outlines/ Contour Lines: Lines made by the edge of an object or its silhouette.

2. Broken Contour Lines: Lines made by the edge of an object or its silhouette and some detail to suggest a more solid form.

3. Hatching: Lines that are parallel. They can go in any direction but they will all follow in that direction. Lines are close together for dark areas and more spaced for lighter areas.

4. Cross Hatching: A similar technique as plain hatching but the lines are overlapped. Again the closer the darker and the more space the lighter.

5. Calligraphic Lines: Precise, elegant handwriting or lettering done by hand. It comes from the Greek word, meaning beautiful writing. It can also be in an artwork that shows flowing lines.

6. Gesture Lines: Lines that are energetic or expressive and catch capture movement.

7. Sketch Lines: Lines that capture the appearance of an object or place and are created with several strokes of the pencil to show one line.

There are the seven visual examples of the techniques in the boxes below.

Q. 2. Now choose your own subject matter it might be your letterbox /pencil case/ a bottle etc, try to keep it simple, and draw it using the seven types of lines as described above and exampled below. Dont just copy the examples given.

1. 2.

3. 4.

5. 6.

7./7

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The next on the list is Texture

Texture is the surface quality that can be seen and felt. Textures can be rough or smooth, soft or hard. Textures do not always feel the way they look. For example, a drawing of a porcupine may look prickly, but if you touch the drawing, the paper is still smooth. Patterns can be made up of repeated lines, shapes or colours in art and can give you the impression of a texture.

Have a close look at the line work in the following two examples. I want you to notice the distances between the lines and how this affects the overall appearance. Consider the variation in the length of the lines. What are the techniques used? If you created these, how would you start? A fine tip pen works well if you have one as pencils tend to go blunt too quick.

Q.3. In the space provided, invent a new pattern. Take your time and carefully consider what you will do. Your lines should be short and close together and this should take 10 15 minutes to complete.

/10

By touching an object we immediately discover more about it because we experience its textual qualities. You could also say our best human sense used to experience texture is feeling. This can evoke either a positive or negative response. Consider buying a jacket. What materials do you like the best? Is it a corduroy, denim, or polar fleece? Or would you prefer a woolen lining? The way something feels and the appearance of a surface can play a major role in how we react toward it.

Have a look at your surroundings. What surfaces can you see? What are the textural qualities you live with everyday?

Now, remember when you were little and you put a coin under a piece of paper and drew over the top of it? What happened? The pencil picked up all the detail of the coin and you ended up with an accurate drawing that would have taken you hours to draw by freehand didnt it!

Q 4. Well for the fourth and last question for this week you must do 8 rubbings of textures that you think nobody else in the class will have. Try using a soft pencil such as a 2B, 4B or 6B as this will make it easier to pick up the detail.

/8

Total:_________/30