Visual Arts Courses

MIDDLE SCHOOL the college school

Visual Arts Middle School Visual Arts courses allow students to explore the visual arts both through physical media such as drawing and sculpture and through digital media such as photography and digital media creation (using the Adobe Creative suite).

Book Arts

The Book Arts class will teach students how to make handmade books, recycle old books, and explore ideas about what makes a book ... well, a book. Books will be transformed and turned into unique art objects through a process of painting, cutting, folding, drawing, stamping and manipulating pages, text and images in a new way. Come to the class with your old books, family photos, or candy wrappers to transform them into a something new. From one-page books to simple bindings to clamshell boxes for storing books, the experience will be both sculptural and visual.

Architecture

Students in this course may not finish a whole building this trimester; however, if you are interested in learning about architecture, this course is for you. Students will explore the building and design aspects of architecture, as well as learn how to think like an architect. Hands-On Art

This class will give students experiences in both 2-D and 3-D art. The class will start with 2-D art: drawing and painting to explore composition, design, and color. Emphasis will be on drawing from life – nature, still-life, portraits, and observation. Sketchbooks will be used to collect outside ideas and practice skills. The second half of the trimester will be more focused on 3-D art. For this students will work with clay – hand-building and wheel-throwing will be explored. In addition, each student will be given the opportunity to explore the process of glass bead making at an introductory level. Graphic Design

This class will explore the basic principles of good graphic design through a number of projects in which visual ideas are evolved. Students will be introduced to the use of the Adobe Creative Suite as it is used in the world of graphic design.

Media Technology

Scriptwriting, storytelling, and video production will be the primary focus of this course. Additionally, students will study proper lighting techniques. Students will learn to write a properly formatted screenplay. Using these scripts, students will record video footage that will then be edited using Apple’s iMovie to create video productions.

Digital Photography

This class will “focus” on the elements of photographic images. We will explore how to take pictures, crop, and print. We will look at ideas behind images and how they can tell a story, convey a feeling, or influence the viewer. Shooting images will take place at school, home, and in the field. Shooting and printing will be all digital and done in the TCS Exploratorium. If you have a camera, please consider using your own; however, if you do not have one, you may use TCS cameras. There will be an emphasis on print quality and display. Included in the class will be a research element involving the exploration of important photographers in the history of photography as a medium of expression. Technology and Visual Arts

This class will focus on the role of the computer in the arts, with a special focus on the Adobe Creative Suite of programs. Students will produce several works of art using the drawing/illustrating power of Adobe Illustrator and the image manipulation ability of Adobe Photoshop. Students will further strengthen their design by putting their work produced in Illustrator and Photoshop together with the written word, typography, and page layout in Adobe InDesign.