Composition and Design
Discover the foundations of great art in the principles of composition and design.
Artists use basic principles of design to compose their works of art. They start with a basic “skeleton” before they add any details or textures. You can learn the fundamentals of composition with this short course.
Target age group: 12 to 18 (The concepts presented here are the same as an intro level college class.)
Time required: There are 12 lessons that require about 2 hours each, though this estimate is flexible. I do this course in one quarter of the school year. (It is good for at least 1/4 high school credit, but if you add some extra projects and videos along the way you could make it worth 1/2 credit.)
Concepts presented: Dividing up space on your page, balance, formal/informal compositions, rhythm, motion, rule of thirds, negative space, and more.
Artists who are used as examples: Monet, Mondrian, Kline, Wyeths, Vermeer, Dore, Degas, Cassatt, Adams, Escher, Van Gogh, and others.
Materials required: Basic supplies include: photocopies of some of the pages (some color, some black and white), pencils, erasers, black pens, black permanent markers, tracing paper, scissors, glue sticks, colored paper, black paper, hole puncher, white card stock paper, plus occasional uses of watercolor paint (any kind) or acrylic paint (optinoal)
Once in a while you will need an extra item (such as dry spaghetti noodles in lesson 1). The will be listed at the beginning of each lesson. (All household items.)
NOTE: The adult supervisor does NOT need to be an artist. Any adult can pull this off if they are motivated and willing to learn along with the students. Art knowledge always helps, but is not absolutely necessary.
Click here to download the curriculum (63 pages)
