Visual Arts

This is the hands-on half of Grade 9 Visual Arts. You will learn to work like an artist: using the creative process from first idea to finished, presented work, and keeping a sketchbook and portfolio that show your thinking. You will master the full vocabulary of design: the seven elements (line, shape, form, space, colour, texture, value) and the principles (balance, emphasis, contrast, proportion, rhythm and repetition, movement, unity and harmony, variety), and use them on purpose for self-expression and to communicate ideas and messages.

You will then produce art in five areas, with materials you can find at home or buy cheaply: drawing (graphite, charcoal, ink, observational drawing and sighting), painting (watercolour, gouache or tempera, acrylic), printmaking (foam relief, monoprint, stencil), sculpture, collage and mixed media (carving, modelling, armatures, assemblage), and digital and photographic art (composition, resolution, layers, stop motion). The unit ends with presentation: mats, labels, artist statements, a portfolio and a small exhibition.

Remember from earlier grades: Grade 7 and 8 visual arts (two-point perspective, rule of thirds, value and cross-hatching, colour contrast, movement, artist's statements). Every lesson has a hands-on studio activity, worked examples, practice at three levels and a quiz. Safety: a grown-up should supervise craft knives, lino cutters, wire cutting, hot glue guns and ovens; use paints and inks labelled non-toxic; avoid breathing charcoal or pastel dust.

The companion unit, Reflecting, Responding and Analysing, covers the critical analysis process, art history and contexts, and responsible practices.

Curriculum expectations covered: A1 The Creative Process, A2 The Elements and Principles of Design, A3 Production and Presentation, with C1 Terminology and C2 Conventions and Techniques (as they relate to elements, principles, techniques and media). Ontario Curriculum, Grades 9 and 10: The Arts (2010), Visual Arts, Grade 9, Open (AVI1O).

In this unit you learn to look at, think about and talk about art the way artists, critics and curators do. You use the critical analysis process (initial reaction, description, analysis and interpretation, an informed point of view, and cultural context) on historical and contemporary art works and on your own work, and you learn to give and receive respectful critique. You explore the functions of art, how art works reflect the society they come from (from the Lascaux caves to Pop Art), and how art in Canada has been shaped by many voices, including the Group of Seven, Emily Carr, Inuit printmakers in Kinngait, Anishinaabe artist Norval Morrisseau, Haida artist Bill Reid and Métis artist Christi Belcourt. You reflect on how art affects your own identity and values.

You also learn the conventions of visual art (perspective, composition, genre, comics and cultural conventions) and the responsible practices every artist needs: Canadian copyright and ethics, studio safety, and environmentally responsible materials. Finally, you look ahead: the skills visual arts builds, opportunities in your community, and pathways and careers after Grade 9.

This unit covers strand B (Reflecting, Responding, and Analysing) of the Grade 9 Visual Arts course (AVI1O) and the strand C expectations on the critical analysis process, conventions, and responsible practices. The companion unit, Creating and Presenting, covers strand A and the elements and principles of design.