Welcome!

This course is an introduction to the artistic medium of painting. Using skills previously taught in Drawing, students will explore various skills in paint to strengthen their skills in color mixing and observational painting. Through still-life and portraiture, students will work and gain greater experience with color, observation, and mixed media in order to further explore their own sense of style and artistic voice. Students will be able to make informed and deliberate decisions about media, technique and composition. Students will leave this course with a strong foundation in critical observational painting skills.

Course Objectives:

• Establish a strong foundation in painting.
• Develop a variety of strategies for the creative/expressive process.
• Strengthen and further refine observational skills from Drawing & Painting I.

Enduring Understandings for Semester:

• Perceptual painting/drawing involves translating the visual world into shape, value, and color, mediated by the artists individual experience of reality.
• Artists’ foundational skills provide the groundwork for future expression and individual voice.
• Artists utilize the process of skill development to learn to self evaluate and improve their skills.
• Artists employ experimentation and process to develop a range of methods for creative expressive and personal artwork.
• Artists create portraits to convey the power and identity of an individual.
• Artists create work that dialogues with and challenges tradition.

Essential Questions for Semester:

• How can observational work be used for expressive purposes?
• Where does creativity come from?
• How do artists develop the processes that enable individual creative expression?
• How can we communicate identity and power through portraiture?

Contact

• awong@natickps.org
• www.mrswong.org

After School Hours/Extra Help:

• Mondays & Tuesdays, 2:20 - 3:20pm in Rooms 145/200H
• Red Day CDS, Room 200H

Semester Projects

Unit 1: The Still-Life

• Pre-Assessment Still Life Painting
• White Painting Complementary Pair
• Colored Glass Reflected Light Painting

Unit 2: Portraiture

• Feature Studies in Paint
• Final Self-Portrait

Unit 3: Mixed Media & Non-Representational

• Conceal/Reveal
• Abstraction
• Non-Representational Painting

Classroom Expectations

Each Day:

• Come to class each day prepared with a pencil. No pencil? You may borrow one, but you will need to swap an item of your own for the pencil!
• Come to class on time, ready to work.
• All backpacks are to be placed at the front of the room or in the art storage cubby.
• Demonstrate active listening and engagement.
• Clean up your personal space and shared materials. Leave enough time at the end of class to thoroughly wash out all used brushes and palettes!!
• Take initiative with assignments.
• Remain focused and work diligently throughout the entire class period.
• Ask for help when you need it. If the teacher is currently working with a student, you can check the resources available to you for help or ask some of your classmates.
• Persist! It's ok to make mistakes or have a failure in art. Making art is a trial-and-error process. You can't expect success without stretching yourself outside of your comfort zone and experimenting. If you don't try, you'll never know what you are capable of. If something doesn't work out, trust in yourself and try again!

Portfolio:

You will be responsible for documenting all of your work (process and final product) as well as reflections in an online portfolio through Adobe Spark. At the end of each project, you will have a graded portfolio check which will require you to update your Spark portfolio link and submit the new link through Google Classroom. You will receive notification on Classroom when it is time to submit your link. Instructions for setting up a Spark page are below.

Attendance:

• If you are absent, you will need to plan to make up lost time so you don't fall behind in class. To make up lost time, it is recommended that you utilize the available after school hours (see above).
• If you are absent, check our syllabus or Google Classroom for what we're currently working on. You can also email Mrs. Wong (awong@natickps.org) if you want to check on what you missed.

Classroom Materials:

• We share the materials with many other classes. To ensure that materials are ready to use and clean, it is expected that you will properly wash brushes & water jars, put all items back where you found them and clean off your shared table (using cleaner and paper towels if necessary). Be sure to leave yourself enough time to take care of this very important step!
• Sweep around your table if it is messy. There is a small dustpan and broom in the classroom.
• You may borrow a pencil if you forgot one, but you will need to trade something for it. This is to make sure I get back the pencils that go out, which will guarantee I have one if you should need it!

To Ensure Success:

1. No cell phones. NHS has a strict policy regarding cell phones as outlined in the student handbook. (I may occasionally give permission to photograph your work for your portfolio using a cellphone camera, but unless I've given you explicit prior permission, I should never see your phone. I will not accept photography as an excuse if you did not get permission.)
2. Keep laptop put away when not in use. We will often not need the laptops and they tend to be a distraction when out on the tables.
3. Students are expected to be engaged in the assigned work. Use your class time wisely. Ask questions, experiment, and push yourself.
4. Questions about your work/grade in the class? These are not to be discussed at the very start or end of the period. During class time when everyone is working would be better. Ideally, it is recommended to ask these questions after school.
5. Be respectful of others. Our classroom is a small community and those around you deserve respect and fair treatment. Be positive, supportive and helpful. Listen to your peers when they speak in class - what they have to say is important! Only ONE person should be talking at a time. Tolerance is key not to mention that disrespect is rude and will not be tolerated. Our classroom will function with a culture of mutual respect.
6. When the teacher is talking - all eyes up. Pause what you are working on and focus on what is being shared with you. When the teacher is talking, no one else should be. Your attention is required so you do not miss any important information and your peers can hear the teacher as well.

Grading

Grading is based on projects and portfolio submissions. If you miss one or more classes, you are responsible for speaking with Mrs. Wong about making up work.

Grading Weights:

• Projects: 70% of final grade
• Sketchbook/Portfolio: 30% of final grade

Late Work:

• If absent missed assignments must be made-up within an appropriate amount of time. Absence will be discussed on a case by case basis. Failing to turn in an assignment will result in a 0.
• Work that is not received at all will receive a grade of zero. All assignments should be submitted to Google Classroom on the due date.

Notes from the Student Handbook:

1. Final Exams & Seniors: Students will take semester and final exams when scheduled to do so. Seniors may be exempt from the semester exams in January and May at the teachers’ discretion if the student achieved a minimum grade of an A- for the two quarters in the semester.
2. Incompletes: A grade of Incomplete (I) will be given to a student who has unfinished course requirements because of extenuating factors such as protracted period(s) of illness. It is expected that the incomplete work be completed within ten (10) days after the close of a marking period; however, should a waiver be needed for extended time, the student should contact the Vice-Principal who will discuss the matter with the department head involved. If the work is not completed within the specified time (includes waiver where granted), the incomplete grade will become an F; otherwise the teacher will report a regular grade.
3. Sports Eligibility: Natick High School requires that students receive a minimum passing grade of D- or above at the close of the marking period (end of each term) prior to the beginning of a season and during said season.
4. Cell Phones: Natick Public Schools promotes the use of Technology as an effective environment for learning. However, given the degree to which unregulated use of cell phones and other personal electronic devices may interfere with teaching and learning the following regulations will apply. Cell phones and personal electronic devices other than a student’s assigned laptop must be turned off and not visible during the school day in classrooms, hallways during class time and all bathrooms. Cell phones may be used in the cafeteria, courtyard, library, and hallways during CDS and passing time.