By analyzing and putting ourselves in the mind of the artist, we can better study how differently society functioned then, compared to now.

Students in Year 7 were introduced to the formal elements of drawing and used a drawing media to broaden their understanding of drawing. They built skills in shading and line drawing. These skills are taught through the study of portraits. They were inspired by an Italian Jewish artist and sculptor Amedeo Modigliani who was known for portraits and nudes in a modern style characterized by elongation of faces, necks, and figures that were not received well during his lifetime but later found acceptance.

Students in Year 8 learned to blend and mix colour pencils and markers to create tone and texture in the composition of an animal. Composition and planning are a key learning point in this project, linking to the artist studied that supported students’ understanding of depth, tone and colour. They studied Franz Marc who was a German expressionist who believed that color had a vocabulary of emotional keys that we instinctively understand, much in the same way that we understand music. This language of color was one element that Marc used to raise his art to a higher 'spiritual' plane; another was his choice of subject.

Students in Year 9 explored line, pattern, colour, composition and mixed media through the study of imaginative landscapes. They designed a composition based on sky line of their choice. They were inspired by the imaginative landscapes of an Australian artist and designer, Friedensreich Hundertwasser whose passion for spirals and arabesque lines was largely inspired by Viennese Secessionists like Gustav Klimt.

Congratulations to our Lower Secondary students for their dedication and great achievement! Go YCIS!