Introduction to Art

Overview

In a nutshell, this class addresses the question "what is art?" Since the answer is a bit more elusive than the answer to "2 + 2", this course will lead you through a semester's worth of images and ideas, and focuses on three main areas:

• Theory: the motivations and effects of art.
• Practice: how art is actually made.
• History: the kinds of art that have already been done.

The textbook for this semester is:

Preble's Artforms, 8th edition
by Patrick Frank.
Published by Pearson Prentice-Hall.
Copyright 2006.
ISBN: 0-13-193081-8
Description: Features high quality reproductions and a down-to-earth, jargon-free presentation. This revised edition links the text to the companion CD-ROM.

The book will be available for purchase at the Fullerton College bookstore.

Evaluation:

• This is a 3-unit class.
  • The final course grade will be based on the student's performance in class and in completing assignments. Grade weight will be specified for each project.
• Attendance is mandatory.
  • An attendance sheet will be provided by the instructor every time the class meets. Make sure to sign in, since attendance records are entirely based on this sign-up sheet.

Contact info. To leave a message for the instructor, Sandro Corsi:

• Art Computer Graphics Lab: (714) 992-7000, press 1 at the prompt, dial ext. 28160
• Art Department Office: (714) 992-7317

Class Activities

• CD-ROM directions

1. Class 01
2. Class 02
3. Class 03
4. Class 04
5. Class 05
6. Class 06 catch up on computer lab activities.
7. Class 07
8. Class 08
9. Class 09
10. Class 10
11. Class 11
12. Class 12
13. Class 13
14. Class 14
15. Class 15
16. Class 16 make up computer lab activities missed.
17. Finals

Topics

1. Art Principles
   1. Introduction
      1. The Impulse for Art
      2. What do Artists do?
      3. Creativity
      4. Looking at Art
      5. Studying Art
   2. Visual Elements
      1. Line; Shape; Color; Texture; Pattern;
      2. Plane; Space; Mass; Time and Motion
   3. Principles of Design in Art
      1. Unity and Variety
      2. Balance
      3. Emphasis and Subordination
      4. Scale and Proportion
      5. Rhythm
   4. Themes and Purposes
      1. Art and Daily Life
      2. Art and the Sacred
      3. Art and the Social Order
      4. Art and Nature
   5. What is Art?
      1. Art and the Artist
      2. Art and Beauty
      3. Representational, Abstract, and Non-Representational Art
      4. Immediacy vs. Meaning
      5. Style, Form, Iconography
2. Art Mediums
   1. Drawing
      1. Purposes of Drawing
      2. Dry Media
      3. Wet Media
   2. Painting
      1. Encaustic; Fresco; Tempera; Oil; Watercolor, Synthetic Mediums;
      2. Painting Related Techniques: Collage, Mosaics
   3. Printmaking
      1. Relief: Woodcut, Wood Engraving, Linocut
      2. Intaglio: Engraving, Drypoint, Etching, Aquatint
      3. Lithography
      4. Screenprinting
      5. Monotype
      6. Photo-Mechanical processes
   4. Photography
      1. Photography as Science and as Art
      2. Photographic genres
      3. Photojournalism
      4. Straight vs. Manipulated
   5. Graphic Design
      1. Signs and Symbols
      2. Typography and Layout
      3. Illustration
      4. Digital Realms
   6. Sculpture
      1. Methods and Materials
      2. Sculpture and the Human Figure
      3. Sculpture and the Environment
   7. Functional Art
      1. Clay
      2. Glass
      3. Wood
      4. Fiber
   8. Architecture
      1. Structural Systems
      2. Purposes of Architecture
      3. Environmental Design
   9. Time Arts
      1. Performance
      2. Installation
      3. Film and Video
   10. New Media
       1. Digital imaging: natural media simulation vs. algorithmic generation
       2. Digital 3D: simulated, realized, and virtually realized
       3. Network communications: telepresence and virtual identities
       4. Active and interactive works: artificial intelligence
       5. Impact on art consumption: no originals or copies, only instances
3. World Art through Time
   1. Origins of the Impulse for Art
      1. The Oldest Art
      2. Prehistoric Art
   2. Ancient Mediterranean Worlds
      1. Mesopotamia
      2. Egypt
      3. The Aegean
      4. Greece and Rome
   3. Christian Art in Europe
      1. Rise of Christianity
      2. Byzantium
      3. The Middle Ages
   4. The Renaissance
      1. Early and High Renaissance
      2. The Renaissance in the North
      3. Late Renaissance in Italy
   5. The 17th and 18th Centuries
      1. Baroque Style in Europe
      2. The 18th Century
      3. Revolution
   6. Arts of Islam and of Africa
      1. Architecture: Mosques and Palaces
      2. Book Arts
      3. Decorative Arts
      4. Arts of Africa
   7. Arts of East Asia
      1. India
      2. China
      3. Japan
   8. America and the Pacific
      1. Pacific Cultures
      2. The Americas
   9. The Modern World: 1800-1945
      1. Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Realism
      2. Impressionism, Post-Impressionism
      3. Into the 20th Century: the Avant-garde; Fauvism, Cubism, Expressionism
      4. World War I and After: Dada and Surrealism
   10. Art Since 1945
       1. The New York School
       2. Sixties and Seventies Experimentation: Pop, Minimal, Earth, Conceptual, Feminist
   11. Art Since the Eighties: the Post-Modern World
       1. Painterly Image
       2. Issues and Identities

Outcomes

Students successful in this class will:

• Identify common themes and purposes that underlie the art of all cultures.
• Distinguish between representational, abstract, and non-representational art.
• Analyze formal elements in a work of art and explain how they function.
• Identify techniques and materials used to create various art forms.
• Identify styles of selected masterworks within the history of art.

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Created: 2005-02-04. Last Updated: 2008-05-05. This document originally at <http://www.sanedraw.com/LEARN/ACG/ART_110.HTM> Copyright 2008 by | Sandro Corsi |