The Blue Oak School art curriculum helps students develop a passion for works of art created by nature, others and themselves.
Students are challenged to develop sensitivity and awareness to the ways art touches our everyday lives and an acceptance and openness to the diversity of artistic expression. Students explore, risk and invite new ideas to ultimately develop the skills to find their own creative voice.
Art appreciation is integrated in the curriculum at every level as students visit art museums and galleries, identify paintings, sculptures and prints, as well as art created by specific artists studied in class. Artistic inspiration is discussed and explored individually. Students explore emotional responses to the work of other artists and learn to self-critique their work.
The art curriculum includes grade-specific goals in seven elements of design: line, shape, color, value, texture, space and form.
Lower School
In kindergarten and first grades, students explore contour line and line definition. They identify geometric shapes and draw two-dimensional figures, identify primary colors, create secondary colors and are introduced to warm and cool colors. The values of light and dark are introduced and various materials are used to experience textures. Students identify positions in space and construct three-dimensional shapes.
Second and third graders study contour line drawing, recognition of a variety of lines and use of these lines to create movement and feeling. They use basic geometric shapes to draw and organic shapes are introduced at this level. In the field of color, complementary, tertiary and color families are introduced. Students are asked to show light and dark in their works and begin basic shading techniques. Textures are created and lines are used as a means to depict texture. Students produce simple perspective using size and placement on the page and the use of overlapping as a form of perspective is introduced. Free-form construction is studied, and natural and organic forms are introduced.
Fourth and fifth grade students continue with the above practice, expanding each concept. They use lines to create value and expression. Students combine geometric shapes to create new shapes and produce complex geometric free form shapes. They are also introduced to positive and negative shapes. Color is studied by exploring the science of primary colors and use of the various family color groups to create emotion. Shade and tint is introduced and students produce a monochromatic painting as well as a grey scale and value scale. Students create textured patterns, identify one-point perspective and atmospheric perspective. They also use shade to create three-dimensional forms and are introduced to abstract and realistic forms in creation of their artworks.
Middle School
To be supplied