Gladstone High School eNewsletter

Art Report - Jack Kennewell

This year has got off to great start in the GHS Art Studio. Our Year 7s have shown a great level of skill and creativity through their work on Pop Art. Many of their finished artworks in the style of Andy Warhol or Roy Lichtenstein show their understanding of techniques and design choices to fit into the style, whilst still making their artwork their own.

The Year 8s have been learning and testing their knowledge on colour theory this term, alongside creating some fantastic mandala artworks. After practicing and designing their patterns, these required them to apply their geometry skills to plan out a unique radial pattern on a round canvas and use their colour theory knowledge to create an effective colour scheme. With the help of the students we have also created a colour theory booklet quiz. It has a lot of fun game modes and has help students memorise key vocabulary on the topic which they are including in their written reflections.

In Year 9 Visual Arts, students have been learning the technical skills and knowledge of using perspective and depth in landscape art. Through a visual study, they have learned compositional techniques, such as using orthogonal lines and vanishing points as well as looking into other elements, such as how colour is used to create a sense of depth in a painting. Students have completed a number of sketches to use these skills in different compositions and are now working on their final landscape artworks. In Creative Arts, students have been working on a product design folio, to come up with their own label design for this year’s wine vintage. Students have researched other labels, conducted their own experiments with mixed media, and through documenting, annotating and reflecting on their work, have refined their own finished wine labels.

Our year 12s in Creative and Visual Art have made a great start towards their Practical Skills Folios and Visual Studies. There is an incredible diversity between students in their chosen range of art disciplines they are developing through these assignments including fashion, sculpture, pottery, prop making, digital design and watercolour. It has been great to see them plan out their roadmaps for the projects they will engage with this year and I have seen them all continue to grow as artists, both towards technical skills with their chosen mediums and in the artistic intention they want to show through their works.