Year 10 students in the Drawing, Painting and Sculpture class have spent the last couple of weeks learning about various Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists: famous for their ground-breaking approach to what constitutes art.
The class is working on a term-long project. While they are only exploring different techniques at this stage, not their concepts, their painting, printmaking and sculpture has been amazing. For their major assessment task, students will pick their favourite of these artists and create an original piece informed by the chosen artist's painting technique and style.
The students have been practicing a variety of painting techniques to get a feel for which they prefer and excel at. These include the stippling approach used by famous Pointillism artist George Seurat, the thick layering and movement shown in Vincent Van Gogh's artworks, or the pixelated appearance of Paul Cezanne's landscapes that went on to become Cubism.
Students have also experienced en plein air — painting in the outdoors. They spent a lesson painting the surroundings of the Yarra Valley visible from our College in vibrant watercolours.
Their final work will be submitted along with their folio for assessment next term and we cannot wait to see what these talented students create.
Below Year 10 Purple student Izzy Walliker reflects on the task:
I really have enjoyed the watercolour painting, during which we captured the school in an Impressionist style. I liked how we learnt a variety of skills throughout the classes but also stayed in the realm of Impressionism. I really love Van Gogh's take on post-Impressionism; he captures flowers and nature in such an inspiring and beautiful way. I love the use of colour and brush strokes throughout his work and his unique take on the world through his art. I have thoroughly enjoyed this topic. I have been able to express myself in a new way and furthered my artistic skills.
