The Visual Arts Department teaches skills and promotes understanding and exploration of creativity and talents. Students are exposed to a diversity of art forms, building understanding and appreciation for visual human artistic expression. Upon graduation, students will be prepared for further academic studies in the arts, as well as having gained a life-long appreciation for the visual arts.
This course is designed for novice art students. Coursework emphasizes improvement of drawing ability, application of the elements and principles of art, introduction to composition, and use of various materials and techniques. This course satisfies the prerequisite for all Visual Art 2 courses.
UC/CSU approved course
This course is designed for novice art students and requires an understanding of computers and digital media. Students will learn and apply the elements and principles of design to various digital art projects including digital drawing and painting, photography, animation, and video production. They will use both desktop computers and iPads to create and manipulate images using Adobe Creative Suite and Affinity Designer. This course and Visual Art 1: Studio are similar, and it is not recommended that students take both courses. This course satisfies the prerequisite for all Visual Art 2 courses.
UC/CSU approved course
Priority enrollment is given to seniors, then juniors and finally to sophomores.
Visual Art 2/Digital Filmmaking 2 is a continuation of Digital Filmmaking 1 and provides an extension of the materials learned in the previous year. This course is recommended for those students wishing to pursue post-secondary educational opportunities in the media arts. Students will be required to write and plan their projects in and out of class with extensive filming work to be done outside of class.
UC/CSU approved
Prerequisite: Instructor approval required
Visual Art 2/Digital Photography is a continuation of Visual Art 1 with further emphasis on visual concept development. No previous photography experience is necessary. Students learn and apply the visual and technical characteristics of Masters of Photography through composition, exposure and artistic technique. SmartPhones, iPads and popular photography apps are used for image capture
and editing.
UC/CSU approved course
Prerequisite: Visual Art 1
Visual Art 2/Drawing is a continuation of the techniques introduced in Visual Art 1, with emphasis placed on advanced drawing skills. Students will use a variety of media, which may include graphite, charcoal, colored pencil and ink.
UC/CSU approved course
Prerequisite: Visual Art 1
Visual Art 2/Graphic Design introduces students to the fundamentals of graphic design, exploring visual communication through a variety of digital mediums. Students will learn core design principles, including composition, typography, color theory, and image manipulation, while developing their creative problem-solving skills. Projects will focus on practical applications such as poster creation, and digital layout, preparing students to communicate effectively through visual design.
UC/CSU approved course
Prerequisite: Visual Art 1
Visual Art 2/Painting is a continuation of the techniques introduced in Visual Art 1, with emphasis placed on advanced painting skills and understanding of color theory. Students will use a variety of media, which may include watercolor, acrylic, and pastel.
UC/CSU approved course
Prerequisite: Visual Art 1
Visual Art 2/2D-3D Design is a continuation of the techniques introduced in Visual Art 1, with emphasis on a variety of projects, using techniques such as assemblage, papier-mâché, collage, and sculpture.
UC/CSU approved course
Prerequisite: Visual Art 1
Studio Art AP: Portfolio is a course designed for highly motivated and self- directed students. In this course students will continue to develop sketchbook practices, studies, and portfolios, and expand their capacity for artistic thinking and art making. Students will engage in the practice of researching, creating, questioning and evaluating practices that will result in the production of original art that is intentional and technically sophisticated, and demonstrates a mastery of art making materials, tools, and approaches.
Through art creation (drawing and painting, mixed media); observation; documentation; and study of historical and contemporary art and artists, students learn to work with artistic themes and concepts. This will lead to an in-depth, sustained investigation culminating in a personal series. The first portion of this course will explore the development of artistic themes, art making tool, materials, as well as past and present techniques used in art making.
During the second semester students will focus on their personal series through sustained investigation. Students will frequently engage in both formal and informal critiques in where they will make critical judgements of their own work and that of their classmates. Students will develop artist statements that express the intent, conceptual framework and material process and practices that are inherent in their work. In the final segment of this course students will present their portfolios and collaborate in the curation of a digital Gallery as well as a pop-up exhibition space.
UC/CSU Approved
Prerequisite: VA1 and VA2 and/or approval by AP Studio Art instructor
Visual Art 2/Modern Art is a continuation of Visual Art 1, with emphasis on examination of the trends and movements of the last 100 years. The course examines art, sculpture, photography and architecture. The first half of the course looks at the basic movements of the first fifty years (surrealism, Dadaism, cubism, etc.). The second half of the course examines the emerging styles of the last fifty years (pop, earth art, performance, video, new illusionism, etc.). A specific focus is on the Bay Area art scene.
UC/CSU approved course
Prerequisite: Visual Art 1
