Grade by Grade
A. Creating and Presenting · Creating Art: The Creative Process, Design and Studio Techniques

Creating Art: The Creative Process, Design and Studio Techniques: Unit Review

A1.1 A1.2 A1.3 A2.1 A2.2 A3.1 A3.2 A3.3 C1.1 C1.2 C1.3 C2.1About 40 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can use the creative process and document it in a portfolio.
  • I can name, explain and use the elements and principles of design for self-expression and to communicate messages.
  • I can choose and use drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, mixed-media and digital techniques safely.
  • I can present my work with labels, mats, statements and a portfolio.

Words to know

creative process
Eight stages from challenging and inspiring to reflecting and evaluating, used flexibly with loops back.
elements of design
Line, shape, form, space, colour, texture, value.
principles of design
Balance, emphasis, contrast, proportion, rhythm and repetition, movement, unity and harmony, variety.
value
How light or dark a tone is.
vanishing point
Where receding parallel lines meet on the horizon line.
relief print
A print from the inked raised surface of a plate.
armature
An inner support framework for a sculpture.
artist statement
A first-person explanation of what, how and why.

Let's review!

In this unit you used the creative process from idea to presentation, kept a sketchbook and portfolio, learned all seven elements and eight groups of principles of design, and used them for self-expression and to communicate messages. You worked in drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture and mixed media, and digital and photographic art, and you presented your work like a professional.

This review has questions from every lesson. Try each one, then press Show answer. If a part feels tricky, go back to that lesson.

ELEMENTS (the parts)PRINCIPLES (the arrangement)lineshapeformspacecolourtexturevaluebalanceemphasiscontrastproportionrhythm and repetitionmovementunity and harmonyvarietyarrangedby
The vocabulary of this unit on one page: seven elements of design (left) are arranged using the principles of design (right). Every art work you made used both.
drawinggraphite, charcoal,ink, pencil crayonpaintingwatercolour, gouache,tempera, acrylicprintmakingrelief, monoprint,stencil3-Dcarving, modelling,armature, assemblagedigitalphoto, layers,stop motiontraditional and emerging media you usedpresenting: mats, labels, statements, portfolio, exhibition
The five production areas of the unit. Whatever the medium, the finished work is presented: matted or mounted, labelled, photographed and explained in an artist statement.

The Creative Process and Your Art Portfolio

1

List the eight stages of the creative process in order.

2

Why is the creative process described as a loop?

3

What is the difference between a process portfolio and a presentation portfolio?

Generating and Planning Ideas: Brainstorms, Thumbnails and Research

1

Name three idea-generating strategies.

2

Apply "Reverse" from SCAMPER to "a snowman".

3

What are the seven parts of a good plan?

Elements of Design: Line and Shape

1

Which line direction suggests action, and which suggests calm?

2

What is the difference between geometric and organic shapes?

3

Why does drawing negative space help accuracy?

Elements of Design: Value, Form and Shading Techniques

1

Name the parts of light on a sphere from lightest to the cast shadow.

2

What is a high-key drawing?

3

Name four shading techniques.

Elements of Design: Colour Theory and Colour Schemes

1

What are the three properties of colour?

2

Name the complement of red-violet.

3

Which colour scheme uses one hue with its tints, tones and shades?

Elements of Design: Texture and Space

1

What is the difference between actual and implied texture?

2

In two-point perspective, which lines stay vertical?

3

List three depth cues that do not need vanishing points.

Principles of Design: Balance, Emphasis, Contrast and Proportion

1

What are the three main kinds of balance?

2

Give three ways to create a focal point.

3

What is hierarchical scale?

Principles of Design: Rhythm, Pattern, Movement, Unity and Variety

1

Name the five kinds of rhythm.

2

What is the difference between unity and variety?

3

What is the difference between actual and implied movement?

Drawing Media and Observational Drawing

1

Which is darker: 2H or 2B?

2

Describe sighting.

3

A cup is 1 unit tall; a vase is 3.5 units tall. If the cup is drawn 4 cm tall, how tall is the vase?

Painting Media and Techniques

1

Which paint is transparent: gouache or watercolour?

2

What is the difference between wet-on-wet and wet-on-dry?

3

What is a glaze?

Printmaking: Relief, Monoprint and Stencil

1

In relief printing, which areas print?

2

Why must letters be carved backwards?

3

What does 4/15 under a print mean?

Sculpture, Collage and Mixed Media

1

Classify: carving soap, modelling clay, gluing found objects together.

2

How do you join two pieces of clay?

3

What is an armature for?

Digital and Photographic Art

1

What is the difference between a raster and a vector image?

2

How many frames are needed for 6 seconds of stop motion at 12 fps?

3

Name two responsible practices when sharing photos online.

Art for Self-Expression: Feelings, Identity and Personal Symbols

1

What is the difference between abstract and non-objective art?

2

Suggest two choices to express "overwhelmed".

3

What is a personal symbol?

Art That Communicates: Ideas, Information and Messages

1

What three questions guide message-based art?

2

What is a visual metaphor?

3

Give two ways to improve legibility.

Presenting and Sharing: Portfolios, Artist Statements and Exhibitions

1

What goes on an exhibition label?

2

A 30 cm × 20 cm drawing (height × width) gets a mat window with 0.5 cm overlap. What size is the window?

3

What three parts make a simple artist statement?

Just for fun

Riddle: I have seven elements but I'm not the periodic table, and I follow principles but I'm not a school rule. What am I?

A well-designed art work.

How to use this review

Do one or two lesson sections a day rather than all at once. For each question, try first, then check. Mark any you got wrong and go back to that lesson's worked example and practice. Then take the quiz. For practical skills (shading, perspective, colour mixing), a quick sketchbook exercise is the best review: redo one activity from any lesson you found hard.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

Which stage of the creative process involves testing materials and techniques?

2.

Which is a principle of design?

3.

On a sphere lit from the right, the cast shadow falls...

4.

Blue and orange together form which scheme?

5.

Far-away mountains painted paler and bluer show...

6.

Which pencil makes the darkest marks?

7.

Which paint lets you paint light colours over dark ones once dry?

8.

A print is always...

9.

A 3600 × 2400 pixel photo printed at 300 ppi is...

10.

An artist statement should explain...

For parents and teachers

How to use the review results:

  • Mixing up stages or skipping planning → revisit The Creative Process and Your Art Portfolio and Generating and Planning Ideas.
  • Confusing elements with principles → revisit Elements of Design: Line and Shape (the overview) and the summary diagram in this review.
  • Flat-looking shading or inconsistent light → revisit Value, Form and Shading Techniques.
  • Colour-mixing or colour-scheme mistakes → revisit Colour Theory and Colour Schemes.
  • Perspective errors (VPs off the horizon, slanted verticals) → revisit Texture and Space.
  • Compositions without a focal point, or cluttered work → revisit the two Principles of Design lessons.
  • Wrong proportions in observational drawing → revisit Drawing Media and Observational Drawing and practise sighting.
  • Muddy paint or blurred edges → revisit Painting Media and Techniques.
  • Backwards text or patchy prints → revisit Printmaking.
  • Cracking clay or collapsing figures → revisit Sculpture, Collage and Mixed Media.
  • Resolution or file-format errors → revisit Digital and Photographic Art.
  • Vague intentions or unclear messages → revisit Art for Self-Expression and Art That Communicates.
  • Missing labels or vague statements → revisit Presenting and Sharing.

Practical skills grow with practice: short daily sketchbook sessions help more than long, rare ones. Keep supervising sharp tools (craft knives, lino cutters, wire) and hot tools (glue guns, ovens).