Fall 2011 Courses

Your Creative Mind; An Introduction           Ages 4-6        Saturday 9:00 - 10:30 

This course is made for kids who love being creative and artistic. We will explore a variety of projects in order to keep our ideas flowing while learning and expanding on the basic knowledge of art. It is never too early to learn about line and shadow, or to explore artists and their various styles. Since our minds are in constant motion and in need of new adventures, each class will explore two different projects related to each other. We will be kept busy and creatively stimulated while we learn and explore ART. We will use a variety of surfaces and mediums throughout the year, starting with pencil and pastel and moving into paint and sculpture. Our projects will include, watercolour painting, pastel drawing, clay sculpting, collage, building and designing, pen and ink, paper mache, still life drawing, portraiture and many more exciting projects.

Drawing, Painting and Sculpture              Ages 7-11          Saturday 10:30 – 12:00pm    

This class will focus on the techniques of drawing, painting and sculpture. The three areas will be practiced in a rotating sequence, trying a new project every couple of weeks. The drawing part of this course will be introduced first through the basics of shading, line, form, and composition, and will be advanced slowly by practice and observation. We will then learn painting through a variety of artists from past generations and today. We will discuss the evolution of painting and attempt to mimic styles from certain movements such as Impressionism. As well we will find our own unique style and inner artistic voice through experimenting and expressing. Through the practice of two dimensional media, we will be better able to move to the three dimensions of sculpture. We will plan each creation in 2-d before we move into a variety of media in order to explore the avenues of sculpture. We will not only improve our techniques, but explore art of the past, how it influenced the present and also our own future in art!

Fine Drawing and Cartooning Basics/       Ages 9-13            Thursday 6:30 - 8:00

                                                                                                         Saturday 12:00 – 1:30

In this course the first half of the semester will be devoted to the basic, and intermediate drawing skills. We will learn how to draw reality with shading and line. Then once we have learned to draw the everyday, we will move into the world of cartoons using our view on reality and how it is drawn to exaggerate it into the world of cartoon. The second half of the year we will move on to painting, both fine painting techniques and then cartoon colour and ink. We will learn about famous painters and talk about animators and cartoonists. It will be a mix of the fine art world and the world of animated creativity.

Advanced Art and Creative Expression            Ages 11-15          Monday 6:30 - 8:00 

This course is tailored to students with a love of art who have some previous artistic experience in drawing and painting. We will be working on our drawing and painting skills through a variety of projects including landscape painting, still life studies, portraiture, (both human and animal looking at the underlying anatomy of each), and a variety of improvised exercises. We will utilize our skills on a variety of expressive projects, as well as the ones listed above, which, will expand our idea process and allow us to unlock our creative spirit without inhibition. These expressive projects are essential in growing as an artist just as much as the detailed studies, because they provide students with the ability to explore new media and freely express themselves, keeping their creative spirit alive! Students remain inspired by the constant shuffle in media and subject matter, not overstaying our interest on any project. We will however return to each media and subject throughout the course of the year to provide growth as well as variety

Fine Arts Fundamentals                                         Ages:7-10        Friday 4:30 - 6:00

Afternoon Arts Adventure

Afternoons   12:30 to 3:30                                     Ages: 3-6    

(participants must be 3 by the end of June) 

The Afternoon Arts Adventure program at the Oakville Academy for the Arts will take children through a magical introduction to the Arts.  Young learners will have the option of joining a Wednesday/Thursday session or a Wednesday or Thursday session – both taught by highly qualified Early Childhood Educators and practicing visual artists.  This unique and special program will provide opportunities for young artists to work and experiment with abundant visual arts media, explore ballet and jazz dance fundamentals with a professional Academy dance instructor during a daily 45 minute class, enjoy a healthy snack, make music and play in our beautifully equipped Kinderschool classroom.

During the school year, children will, along with their teachers, use the visual arts to explore themes and ideas of interest and meaning for them.  For instance, a trip to the museum might offer inspiration that leads the group to explore papier mache and the construction of dinosaur sculptures.  One child’s love of the colour green can easily translate into a study of Canadian artist Emily Carr and the use of green in her famous British Columbia forest paintings.  Throughout all exploration, fundamental elements of colour and design will be reinforced in developmentally appropriate and captivating ways – using both familiar art materials and artist-quality materials.  As in any high-quality studio experience for very young children, this program will be strongly process-based as opposed to a take-home craft approach.  Children will be encouraged to gain mastery through the repetition and use of consistent media like paint, paper, dough and clay over time – it is through this approach that young artists begin to build upon former skills and become deeply competent and creative! Within the context of each session, participants will take part in a 45 minute dance class.  One of the weekly sessions will focus on primary ballet fundamentals and one will emphasize an up-tempo jazz element.  Both dance genres will emphasize expressiveness, simple floor routines, body sense as well as rhythm and co-ordination.