Chabot College
Fall 2007
Course Outline for Art History 1
INTRODUCTION TO ART
Catalog Description:
1 – Introduction to Art
3 units
Architecture, sculpture, painting, photography and design in relation to human inventiveness in
providing for material and aesthetic needs; orientation to contemporary and historic art forms and
principles. (Formerly ART 1; may not receive credit if ART 1 has been completed.) 3 hours.
[Typical contact hours: 52.5]
Prerequisite Skills:
None
Expected Outcomes for Students:
Upon completion of the course the student should be able to:
1.
2.
3.
4.
compare and contrast the basic visual elements;
analyze and explain the principles of design;
identify, evaluate and define two-dimensional and three-dimensional media;
make critical, aesthetic value judgments about 2-D and 3-D art.
Course Content:
1. Line
a. contour outline
b. direction and movement
c. implied lines
2. Shape and mass
a. 2-dimensional
b. 3-dimensional
c. shape as symbol
3. Light and value
a. implied light
b. modeling mass in 2-D
c. actual light
4. Color
a. theory
b. color properties
c. light and pigment
d. color harmonies
e. optical effects of color
f. emotional effects of color
5. Texture and pattern
a. actual texture
b. visual texture
c. pattern
6. Actual space
7. Implied space
a. linear perspective
b. foreshortening
Chabot College
Course Outline for Art History 1, Page 2
Fall 2007
Course Content (Cont.)
c. atmospheric perspective
8. Time and motion
9. Form and function
10. Unity and variety
11. Balance
a. symmetrical
b. asymmetrical
c. radial
12. Emphasis and subordination
13. Scale and proportion
14. Rhythm
15. Drawing
a. dry media – pencil, metalpoint, charcoal, chalk, crayon
b. wet media – pen and ink, brush and ink
16. Painting
a. encaustic
b. fresco
c. tempera
d. oil
e. watercolor
17. Painting materials
a. binders
b. vehicles
c. supports
18. Printmaking
a. relief
b. intaglio
c. lithography
d. screenprinting
19. Photography
a. discovery and invention
b. camera obscura
c. photography as art – landscape, portrait, still life
20. Sculpture
a. modeling
b. casting
c. carving
d. assembling
21. Architecture
a. purposes
b. structural systems
c. form and function
22. Looking at art
a. art and the artist
b. art and audiences
c. art and beauty
d. art and appearances
e. representational art
f. abstract art
g. non-representational art
Chabot College
Course Outline for Art History 1, Page 3
Fall 2007
Methods of Presentation:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Lecture, discussion and demonstration
Examples of student, professional, and historical artwork
Slide show
Museum visit
Student presentations
Assignments and Methods of Evaluating Student Progress:
1. Typical Assignments
a. Write a one-page essay on a historical painting that identifies it as representational,
abstract or non-representational and explains what specific visual characteristics of
the painting make it so.
b. Discuss why you think the authorship of a work of art is important to the viewer’s
appreciation of that work. Refer in your discussion specifically to “The Polish Rider,”
which may or may not have been painted by Rembrandt.
c. Write a four-page essay on an original work of art at a local museum assessing the
work’s content, that is, its message or meaning.
2. Methods of Evaluating Student Progress
a. Tests and quizzes
b. Grading of written and oral reports
c. Final exam
Textbook(s) (Typical):
Living With Art, seventh edition. Mark Getlein, McGraw-Hill, 2005.
Special Student Materials:
None
DZ G:\Curriculum2007\Arth1
Revised: kk 10/03/06