Upcoming competitions

Have you considered entering Operation art?  Students may submit artworks up to A2 in size in any chosen medium. (As long as it is flat) They can be in any theme however, we encourage students to create artworks that are uplifting, inspiring and positive. Artworks are due to Visual Arts teachers by Week 11 3rd April. Feel free to speak to any of our lovely Art Teachers to discuss your ideas or get feedback!

Upcoming Events

​​On the 7th of March, Year 11 Photography students will be travelling to Cockatoo Island and Circular Quay to photograph the built and natural environment. Students will use their newly learnt skills and techniques to capture the raw beauty of the UNESCO heritage site.

Cockatoo Island was Australia’s shipbuilding and ship repairs site from 1857-1991. In 1913 it became the official dockyard of the Royal Australian Navy. This Island has a rich history and will be the perfect setting for Year 11 student’s photographic series. Student photographs of Cockatoo Island and Circular Quay will be published in the Week 8 newsletter- stay tuned! 

Year 8 Cubism 

Year 8 Visual Arts students have been exploring the art movement called Cubism, pioneered by the artist Pablo Picasso. The Cubist painters rejected the idea that art should copy nature, or that they should adopt the traditional techniques of perspective.They instead wanted to emphasise the two dimensionality of their surface and aimed to show multiple angles, geometric forms and fractured objects in their work.

Our mini Picassos have created their own cubist inspired artwork featuring chairs. Students have enjoyed working with coloured pastels and charcoals to create their artworks. They have learnt about composition in abstract and cubist artworks and have developed skills in their own art making practice.

8VISAF Picasso’s Chair - Still Life Drawing Practise

Our mini Picasso’s of class 8VISAF experimented with drawing still life in class this week. To make this more challenging; students started by drawing two different styles of chairs placed in the centre of the room and then had to move positions and draw these from a different perspective. The class had a great time rearranging furniture and attempting something new. Many students found this task challenging, however they pushed themselves to try their very best. We look forward to seeing these being brought to life with added colour using the mediums of pastel and charcoal in our lessons this week.

Year 7 Popular Culture

Year 7 Visual Arts students are currently working on their Pop Art drawings of food items. We have explored the work of both Claes Oldenburg and Monica Ajenjo. With Valentine’s day recently happening Mrs Psaila’s class had decided to draw popular food items related to St Valentines day. Students drew ice creams, macaroons, cakes and a variety of other sweets and treats. Together we practised drawing using the grid method and colouring in using burnishing and blending techniques. The results speak for themselves and we are truly amazed by the talents that we have in the Year 7 cohort. 

Year 10 Visual Arts
Collaborative Artworks

Year 10 Visual Arts students are exploring themes of ‘suburbia’ this term. For their first artmaking task, students were able to select other members of the class to form a group of four. This collaborative artwork explores the suburbia through a “window”, inspired by the artmaking of Jeanie Baker. Each artist is creating a window pane, which when placed together, forms a completed window. Students in their concepts explore past, present and future as well as their chosen art medium in order to convey their ideas to an audience. 

Year 11 Photography

Year 11 Photography students have been exploring the capabilities of DSLR Cameras in class. In preparation for their upcoming excursion students have been experimenting with shutter speed and depth of field in class time. Shutter speed is the amount of time the camera shutter is left open, this exposes light onto the camera sensor. Essentially, it’s how long your camera spends whilst taking or processing a photo. This has a few important effects on how your images will appear (crisp or blurry). Collectively students have been able to work out the settings required to capture a movement. Each student was able to freeze a movement or motion creating a crisp image as seen in the images of the strawberry dropping into a glass of water.

Mrs Psaila
Visual Arts Teacher

Mrs Claudia Harris
Leader of Learning Visual Arts

Mrs Shandel Kemal
Visual Arts Teacher