The 4 C’s of Art

Visual Arts programs in Everett Public Schools emphasizes the 4 C’s of Art while giving students the opportunity to work with a wide variety of methods and media. (This fits perfectly with TABChoice.)

The 4 C’s of Art areThe development of artistic skill/control over art tools and materials through deliberation and attention to detail.

Composition: Intentionally organizing Art Elements using the Art Principles to create a visually unified design.

Communication: Applying art knowledge and skill to express, identify, and evaluate ideas and feelings in artwork.

Creative Process: An approach to solving problems and expressing ideas in unique and personal ways.

The Creative Process includes the following steps:

Develop Your Perceptions:  Thinking about Experience

  • Recognize your aesthetic responses to the world
  • Pursue your interests through study, play, and work experiences
  • Foster relationships that strengthen you
  • Think about and analyze your experiences

Gather Ideas: Thinking of Possibilities

  • Brainstorm to solve problems
  • Research to look for ideas in the work of others
  • Think about and discuss your ideas
  • Write and sketch your ideas

Practice: Refining Your Work

  • Select ideas for development
  • Create detailed sketches/drafts
  • Organize materials and plan time to use them
  • Practice techniques
  • Get suggestions and help from others

Create: Making Your Product

  • Select your best idea for development
  • Plan your time to meet deadlines
  • Utilize techniques well
  • Revise work as needed to achieve goals of your project
  • Finish your work

Present: Sharing Your Work

  • Respect your work and the time and effort you put into it: don’t bend, fold, smear or crush it.
  • Mount/mat your work for display
  • Show your work to friends and family

Reflect: Evaluating Your Work

  • Self-evaluate your work honestly
  • Reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of the work
  • Think about what you learned
  • Think about what you need to learn/do better to improve your work

The steps of the Creative Process and how they can be correlated to the writing process:

  • Thinking About Your Experiences (research)
  • Gathering Your Ideas (free writing, brainstorming and research)
  • Planning and Practicing (drafting/ editing)
  • Creating Your Artwork (final draft)
  • Preparing Your Work for Display (reading/presenting)
  • Reflecting on Your Work (critiquing finished work)

This process is seen as cyclical, and the steps are not necessarily done in order.