China 九年级（初三） Arts: Fine Art
Chapters: 5
1. Sem.1 U1 World art tour
Art of Asia, Africa, Latin America; Western classical and modern art
- Art History: From Cave Walls to Today – People have made art for at least 40,000 years. Prehistoric art shows animals and hands on cave walls. Ancient civilisations made art for rulers, gods and the afterlife. Classical traditions arose in Greece and Rome, India, China, Africa and the Americas. The Renaissance brought perspective and realism; modern art (from about 1860) broke those rules; contemporary art uses any material. To appreciate any artwork, describe it, analyse its elements, interpret its meaning in its context, and judge why it works.
2. Sem.1 U2 Paper-cut animation
Character and scene design; stop-motion filming
- Animation: How Still Pictures Start to Move – Animation is a row of still pictures (frames) shown quickly one after another. The eye and brain join them, so we see motion. Frame rate (fps) says how many frames are shown each second: more fps = smoother motion. Key frames hold the main poses; in-betweens fill the gaps (tweening). Main types: hand-drawn (frame by frame), stop motion (paper cut-outs, clay), 2D computer, 3D computer. Raster animation stores pixels; vector animation stores shapes as maths, so it scales without blur.
3. Sem.1 U3 Creative drawing
Form and structure; creative space
- Sketching: From Simple Shapes to Quick Figures – A sketch is a quick, loose drawing that catches the main shapes, proportions and light of what you see. Good sketching follows a path: look and measure, see simple shapes, block in with light construction lines, add tone from one light source, then refine. Quick figure sketches start with a line of action and use the head as a unit (an adult is about 7½ heads tall).
4. Sem.1 U4 World heritage
Light of civilisations; 600 years of the Forbidden City
- The Forbidden City: A World Heritage Palace – The Forbidden City in Beijing was built in the early 1400s and is more than 600 years old. It sits inside a moat and red walls, and its main halls stand on one straight line, the central axis. The outer court was for ceremonies and the inner court was for family life. Timber frames, interlocking brackets, yellow glazed roofs and white marble bases made it a masterpiece, so UNESCO listed it as a World Heritage Site in 1987.
5. Sem.2 (current edition)
Masterpieces of world art; protecting heritage; comics and animation; 20th-century Chinese art
- World Masterpieces, Protecting Heritage, Comics and Modern Chinese Art – To read a masterpiece, ask four questions: what is the subject, how is it built (structure), what do the colours do, and what technique was used. Light, damp and dust slowly harm old art, so museums keep it dim, cool and dry. Comic characters begin from simple shapes: circle for friendly, square for strong, triangle for sly. In the 1900s Chinese artists blended brush-and-ink tradition with Western methods such as oil painting and perspective.