Spain 2º ESO Visual and Audiovisual Arts
Chapters: 4
1. Artistic and cultural heritage
Artistic genres · Major artistic manifestations · Geometry in art and architecture
- 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.
- Architecture: How Buildings Stand, Look and Feel – Architecture is the art and science of designing buildings and spaces for people. Every building must carry its load to the ground: by post and lintel, by the arch, vault and dome, or by a steel and concrete frame. Each age had its style: Egyptian, Greek and Roman, Byzantine, Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, and modern. Architects plan with drawings (plan, elevation, section), models and CAD, and design space, light and access so that places work and feel good for everyone.
2. Formal elements of image and visual language
Visual language as communication · Point, line and plane · Shape, colour and texture · Visual perception · Composition
- Graphic Design – Graphic design is planning pictures, words and shapes so that a message is clear, useful and attractive. Designers use elements (line, shape, colour, type, image, space) and principles (alignment and grid, hierarchy, contrast, proximity, repetition, balance and white space). They follow a process: brief, research, ideas, sketches, digital drafts, feedback and final artwork. Graphic design is used in posters, logos, book covers, packaging, signs, websites and apps.
- Elements of Art and Principles of Design – The elements of art are the building blocks an artist uses: line, shape, form, colour, value, texture and space (many teachers also add the point). The principles of design are the rules for arranging those blocks: balance, contrast, emphasis, movement, rhythm and pattern, proportion and scale, and unity with variety. Knowing both helps you make art on purpose and talk about any artwork clearly.
3. Artistic and graphic expression: techniques and procedures
Creative process operations · Stages of the creative process · Basic plane geometry · 2D art techniques · 3D art techniques
- The Design Process: From Problem to Product – The design process is a loop of steps designers use to solve a real problem for real people: investigate the need, define it in a brief and a measurable specification, generate many ideas, build a prototype, then test and evaluate it against the specification. Whatever fails sends you back round the loop. This repeating is called iteration, and it is how almost every product, app, building and artwork is improved.
- Geometric Constructions: Drawing Exactly with Compass and Straightedge – A geometric construction draws a figure exactly using only a compass and a straightedge (a ruler used for straight lines). Key constructions: the perpendicular bisector of a segment, the bisector of an angle, a perpendicular from a point to a line, angles of 60°, 30°, 90° and 45°, a triangle from three sides (SSS), two sides and the included angle (SAS) or two angles and a side (ASA), and regular polygons such as the hexagon. Each works because equal compass arcs make equal lengths, which give congruent triangles.
- Drawing and Painting – Drawing is a way of seeing and thinking: we use it to record what we observe, to remember, to plan designs and to express ideas. A good drawing starts by blocking in: seeing objects as simple shapes (sphere, box, cylinder) and checking proportions with light lines. Line then defines edges, and line weight (heavy or light) shows what is near or far. Light gives form: on a lit object we see the highlight, mid-tone, core shadow, reflected light and cast shadow. Tonal value runs from white to black; strong contrast of light and dark is called chiaroscuro, and a picture can be in a high key (mostly light) or low key (mostly dark). Dry media (graphite, charcoal, pastels, coloured pencils) build tone with hatching, cross-hatching, stippling and blending; wet media (ink, watercolour, gouache, acrylic, oil) build it with washes, layers (glazes) and mixing colours. Linear and atmospheric perspective show space, and figure drawing uses proportion, gesture and foreshortening. Artists record ideas in sketchbooks and use traditional, alternative and digital tools safely and sustainably.
- Three-Dimensional Design: Making Forms That Look Good and Work Well – Three-dimensional (3D) design shapes real objects that have length, width and depth: sculptures, products, furniture, packaging, jewellery, set and spatial design. Artists build forms by carving away (subtractive), building up (additive), joining parts (constructive) or casting in moulds. Good 3D design also fits the human body (ergonomics, using body measurements called anthropometrics), learns from nature (bionics), protects and sells products (packaging), works for people with different abilities (universal design) and cares for the planet.
4. Image and visual and audiovisual communication
Purposes of visual communication · Reading images · Still and moving images · Making simple audiovisual productions
- Graphic Design – Graphic design is planning pictures, words and shapes so that a message is clear, useful and attractive. Designers use elements (line, shape, colour, type, image, space) and principles (alignment and grid, hierarchy, contrast, proximity, repetition, balance and white space). They follow a process: brief, research, ideas, sketches, digital drafts, feedback and final artwork. Graphic design is used in posters, logos, book covers, packaging, signs, websites and apps.
- Media Literacy – Media literacy is the skill of reading, questioning and creating media: news, ads, videos, posts, films and games. Every media text is made by someone, for a purpose, for an audience, using forms, conventions and techniques that shape how we feel. A media-literate person checks the source, evidence, other coverage and the original before believing or sharing, notices bias and filter bubbles, and makes their own media responsibly.
- Film Studies: How Films Tell Stories – A film is a fast series of still images (frames) that our brain sees as motion. Filmmakers speak a visual language: shot size, camera angle, camera movement, lighting, mise-en-scène, sound and editing. Each choice changes what we feel. Cinema began in the 1890s, gained sound in the late 1920s and colour later, and grew through movements like Soviet montage, Italian Neorealism, the French New Wave and Indian parallel cinema. Film criticism means describing, analysing, interpreting and judging a film with evidence.
- Filmmaking Basics – Making a film happens in three phases: pre-production (idea, script, storyboard, planning), production (shooting with camera, sound and light) and post-production (editing, sound, music, colour and titles). The camera tells the story through shot size (wide, medium, close-up), angle (high, eye level, low) and movement (pan, tilt, tracking). A crew shares the work: director, producer, camera operator, sound recordist, lighting, actors and editor. Editing chooses, cuts and orders clips so the story flows. Animation, such as stop motion, makes still pictures move by showing many frames each second.