NCEA L1 Visual Arts cheat sheet

Visual Arts (NCEA Level 1)

• The visual arts standards assess four interrelated strands: understanding art in context, developing practical knowledge, developing ideas, and communicating and interpreting meaning.

• Elements of art: line, shape, form, space, colour, value (tone), and texture. These are the building blocks used to describe and analyse any artwork.

• Principles of design: balance, contrast, emphasis (focal point), movement, pattern, proportion, rhythm, unity, and variety. Principles describe how elements are organised.

• Colour theory: primary colours (red, yellow, blue in traditional pigment theory), secondary colours (mixes of two primaries), tertiary colours, complementary pairs (opposite on the colour wheel), analogous colours (adjacent on the wheel).

• Value (tone) is the relative lightness or darkness of a colour; a value scale runs from white through greys to black and is used to create the illusion of three-dimensional form.

• Drawing conventions: contour lines describe edges, gesture lines capture movement, hatching and cross-hatching build tone, and perspective (one- and two-point) creates depth using a horizon line and vanishing points.

• When analysing a work, use the sequence: describe what is visible, analyse how elements and principles are used, interpret meaning and intent, then evaluate success against purpose and context.

• In an artist model study, record the artist's name, the work's title and date, media, and the specific techniques or ideas you are adapting into your own practice.