Visual Arts

Visual conventions are traditional, cultural and/or stylistic ways of working in visual arts, craft and design. They reflect agreed expectations for various art forms such as painting or sculpture. Visual conventions are impacted by factors such as the time and culture they were created in and the choice of materials. They include the elements and principles of art/design.

Visual arts processes are the processes used to create artworks. They include methods, tools, techniques and technologies relevant to the selected visual arts form. Visual arts processes involve working with 2D, 3D or 4D visual arts forms.

Visual arts practices are the ways that artists go about their work. They include exploring ideas for artworks, working with ideas and responding to artworks.

The examples are suggestions only and are neither prescriptive nor exhaustive. Teachers can draw from these examples to:

• make decisions about the order and pace with which they introduce and develop knowledge and skills
• support differentiation and meeting the needs of students with diverse learning needs
• plan Arts learning across a range of delivery contexts, such as multi-disciplinary units across The Arts and other learning areas.

Throughout their Visual Arts learning, students use questions based on Viewpoints (personal and imaginative, cultures and worlds, conventions, and processes) as an inquiry tool for considering their visual arts practice from multiple perspectives, as artist or as audience. Suggested questions that explore the Viewpoints are included alongside the examples of knowledge and skills. These may be asked by teachers and students when they are learning about or with the visual arts knowledge or skill.

Teachers are best placed to make decisions about the examples and questions that will best suit their students and context. Graphics suggest an introductory point for each of the knowledge and skill examples.