Looking at and Responding to Art 

EPAD: The Elements and Principals of Art & Design
WEEK 3 (May 21)

Applying and interpreting EPAD in an interactive way

with accessible materials - acrylic paint, chalk pastels, collage

Black and white whimsical lines flowing from the side profile of a woman’s face like her her hair is forming tangled swirly lines and shapes. Splashes of baby blue and baby pink (faint) in background. Her face is simple, yet detailed outline with obvious facial features being emphasized (chin, eyelashes, long neck, nose, mouth, ear). In the diagonal corner from her face is similar swirls and lines coming from the edge. This area is dense with shapes (circular), lines and spots of blue/purple. Many detailed patterns and shapes make her hair shape and complex (these patterns can be circles, triangles, dots, jagged edges, repetition, and deep dark areas where they stand out. Whimsical lines can be solid, dotted or swirled. The concept/theme is: beauty, feminine, detailed, madness/beauty, random.

A student wrote down the above description of the photograph that she brought in. She used the descriptive language that we had reviewed that relate to EPAD. I was to create a piece of work based only on her description. And I did the same for someone else. 

Below are examples of other students work based only on a written description, and displayed next to the original image that they didn't get to see until afterwards.

  

Applying and interpreting EPAD in an interactive way - safe outcome     

I think this was an excellent way to apply and interpret EPAD. It was done in the most accessible and interactive way that I have ever experienced. The process was very safe and inclusive of people at varied levels and abilities. Usually it is really challenging to teach the EPAD concepts. Most visual artist who are not graphic designers haven’t heard of EPAD even if they know about it's different attributes. I found it really useful to learn about how the elements are combined to make up principles. 

I have been studying composition and color theory at Emily Carr for a while and find that it really needs to be repeated and learned over and over again, and experienced over and over to understand and integrate the information in a way that is really usable. Visual art can get extremely complex! I think that this exercise is a really effective way to jump right in and get your feet wet with it. I think the problem solving aspect really helped, where first I had to describe my image for another person, trying to think from their point of view, and then get to experience it immediately as a student from the other end, trying to build an image based on another’s description.  Also it was a very playful and lighthearted approach with a high feeling of success at the end by seemingly everyone. There was some struggle and frustration but it seemed to be just enough to be engaging and not off-putting.

For assessment you could focus more on the process and people could do a self assessment for formative learning or summative purposes. This could also work for any grades, 8 - 12. Definitely it could be effective for senior students 11/12 who can grasp more complex ideas too. Extensions could be that we repeat the exercise regularly, which might be a fun regular game or practice. And it could be done with paint, printmaking or graphics to learn new skills. Adaptations could be that students only have to write very short descriptions, even single words, particularly for ELL students. And the directions/steps could be written out for all students.