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Art notes

Art Articles

Longer written articles on the things a resource sheet cannot explain on its own - how colour works, how to set up a still life, how to prepare for the paper.

Art sites on the map

The temples, rock paintings and carvings the syllabus asks you to appreciate, placed where they actually are. Pick one to read the guide.

Colour theoryGrades 6-9Fundamentals

Understanding the Colour Wheel: Primary, Secondary and Complementary Colours

Every colour decision you make in an art paper comes back to the colour wheel. Here is how it is built, what each group of colours does, and how to use it in your own work.

4 min read
CompositionFundamentalsExam technique

Composition: Arranging a Picture That Holds Together

Two students can draw the same scene equally well and get very different marks. The difference is usually composition - where things sit on the page, and what the eye does when it arrives.

3 min read
Exam preparationGrade 11O/L

Preparing for the Grade 11 O/L Art Paper

The O/L art paper rewards preparation more than talent. Here is what each part asks for, how to plan the terms leading up to it, and the mistakes that cost the most marks.

4 min read
Art historySri Lankan artAppreciation

The Sigiriya Frescoes: What to Look For and How to Write About Them

Sigiriya appears in the Grade 11 syllabus and in appreciation questions year after year. Knowing the technique, the style and two or three specific features is worth far more than calling it beautiful.

3 min read
Still lifeObservation drawingPractical

How to Set Up and Draw a Still Life

A still life is marked on how well you observed, not on how many objects you fitted in. This walks through choosing the objects, arranging them, and working from first block-in to finished colour.

4 min read
Traditional designSri Lankan artPattern

Traditional Sri Lankan Motifs: Liyavel, Nelum and the Creature Forms

The same handful of motifs runs through temple murals, brass work, textiles and school design briefs. Knowing how each one is built makes design work far quicker and far more convincing.

4 min read
WatercolourTechniquePractical

Watercolour for Beginners: Washes, Water and Working Light to Dark

Watercolour is unforgiving in one specific way - you cannot paint light over dark. Everything else about the medium follows from that one rule.

3 min read