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.
Places
- DambullaThe Murals and Sculptures of Dambulla Cave Temple: An Artistic Guide
- GadaladeniyaGadaladeniya Viharaya: Understanding Gampola Period Art Through Stone Carvings
- Lankatilaka ViharayaLankatilaka Viharaya: Architecture and Art Heritage on Panhalgala Rock
- SigiriyaSigiriya Frescoes: The Forms, Colours, and Artistic Secrets of the Flower Maidens
Lankatilaka Viharaya: Architecture and Art Heritage on Panhalgala Rock
A rock, a brick mansion, a great Buddha image and five deity shrines: learn to read Lankatilaka in Udunuwara as one Gampola period work, with key exam points for students.
9 min read
Gadaladeniya Viharaya: Understanding Gampola Period Art Through Stone Carvings
How did Gampola period builders bring rhythm and movement to granite? Learn to read the pillars, dancers, image house and Vijayothpaya at Gadaladeniya, with key exam points.
8 min read
Poster Colours for Beginners: Colour Mixing, Flat Washes, and Light and Dark
Streaks and muddy patches in poster colour usually come from the mix. Learn the right thickness, flat washes, tints and shades, and how to show a round fruit.
6 min read
Working with Oil Pastels: Layering, Blending, and Creating Surface Textures
Oil pastels can do far more than fill shapes with flat colour. Learn how to layer, blend and scratch out textures by changing your pressure and the way you hold the stick.
7 min read
The Murals and Sculptures of Dambulla Cave Temple: An Artistic Guide
Most visitors to Dambulla Cave Temple look at the statues and miss the ceiling. A guide to reading the murals and sculptures, for Grade 10 and 12 art students and travellers.
7 min read
Understanding the Colour Wheel: Primary, Secondary, Tertiary, 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.
6 min read
Pictorial Composition: Harmonizing Shapes, Colours, and Space for Impactful Art
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.
6 min read
Preparing for the Grade 11 O/L Art Examination: Exam Strategies and a Practical Plan
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.
5 min read
Sigiriya Frescoes: The Forms, Colours, and Artistic Secrets of the Flower Maidens
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.
9 min read
Still Life Drawing: From Object Arrangement to Light, Shadow, and Colour
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.
6 min read
Traditional Sri Lankan Motifs: A Basic Guide to Drawing the Liyawela, Lotus, and Animal Motifs
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.
5 min read
Watercolours for Beginners: Water Control, Washes, 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.
7 min read