(Pencil & Paints)
A grumpy giant lives in a house with a big garden and orders the children playing there to get out. He builds a high wall around his garden to keep out trespassers. Winter comes but when spring arrives it doesn't thaw out the giant's garden. After several years of unbroken winter, the giant almost freezes to death. Then one day a small part of the wall crumbles and a child wriggles through. Spring starts to break through the crack in the wall as well. The giant quickly tears down the wall and shares his garden with everyone.

(Natural Vegetation)
The seven tribes of Uagadu, one of the richest lands in Africa, all worshipped the snake Bida that brought the rains. In return, Bida asked them for one offering each spring -- to eat the prettiest maiden in the land. Each of the tribes took turns making the sacrifice until it was the turn of the Bambars. The tribal elders chose the beautiful 16-year-old Sia to be sacrificed, but Amadu was madly in love with her. To save her from such a dreadful fate, Amadu killed the snake. From that day on, drought turned Uagadu into a desert. The elders accused Amadu and Sia of treason and banished them. But the young couple found another land and lived happily ever after.

(Construction Paper Cut-Outs)
Four friends build a snowman and unknowingly roll the fireplace shovel into the biggest snowball that is the snowman's body. At night the snowman comes to life and becomes good friends with Sparky, the family dog. He confides his innermost dream of traveling to the sun to Sparky and also tells him how badly he'd like to see what a fireplace looks like. The next morning the children discover that their snowman has vanished and in its place is just a scarf, a hat, and a small metal shovel half buried in the snow.

(Finger Paints)
The Sun and the Moon used to live on the earth where the Sioux Indians had set their teepees. But things changed when the two came to realize that they were as different as night and day. They often argued until finally one day they had such a serious falling out that the Sun decided to move to the sky. When the Moon found out, it was beside itself with envy and decided to do the same thing. The Sun and the Moon never again exchanged another word and from that time on, the Moon follows the Sun where ever it goes, day after day.

(Mixed Media)
Tiddalik the frog was so thirsty, he drank all the water in the rivers and lakes of Australia, turning the land into a desert. One day, the wise old bat had an idea-if they could make Tiddalik laugh he would cough up all the water in his belly. Each of the animals tried to make Tiddalik laugh, but to no avail. At last it was the Eel's turn. He did a funny snake routine, but only when he got so close to Tiddalik that the tip of his tail tickled his belly did the frog laugh. He laughed so hard that water started pouring out of his mouth and soon the rivers and lakes filled up again. Australia went back to being as beautiful as it had always been.

(Watercolors)
Max wants to play ball with his father, but his father has to finish his work first. To teach Max that he should never put off until tomorrow what he can do today, he tells him the classic story of the Three Little Pigs, who leave home in search of adventure. They each build a house, but only the house of the eldest brother, the hardest worker, resists the attack of the big bad wolf. Moral of the story: sloth never pays off.

(Molding Clay)
For Christmas Margaret's Granddad gives her the figures of a ballerina and a one-legged tin soldier joined together on a base shaped like a heart and tells her the story of how they became united forever. A little boy with lots of toys and tin soldiers didn't know that they all came to life at night. His bravest soldier, his one-legged tin soldier, falls in love with a ballerina, but one night he is accidentally blown off the window sill and sets out upon a perilous journey through gutters, sewers and the sea until he ends up in a fish's tummy. The fish is caught and sold at the market to his former owner's mother. This is how he is reunited with the ballerina. But when she is blown off the mantelpiece into the flames, he dives in after her. The slow fire melts the two figures into one and is saved in the nick of time by the boy.

(Sketch Painting)
It was eight in the morning and the underground was full of men wearing damp raincoats, women with umbrellas, children on their way to school, and old folks who couldn't sleep. Regina was with her mother and was a bit angry. She wished she could have slept in. Regina hated rainy days and hated the morning ride even more. Luckily, a man got on at the next step and started playing a musical instrument that Regina had never seen before. Regina couldn't help staring at the man as she listened spellbound to the music. The other passengers could only hear the gypsy melody. But Regina heard the strange instrument's voice as it spoke the following words, ?Close your eye's and listen to the violins story.

(Mixed Media)
Mr. Grisini decides to take up the violin. He buys an instrument and one day as he is practicing, a ghost appears. The screeching sounds of his violin always seem to conjure up the same gloomy specter, which always disappears through the same wall. One day, Mr. Grisini finally builds up the courage to knock a hole in the wall where he discovers a real treasure-a Stradivarius, the only one of its kind in the world. Ever since then, like magic, Mr. Grisini never again made that unbearable noise and became one of the greatest violinists of his times.

(Construction Paper Cut-outs)
Tiny Tom, who was as tiny as a grain of rice, always sang to avoid being stepped on. One day he begged his mother to let him go out alone and take his father's lunch to him at work, but on the way he had to take cover from a sudden downpour. He hid under a cabbage plant and was soon swallowed alive by a hungry cow. When his parents went out looking for him, they heard his voice coming from inside the cow's tummy. He'd soon fly out safe and sound as the cow passed gas.

(Crafts & Cut-Outs)
Tsar Saltan overhears three sisters talking. The youngest, Duchess Alexandra, says that if she were chosen to be the Tsar's wife, she would wish nothing better than to become the mother of a handsome son who would be the best king in the world. The Tsar chooses her to be his bride. While he is away at war, she gives birth to a beautiful, healthy baby boy. Her jealous sisters, green with envy, plot against the young queen, and as a result the Tsar orders Alexandra and her baby son Guidon to be sealed into a barrel and thrown into the sea. Years later, the barrel drifts onto an island. The boy, now a sturdy youth, saves a swan from a falcon. The swan turns out to be a magical bird and builds a golden palace for Guidon and his mother. Guidon becomes a wise king and his kingdom grows. When Tsar Saltan hears of the famous island he visits it and is reunited with his queen.

Color is one of the seven basic building blocks of art along with Line, Form, Shape, Value, Space, and Texture. Learn how different colors have different impacts on how emotions are conveyed through art.

Form is one of the seven basic building blocks of art along with Line, Space, Shape, Value, Color, and Texture. Through the eye-fooling genre of Trompe L'oeil, we look at a variety of techniques artists use to transform shapes into forms and give their art depth and dimension.

Check out the entire collection of KQED Art School videos!

Line is one of the seven basic elements of art along with Shape, Form, Texture, Value, Space and Color. These are the building blocks of all art and are a good place to start when making, looking at or analyzing works of art. However, lines are not only limited to drawings. They apply to photographs, videos and anything that is placed anywhere deliberately to convey meaning. Learn about the different types of lines here.

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Shape is one of the seven basic building blocks of art along with Line, Form, Texture, Value, Space, and Color. Using still life paintings of fruit, we look into how artists' create their individual style and develop a unique approach to making shapes.

Check out the entire collection of KQED Art School videos!

Space is one of the seven basic building blocks of art along with Line, Form, Shape, Value, Color, and Texture. Using site specific art as a starting point, we highlight the techniques that artists use to control and manipulate space in their work.

Texture is one of the seven basic building blocks of art along with Line, Form, Shape, Value, Space, and Color. Here we look at the how visual artists try to stimulate our sight and our other senses through different textures. They create something that we can see and feel or imagine the feeling of and try to engage us in that way as well. Learn how different textures (and implied textures) convey different feelings here.

Check out the entire collection of KQED Art School videos!

This is an interactive image that links to videos from YouTube and other websites that explain and show examples of each Element of Art. Students will use this as an exploring tool to build their understanding on each element. This will build a stronger foundation to help them evaluate and refine artwork.

Strand: RESPOND (L1.V.R.)
Students will understand, evaluate, and articulate how works of art convey meaning for the observer, as well as the creator (Standards L1.V.R.1–4).

Standard L1.V.R.2:
Analyze how one’s understanding of the world is affected by experiencing visual imagery.

Standard L1.V.R.3:
Interpret an artwork or collection of works, supported by relevant and sufficient evidence found in the work and it various contexts.

Value is one of the seven basic building blocks of art along with Line, Form, Shape, Color, Space, and Texture. Through the lens of black and white photography, we look at how artists produce value scales and contrast, and how different kinds of lines change the way we perceive depth and space. Learn how different values can invoke different emotions in this video.

Elisabeth Higgins O'Connor creates poignant, larger-than-life figures that are seemingly cobbled together with reused scrap materials including wood, textiles and newspaper.