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❝Unit Standards Guidelines for Unit Presentation and Judging❞

The requirement for PATNZ Unit Standards assessment candidates is to submit one beautifully finished piece of exhibition standard to each Unit, which will readily demonstrate the ability of the candidate to teach that particular subject.

At each assessment, two Units will have been offered and the candidate may elect to submit a piece in one or both of these Units. Only one piece per Unit is allowed.

There are two exceptions to this -

EXCEPTION 1  UNIT 4 - ANIMALS AND BIRDS

Two pieces MUST ALWAYS be presented for this Unit one for each (a) and (b), regardless of whether the candidate is submitting pieces to more than one Unit at this assessment.

  (a) Unit 4A - Animals  (b) Unit 4B - Birds

EXCEPTION 2  UNIT 13 - GOLD, LUSTRE AND OTHER METAL PRODUCTS

Two pieces MUST ALWAYS be presented for this Unit, one for each (a) and (b), regardless of whether the candidate is submitting pieces to more than one Unit at this assessment.

  (a) Unit 13G - Gold  (b) Unit 13L - Lustre

If you are allocated the responsibility of judging -

  1. Give each piece your undivided attention.

  2. Judge each piece on its technical excellence.

  3. Personal preference must not influence your decision.

  4. Judging is a TOTAL COMMITMENT until all results are finalised.

Below is a slip upon which judging is based - each judge fills in a separate form for each piece. It is necessary for a piece to gain 70 points out of 100 should there only be one judge, 140 out of 200 for two judges, 210 out of 300 for three judges, etc.

Judging must be of a high standard and it is strongly recommended we have at least two judges per assessment. A scrutineer is to be appointed for each assessment to collate points after judging.

Firing/Quality - 10 points

Technique/Application - 30 points

Colour/Value - 30 points

Design/Suitability - 30 points

FIRING QUALITY:

(i)ii The choice of finish may be matt, satin or gloss. It is the uniformity which is important.

(i)ii Stilt marks, chipped, peeling or crazed paint will lose marks.

(iii) Overall cleanliness is required.

TECHNIQUE AND APPLICATION:

(i)ii The artist must display an understanding in the execution and application of the chosen technique.

(ii)i Each Unit will, to some degree, require different instructions regarding technique and application. Read these carefully.

COLOUR/VALUE:

(i)ii Tonal value is one of the most important features in any realistic/naturalistic painting and should also be considered in most other styles.

(ii)i Tone (Value) is the degree of light to dark of a colour.

(iii) The artist must display an understanding of colour in all of its forms.

DESIGN/SUITABILITY:
See following for notes on ELEMENTS OF DESIGN and
THE PRINCIPLES FOR GOOD DESIGN AND SUITABILITY


ELEMENTS OF DESIGN:

Good design should have both interest and unity. This can be achieved by using some or all of the ELEMENTS OF DESIGN which can be divided into the following:

LINE can be short or long, thick or thin, light or heavy, curved or straight, energetic or lazy, smooth or textured, broken (intermittent).

DIRECTION can be horizontal, vertical, oblique (slanted).

SHAPE can be defined as:
  Regular - square, round, oval, triangle, rectangle.
  Irregular - non geometric, distorted. It can have form such as a three dimensional shape.

SIZE of shapes, colour areas, positive and negative areas, amount of texture are important for proportion, balance and interest in the design.

COLOUR can be used in its pure form - primary, tinted light and dark, used in complementary and contrast schemes.

TONE (VALUE) is the degree of light and dark of a colour.

TEXTURE can be rough, smooth, soft, hard, pitted, scratched or raised.

All these ELEMENTS are used together in different combinations to make interesting and effective designs. (To understand and use them to their best advantages is sometimes daunting to the artist!)

PRINCIPLES are the guidelines for the use of the ELEMENTS and are important in order to create a visually satisfying and unified design.

Not all Elements are needed to achieve a good design but it is important to consider all the different Principles.

ELEMENTS »Line »Direction »Shape »Size »Tone »Texture

PRINCIPLES »Balance »Harmony »Repetition »Rhythm »Unity »Contrast »Dominance »Gradation »Radiation

Putting these Elements and Principles together is what ❝A Good Design Is All About❞


THE PRINCIPLES FOR GOOD DESIGN AND SUITABILITY:

These are -

BALANCE is the most important Principle and can be achieved with colour and shape. One can have too much colour impact as easily as not having enough definition between the dark and light areas of the painting.

The shape of the subjects must be balanced together, nothing is more boring than every subject, silhouette or outline being the same size or shape. The shape of the piece (painting area) needs to be balanced with the subject.

To create good balance in design it is important to adhere to the principle that thirds or uneven number/areas will be conducive to good Design Balance.

Colour is also an important consideration of Balance. Balancing colour masses or repeating the same colour will achieve the right effect.

HARMONY results from the repetition or similarities of colour, shape, texture or any element in design.

REPETITION also brings RHYTHM as our eyes move from shape to shape, colour to colour, or line to line as though along a pathway, thus suggesting movement.

UNITY, HARMONY, REPETITION and RHYTHM give consistency which is important to a design.

CONTRASTS of a colour, line, shape, size, etc. add interest and increase the depth of perception. Contrasts should be used unequally to have effect, e.g. more light than dark and more dark than light, rather than equal amounts of each.

DOMINANCE of only one element such as size or colour is essential. Only one thing should dominate and the artist must make sure that the viewer understands what is the important part of the painting.

GRADATION from large to smaller, light to darker, curved to straight is important for good design, especially in naturalistic painting. Tone variations, gradation of focal area from strong tone to lighter tone, texture and reduction of sizes helps to establish dimension and realism.

RADIATION is the flow of direction away from, or back to a focal point.


SUITABILITY: The porcelain selected must complement the design and technique.