Year 7 Visual Arts – Term 2 (WA Curriculum): Observational Drawing and Composition Mastery

What this unit covers

In Term 2, Year 7 Visual Arts in the WA Curriculum centres on the unit “Observational Drawing and Composition Mastery”.

Students develop observational drawing skills, explore composition and colour theory principles, and reflect on their artistic practice through hands-on making experiences.

Lesson sequence (10 lessons)

The unit breaks down into the following lesson-by-lesson sequence — each title below is a teachable lesson, in order:

1. Learning to See: Basic Observational Drawing Techniques
2. Contour Line Drawing: Capturing Object Outlines
3. Light and Shadow: Adding Dimension to Observational Drawings
4. Understanding Composition: Rule of Thirds and Visual Balance
5. Creating Focal Points: Leading the Viewer's Eye
6. Primary, Secondary and Tertiary: Exploring the Colour Wheel
7. Warm and Cool Colours: Creating Mood and Atmosphere
8. Combining Skills: Observational Drawing with Colour Theory
9. Artist Reflection: Analysing and Improving Your Artwork
10. Audience Interpretation: Presenting and Discussing Final Artworks

Curriculum codes in this unit

Content codes:

Reading the codes: WA codes (the ones starting with WA) pack the year level, learning area, strand and content number into one string, while the national Australian Curriculum v9 uses a different anatomy that starts with AC9 — same content family, different labels. Our complete WA Curriculum guide decodes both, character by character.

Planning notes for Term 2

WA terms run roughly 9–11 weeks, and in 2026 Term 2 runs from Monday 20 April to Friday 3 July — 11 weeks for WA public schools. With 10 lessons in this unit, that leaves breathing room for assessment, moderation and the weeks that disappear to carnivals, camps and public holidays — plan the assessable work to land two to three weeks before the end of term rather than in the final week.