8 - 01 ARTIST GUILD:
In the medieval period, students of various ages would enter an artist’s shop as an apprentice. In two to six years he would have learnt his craft. After serving his apprenticeship he would go out as a journey man, and after several years he would become a master. Such programmes still exist in various parts of world especially in craft areas.

8 - 02 THE ACADEMIES:
In addition to the Guilds, in the middle of the 16th century, a different form of art education, the academy, surfaced. From the 18th-century these academies have firmly established their base. An academy known as Ecole des beaux arts, which was founded in 17th-century still exists today. The method of instruction in academies essentially was lecture, drawing and more drawing. This programme led to the formation of a definite set of rules for art students. These rules, too numerous to mention, fell into the following categories,
• Proportion
• Colour
• Expression
• Composition
Generally students were kept under the steady supervision and influence of one master instructor instead of studying under many instructors, as it is happening today. The goal of the student was to imitate the master; those who imitated most accurately were considered as exceptional students.

8 - 03 THE BAUHAUS APPROACH:
The Bauhaus, the German School of thought, has basically intellectualised visual education and developed a programme that permits students to combine creative invention with aesthetics & technology. Students here were not required or even encouraged to produce premature practical results, instead they were offered the opportunity to experiment freely with various ideas (concepts, materials and tools within structured problems. In theory, the attitude, knowledge and skills acquired in the course would be carried over into an applied visual arts activity. The Bauhaus School is important because it has influenced foundation programmes of visual studies in most countries. And due to this the art schools have accepted the fact that exposure to the basics is desirable for their students during the first year.

8 - 04 ELEMENTS AND PRINCIPLE OF APPROACH:
Based on the Bauhaus method which was known in America in 1920s, some art educationists recognised a relationship between Bauhaus thinking and their own. Thereafter independent work has been done to upgrade basic art instruction throughout the nation. Visual art educators realised that a basic structure was essential for teaching visual arts. The basic matrix was developed showing the interrelationship of elements in principles of design and many foundation courses today are still being taught by this method. Elements and principles of approach are primarily two-dimensional orientations. Each element and principle is isolated. The student experiences each and in turn periodically combines them to create beauty or, aesthetically pleasing objects.

8 - 05 NATURE APPROACH:
Two-dimensional Principle Approach is the Nature Approach. In this approach to foundation studies, the instructor makes references to the elements in principles as they are found in nature. Each assignment is solved with nature as the source, nature as the ultimate designer. If the use of colour is being studied, the student is told to refer to an insect wing or stone or flower.

8 - 06 UNSTRUCTURED APPROACH:
The "Anything Goes Attitude" in the art world had made its way through this approach. Such programmes which lack a systematic syllabus and continuity, which are totally based on an Instructor or which Change from One Instructor to another Instructor have made little progress in refining the discipline.

8 - 07 CONTEMPORARY APPROACH:
Recently, there has been a trend among students to return to the basics. Students have been demanding concrete information on the basics of visual studies. The instructor needs to be sensitive about theorising and and Defining the Goals of Visual Studies.

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