Recipe for a Good Sketchbook

A students Guide

Ingredients• Annotation – ideas, explanations, inspirations.• A fluent style throughout• Inspirations not just from the internet... i.e magazines,

books, images of locations, gallery visits etc...• Artist Research – found not just on the www.• Layout (considered and arranged) • Your own drawings, photographs, paintings, samples,

collages, documentation of your own artwork.• Technical information (where appropriate)

Directions1. Begin with research into the themes , artists from handouts

PowerPoint presentations and in on your briefs.

2. Remember to print things out as you go and most importantly stick things in – do not leave it all until the week before your deadline!

3. Gather secondary source materials from magazines, internet and library books, your primary source comes from your own work that you produce.

4. Experiment and explore own own artwork and your ideas as much as possible, don’t just stop when you have taken a few good images or experiments.

5. Continuous annotation throughout, describing what you have done and your opinions as you do it as well as showing a clear link between your work and the work of others is crucial.

6. Descriptions of artistic techniques recorded in bullet points.

7. Continue to experiment with ideas working towards a final outcome including artistic experimentation, research into artists and other subjects related to your ideas.

Frequently asked Questions

• What order does my sketchbook go in? The order that you do it in. Do not leave

spaces as this will then change the order and therefore it will not be the natural progression of your project. It should show the development of ideas, a bit like telling a story.

• Do I need to fill my sketchbook?

No, its quality not quantity, as long as you make

sure you have covered all the things asked of

you by your tutors to the best of your ability.

What should I write in my sketchbook? • Describe what you have do in class. Describe each image that you

include in your sketchbook in some detail write about the materials and techniques you used, why you did it what were your ideas, and what influenced you ?

• Write about what went well and what did not work so well and why?

• Refer to artists that have influenced your experiments and/or the activity your tutor assigned or artists given to you to research by tutors.

• Write about any problems you have encountered and how you have solved them.

• What are you going to do next.• Take notes at all lectures, PowerPoint presentations,

demonstrations and any one to one tuition your receive about your own experiments.

• Make lists of things you need to do.

What and how should I write in my sketchbook?

• The first four units you are going to work towards are units 1 Introduction to Visual Language, Unit 2 introduction to research skills, Unit 3 Introduction to critical and contextual awareness, Unit 4 Introduction to Materials, techniques and Processes.

• The assessment criteria asks you to critically compare everything different ways to communicate visually, different ways to research including primary and secondary research, a range of critical perspectives that influence the analysis of art and design and range of materials and techniques used in art and design.

SOME OF THE ACTIVITIES INVOLVED IN CRITICAL

THINKING

• Making a claim and supporting it

• Using appropriate evidence

• Making links between ideas

• Asking questions

• Evaluating

• Predicting

• Describing

• Analysing

• Comparing and contrasting

• Identifying problems and solutions

• Critical activity is all about you expressing your opinions about art + design and backing them up with evidence. Tell us why and what has influenced you.

• How many artists do I research?

As many as possible , these should depend on who you find

when researching ideas for your work as well as the ones

suggested by tutors. Do not write lots of biographical details

about the artist unless asked to this is irrelevant! Do not include

artists CV’s or lists of their exhibitions etc. It is more important to

tell us about the artists ideas and themes in their work and how

this influences you.

Other bits of useful info...• Do not write or draw in pencil in your sketchbook. Be

creative and try as many different mark making tools in your sketchbook when drawing.

• If your writing is difficult to read, type it up• Do not use brightly coloured pages, you will not get

extra marks for this.• Do not Leave bits of loose paper in the sketchbook.• Do not leave blank pages in between• Come prepared to class with pritt sticks and pens.

Consider what pens you will need if your sketchbook has black pages?

Finally....Make your sketchbook interesting, inspiring,

neat but also a working sketchbook so not PERFECT, individual... Make it your own!

Any student that fails to bring sketchbooks to every lesson will told to work in the library for the duration of the class and marked absent!!!