A Sketchbook Pathway Step 1: Open Out & Give Permission
“To be creative you have to be curious” – Philippe Starck, Designer
The Sketchbook Journey starts with a process of opening out our thoughts, at the same time as we give ourselves permission to explore.
Teaching (or facilitating) art is an opportunity to set a task to which we don’t already know the answer. Teachers will know the broad stroke of skills, experience or knowledge which pupil’s will develop through a particular project or task, but the exact journey itself and the personal outcome, unlike in most other subjects, should yet to be defined.
Everything in art is really a research project, and putting sketchbooks at the centre of learning encourages us to focus upon exploration. To really research and explore, we need to open up thinking and give permission for personal journeys to take place.
Ask a Question or Set a Provocation
How much does a cloud weigh?
How would you design a home if you lived in Anglo Saxon times?
Explore the birdlife in the garden.
Make a self-portrait which contains a secret message.
Create the Context Around the Question
We’re going to make sculpture
We’re going to make self portraits using colour and line
We’re going to make posters to display in the school to show people what we are passionate about.
Choose a Lens as a Starting Point
For example a lens might be:
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Specific: We’re going to respond by looking at sculpture made by inhabitants of Easter Island.
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Imaginative: We’re going to use our imagination to create a different world.
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Combined: We’re going to use science and art to explore plants near the shore.