A Sketchbook Pathway Step 4: Celebrate Individual Journey & Personal Discovery
“The real voyage of discovery is not to seek new landscapes but to look upon the world with fresh eyes.” Marcel Proust, Writer
When pupils are on their sketchbook journey, how does the facilitator “hold” the sketchbook space?
Look out for signs that a pupil has made a small leap or might be about to start a small personal exploration, so that you can help the pupil recognise it too, and remind them they have permission to follow.
How best to spot those small branches in a journey? By talking and tuning in.
Recognise these moments (of creative instinct) are often fragile and easily ignored or destroyed.
Sensitively encourage, by “suggesting” more materials, ideas, prompts. Never control or “tell”.
Gently keep pushing the pupil to look “outwards” (by looking at other stimulus or externalising by drawing, painting etc) so that what is happening “inwards” can be fed.
Talking and Recognising
Key Questions to Ask During the Sketchbook Journey:
What do I already know?
What do I want to know?
How did that idea come into my mind?
Can I trace back where it came from?
What was I thinking about when I was working?
What strategies are working well for me?
What do I like and why?
What worked less well and why?
What would I do differently next time?
Where might my journey take me next?
What do I want to know? What can I explore?
