Taking Creative Risks
By Paula Briggs
This resource questions our attitude to taking creative risks. How can we encourage children (and adults) to take more creative risks, and what might the benefits be?
To access all content, I would like to join as…
An Individual
Creative practitioners, educators, teachers, parents, learners…
An Organisation...
Schools, Colleges, Arts Organisations: Single and Multi-Users
AccessArt is a UK Charity and we believe everyone has the right to be creative. AccessArt provides inspiration to help us all reach our creative potential.
Starting with Safe and then Pushing the Wall! | AccessArt: Visual Arts Teaching, Learning & Practice
January 22, 2014 @ 9:50 pm
[…] This term in the AccessArt Art Club for ages 8,9 and 10 we are exploring how we can Encourage Children to Understand Risk in Drawing. […]
Nicola Rankin Fast
January 25, 2014 @ 4:35 pm
Getting children to take risks…I love to get children and young adults to take risks and expand their knowledge when it comes to art. A few weeks ago I had some lessons and the reults were great…charcoal, wax crayons and other things as well..I told them…get messy…they didn’t want to…I showed them HOW to get messy…they loved it and all joined in!
One thing I like to do as well is to make art out of rubbish and to explore the possibilities. The two shots I have included are art with other things. A tractor lawnmower out of an old tin can and a plastic bag tropical bird.
Sheila Ceccarelli
January 27, 2014 @ 4:53 pm
Nicola, I completely agree with what you are saying in encouraging children to get messy – a real challenge! One of my favorite sessions was this one:
/teenagers-battle-it-out-with-acrylic-paint/ where teenagers started a ‘polite conversation’ in paint and ended up swimming in it!
I love your idea of working with junk… are the images you kindly shared of your own work or work you facilitated and was produced by others?
My teenagers all come back tomorrow after a long break and I want to follow on from Paula exploring facilitating more risky out comes – but am drawn to 3d… so thinking….
Nicola Fast
January 27, 2014 @ 7:52 pm
The photos are of work I produced..I do not have any photos in my files of work done with others. But it shows that we don’t actually need much…it is only our own fantasy that sets our limits.
Go ahead and ues the ideas if you want…isn’t art teaching all about art sharing?
I LOVE the messy picture..how much fun is that!
Sheila Ceccarelli
January 28, 2014 @ 11:04 am
Thanks Nicola for sharing images of your work on AccessArt and your comments on ‘risk’. I’m still not sure what I’m doing this evening – but something about pushing an idea or material to a limit… I’ll let you know what happens!
Many thanks again.
Sheila
Nicola Fast
January 28, 2014 @ 12:00 pm
You are more than welcome..have fun!
Hugs
Nicola
Sheila Ceccarelli
January 29, 2014 @ 4:42 pm
Hi Nicola, this is what I did in the end in response to risk:)
Sheila
/sharing-drawings-and-moving-colour-to-music/
Jill Hedges
January 25, 2014 @ 6:19 pm
As well as being a TA in primary education, I’m also a ‘mature’ student on a BA Fine Art course and at uni today my tutor said my work was great but a little bit ‘polite.’ He urged and encouraged me to take a few more risks and push the boundaries.
So this update is particularly apt.
We all need encouragement at times don’t we? especially if it’s to come out of our comfort zone.
It really is a lifelong journey of learning and I’ll certainly be using the ‘be brave’ message in my own work, but it’s also a great motivator to help my primary children in their work too.
Thanks for the email updates, they’re always of interest.
Best wishes
Jill
Paula Briggs
January 28, 2014 @ 11:11 am
I love the expression “polite”. How polite!
The school must be very lucky having a mature BA student in their midst! Good luck with your work and risk taking. Pls feel able to post any images you feel are particularly relevant!
best wishes
Ellie Somerset
January 27, 2014 @ 12:34 pm
These are exactly the struggles I have…my student’s parents pay for them to come to my class and I do feel pressured to produce work that they can both be proud of and the parents think is worthwhile. So far i have managed to straddle both sides of the experience…risks vs production but know they are only really going to grow tall with taking the challenges and producing not a lot (been there many a time on my degree – full time over three years – how many times could that be…??)
I also have an eight year old and see the same thing happening as you described with your daughter…
I’ll bear it in mind over these coming weeks as I work with colour with my students…will let you know any further thoughts etc.
Although I was pondering about whether it was a developmental stage – in that before you can throw something away ( a desire to draw something familiar in a certain way) but you have to go through it….
A while back I was trying to find a video / film I saw whilst on my PGCE of aboriginal kids’ drawings – and how they differed so greatly to western children’s early drawing (apparently the circle with a mark in it for very young – pre-schoolers is mother and baby/child).
Aboriginal children make maps drawings – something to do with the journey they take with the elders for food – pathways around the camps etc. Western children draw people / monsters (mostly boys I think)…
Interesting don’t you think?
Paula Briggs
January 28, 2014 @ 11:14 am
What a lovely image – a circle with a mark in it for mother and child. And I’m sure you’re right about it being a developmental stage – but I also think sometimes its easy to “get stuck” at that development age? (though sadly without the joy of drawing an 8 year old experiences!).
I also love the map drawing concept. Really interesting…. I can feel a project coming on exploring these archetypal drawings across cultures…. love to hear more if anyone has any examples…
Thanks Ellie!
best wishes
Sheila Ceccarelli
January 29, 2014 @ 4:45 pm
Pushing a process to the limit – drawing to music with teenagers:
/sharing-drawings-and-moving-colour-to-music-2/
This photo of a drawing in a hour by Adam (and Libby and Aiyana too).
Sheila
How Big Things Affect Little Things… | AccessArt: Visual Arts Teaching, Learning & Practice
January 30, 2014 @ 7:31 am
[…] I worked with the children in the AccessArt Art Club for ages 8,9, and 10 to encourage them to understand the importance of risk taking in drawing, this week we explored how mark making can help them push their drawings to new places and create a […]
Exaggerating to Communicate! | AccessArt: Visual Arts Teaching, Learning & Practice
February 27, 2014 @ 1:05 pm
[…] to use exaggeration as a tool in their own drawings. This session also continued with the “playing safe and taking risks” theme of previous sessions and I tried to encourage the children to take risks and try new […]