Back
What about sketchbooks?
EVERYTHING you do from now until spring break will be done
in your sketchbook. That includes on site drawings and these sketchbook assignments.
They will all be in there together. Don’t separate them. These sketchbooks
will become part of you.
Your sketchbook should include:
1. Figure studies (from life and photos)
2. Object studies ( from life and photos)
3. Jottings (Ideas- artists’ names, lists of music, books read or to be
read,films and plays seen or to be seen )
4. Xeroxes of other artist’s work
5. Thumbnail sketches that work out compositional ideas
6. Collages and mixed media experiments
7. Quotes (or snippets of movies-videos-tv shows that catch and inspire you)
8. Factual descriptions of subjects of interest found in reference books (which
often give new shades of meaning and make surprising connections) new words;
marketplace words and descriptions; words that are funny, intriguing, inspiring,
mysterious, strange to speak, nonsense)
Truly, your sketchbook is one of the most valuable tools you possess-- This
book should not be kept as a separate thing for just my class, or any other
class, for that matter. It should be kept for you--for all your ideas for any
class--for life--for reference--ideas and inspiration are fleeting--this is
a net in which to capture them for that time in the future when you are stymied--stuck--empty
of ideas. It is a place where you can find a little thread to pull--It is a
place where you can record you deepest fears and dreams safely. It will be one
of your most treasured possessions in the years to come and you will go back
to it for ideas for longer than you can imagine. Hopefully you will see the
interrelatedness of things and how specifics from one subject may apply to the
next. In it you will keep descriptions of things seen, heard, or read. These
descriptions may be in your own words, or if you find better ones said by someone
else, use them. This is a vault in which you store words, ideas, images. Also
remember that your sketchbook can be a valuable tool to help you recall what
you were working on--the idea--the medium--your process. Make notes to yourself
reflecting on your work--where your inspiration came from, what you were thinking
about, what materials best expressed it, what you want to try--whose work inspired
you--what books you were reading--How you felt. Years later, when you’re
stuck, notes like these can spark something and take you back to that place
of inspiration and vision. (TIP- Get a glue stick!)
In addition to any sketchbook assignments given you in class, you are required
to work in your sketchbook 15 minutes EVERYDAY ( including weekends)- Date it!
Sketchbooks will be reviewed at the instructor’s discretion in
class. Their contents count toward your grade. IMPRESS ME!!!