Visual Journals

Students in both Honors Painting and Honors Art 1 are engaging in bi-weekly homework assignments called Visual Journals.  Myself and other art teachers at Lane got the idea and format from the IB (International Baccalaureate) art curriculum.  The assignment asks students to use a two-page spread in their sketchbook to respond to a theme in any way they choose. 

Response to the theme "Childhood"

Before we got started on the Visual Journals at the beginning of the year, I asked students to explore some materials and techniques in their sketchbook, without a plan.  I set up the room so that each table was a different materials station. The students tried blowing ink with straws, how pastels and watercolor reacted to each other, black-out poetry with found text, using tape as a resist, altering old photos from a yearbook, and cutting out an image and then using the reverse as a "surprise" image. 
 
 
 

The hope was that students would use some of these techniques to address visual journal themes in their sketchbook.  I also have Visual Journal process/technique ideas posted in the classroom. 

Visual Journal responses to the theme Childhood:

 Students are given points using 4 criteria: 
1. Did the student respond to the theme in a way that is apparent to the viewer?
2.  Did the student completely use the space of both pages in the sketchbook to respond to the theme?
3. Does the student's work demonstrate an investment of time and care?
4. Did the student use at least more than one material (mixed media) in a sophisticated way?

Response to the theme "Everyday"

 Responses to the theme "Everyday"

 

 
 


Responses to the theme "Dreams"

 

Visual Journals about "Secrets/Hidden" 

 

I wanted to highlight this ongoing sketchbook exploration because my students seem able to express their ideas and they are so creative in their responses.  I will continue to post more sketchbook examples of Visual Journals throughout the year. 

I am learning a great deal about my students through these sketchbook entries. It is really wonderful to see how everyone interprets the theme differently, making it their own, and applying diverse materials in unique ways. 

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Students engage in a "Gallery Walk" to observe and appreciate the Visual Journals made by their peers


Visual Journals about "Obsession" 

This theme produced some really powerful journals. Students explored so many different approaches and relationships to the theme. Very different obsessions such as video games, body image and disorders, personal crushes, and even a love for chocolate were represented.

Visual Journals on theme of "Location"

Visual Journals on the theme of "Contained"

Visual Journals about "Portrait" 
I thought it might be interesting for the students to further their understanding of what a portrait can be, as they completed a traditional portrait in pencil during class time.  Many literal and non-literal solutions came to fruition including a portrait of a specific person, a portrait of a moment, a portrait of a sport, a portrait of a relationship and general explorations of identity.

 

Visual Journals on the theme of "Juxtaposition"

Visual Journals on the theme of "Can you Hear Me?"

Visual Journals on the theme of "Fantasy/Insanity"

Figure Drawing and Expressing Light

Following the design of their sketchbook cover, students in Honors Painting embarked on a figure drawing project to hone their observational drawing skills.  
First, they warmed up by practicing gesture drawing for several days, capturing the essence of poses quickly. 
 


Next, a former student of mine posed for 3 days. Students drew the model in charcoal from their point of view, using comparative measurements and drawing the negative space shapes in order to try and capture the correct proportions. 

 

  
Next, we discussed the idea of value, and the students established the tone of their paper as a middle value. They then added white pastel for the highlights they observed and dark pastel and charcoal for the shadows and lower values. I showed the students many images of drawings, some dating back to hundreds of years ago, by artists who used this same technique to express contrast and form.  

Home is... the images you combine to express it!

Similar to last year, for our first Honors Art 1 project and an introduction to the studio as well as each other, my students created collages based on their idea of home. 

 

  
First students brainstormed words and phrases that described home, and thought about each of the senses as filters for how they experience home.
Next, students learned about where the collage materials are kept in the room, as well as how to apply the Mod Podge, contour cut images, and think about the layout of their collage before gluing it down. 
 




For inspiration we looked at Artist Trading Cards and several images by collage artists such as Wangechi Mutu and Romare Bearden.




Finally, after creating 2 different collages about home, the students looked carefully at their cards, and described what they saw in their piece by writing a statement.   

  

Students walk around the room on a "Gallery Walk" to read each others statements and view the collages.

Sketchbook Covers 2013-2014

Following the "Home Collages", students were asked to personalize their sketchbook cover using their choice of pencil, markers, collage, colored pencils and paint.  
 Before beginning their sketchbook cover, the students were introduced to the elements and principles of art.  
The elements of art are the building blocks of each art piece, and the principles of art are the way that artists use those elements to create a beautiful and/or interesting work of art. 

A student plans/sketches out their idea for a cover. 

After watching a slide show and discussing the elements and principles, students in Honors Art 1 and Honors Painting were required to choose 1 principle of art, as well as something about their identity to guide the design of their sketchbook cover. 

I did a mini-demo on using paint to cover up their sketchbook, as well as experimenting with ink and other materials. As long as they expressed a principle of art and something about their identity, they could choose any materials to create their cover to look however they wanted it to.



The students did a fantastic job with this project. Their covers are unique and thoughtful, and I really enjoyed the diversity of the results.  At the end of the project, they wrote a statement describing what principle and aspect of their identity they had expressed. 

This student was inspired by the journals of Dan Eldon.

Students share with their peers the meaning behind their sketchbook covers and the way they expressed their identity.