MANAGING THE ART ROOM

Sandra, sketchbook entry: Izumi Kogahara.

Keri Reynolds

Sketchbooks are a necessary component of every art room and afford many opportunities for student learning. As I pondered my own students’ use of their sketchbooks, however, several questions arose. How could my students become more involved in their sketchbook assignments? What possibilities could sketchbook entries have for inspiring future work? In what ways could the delivery of sketchbook assignments be altered to become more relevant to students?

Need for a Remix
The purpose of maintaining a sketchbook is to record observations, to practice art-making techniques, and to experiment as part of the creative process. Typically, sketchbook assignments are given in the form of daily or weekly teacher-directed prompts. I wanted to expand sketchbook assignments to allow for more student choice and include research and art criticism.

Why Contemporary Art?
I decided to shift several of my upcoming sketchbook assignments to revolve around contemporary artists and their art-making practices. Contemporary art encompasses work created by artists who are alive and who explore current topics and issues. Contemporary artists also discover new approaches to represent traditional subject matter using a variety of materials and methods.

Setup for Assignments
I assigned students to complete a one- or two-page spread in their sketchbook based on a contemporary artist. I encouraged them to select their own artists to research and also provided them with a list of possibilities. For each entry, students were required to include facts about their artist, including biographical information, a description of the artist’s work, and an analysis of the artist’s use of the elements of art and principles of design in their work.

I wanted to expand sketchbook assignments to allow for more student choice and include research and art criticism.

Students were also required to sketch an example of the artist’s work and/or art-making process. The assignments were due every other Friday, which enabled students to focus on observational and drawing based prompts on the weeks in between.

Student Success
Students gravitated towards artists who addressed topics that interested them and towards styles that appealed to their own personal aesthetics. Through their sketchbook entries, I discovered new contemporary artists who became of interest to me as well. Overall, student engagement was higher, and several students who had previously neglected their sketchbook assignments began completing their work.

Response and Feedback
Students expressed appreciation for being entrusted with the flexibility to choose their own artists for their sketchbook entries. They also said that they valued the opportunity to experiment with their artist’s techniques and approaches in a nonthreatening way—students who were self-conscious about their technical abilities were able to shine without the pressure of having to produce a realistic rendering of something in their sketchbook.

Contemporary artist research has many possibilities to ignite students’ creativity. By changing the ways sketchbooks were used, students became more invested in their own learning.

Keri Reynolds is a secondary art educator and fine arts department chair at Elsik High School in Houston, Texas. kereynol@ga.aliefisd.net