THE VISUAL JOURNAL:
WHAT IT MEANS IN THE VISUAL ARTS CLASS
The visual journal is a tool to become a better artist, to be more creative, to explore ideas and to find enjoyment in the visual arts as a creative student. Our visual journals will serve as an idea diary and a place to process information and thoughts (visually or written). Traditional sketchbooks usually focus on collecting information for further study, recording ideas for other projects (either jotted down quickly or explored more fully), or are just for rendering objects, scenes and figures. We will be using the visual journal as more than just a place to collect and take notes. We will use the visual journal to explore, think, create, and ultimately find out what it is that makes us tick as artists. Drawings done in a visual journal are usually not meant to be “finished” but often times, we will go back in and work on old drawings to redefine and re-examine what it is we were trying to say. In this sense, the visual journal will become a way for all of us to find a personal voice in our work. Through this we will collect "fodder" (food for the artist) to use in the visual journal on our path to discovering who we are and what we want to say.
The Purpose of the Visual Journal is:
• Record the process of your art making.
• Sketch.
• Experiment.
• Write.
• Think.
• Research.
• Express.
• Collect.
• Explore.
• Invent.
• Create.
• Make a mess.
• Dream.
• Rant.
• Escape.
SOME CREATIVE ART MATERIALS USED BY STUDENTS IN THEIR VISUAL JOURNALS
| Ink | Wire | Cord | String |
| Spray Paint | Fixative | Watercolor | Acrylic |
| Tempera Paint | Watercolor Pencils | Fabric | Lace |
| Credit Cards | Photocopies | Photographs | Paper |
| Cardboard | Palette Paper | Pencils | Pastels |
| Pastel Pencils | Oils | Charcoal | Hi-fi Grays |
| Colored Pencils | CD's | Acetate | Feathers |
| Tea Bags | Tickets | Wall Paper | Conte´ Pencil |
| White Charcoal | Eyeliner | Lipstick | Nail Polish |
| Magazines | Newspaper | Press-Type | Reproductions |
| Text | Glass Beads | Old Drawings | Maps |
| Pages from Books | Modeling Paste | Attendance Sheets | Stick-Ums |
| Masking Tape | Colored Gel Pens | Contact Paper | Googly Eyes |
| Lined Paper | Leaves | Twigs | Industrial Tape |
| Left-Over Prints | Dried Flowers | Shoelaces | Paper Towels |
| Magic markers | Crayons | Rub-n-Buff | Envelopes |
| Canvas | Wax | Stencils | Glitter |
STUDENTS INCLUDED TEXT FROM
| Song Lyrics | Quotations | Personal Diary Entries | Philosophy |
| Plays | Words were Readable | Words were Unreadable | Words Repeated |
STUDENTS USED DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES
Collaging, drawing, scribbling, finger painting, scratching into wet surfaces, burning edges or surfaces, ripping, cutting, pinking, stapling, weaving, taping, tabbing, gluing, texturing (impasto), sewing.
ASSIGNMENTS BY SEMESTER (AND SOME EXTRA IDEAS TOO)
Every Semester:
• Preparatory sketches for projects
• Classroom and assignment reflections, as assigned
• Self-assessment of assignments and classroom critiques (to help you remember what is said in class)
• Assigned drawings
• Extra-credit critiques and drawings
• Creative thinking: Every Friday is Visual Journal Day in the upper level studio art classes. Based on the website, Illustration Friday, students are given word prompts for creative exploration. Based on current project work in class, students are also asked to explore different mediums as they develop creative ideas. The words assigned each Friday in class are posted on the marker board in the classroom for one week - until the next word and mediums are assigned.
The assigned words for Illustration Friday are:
- Magnify - August
- Strong - September 4
- Welcome - September 11
- Blur
- Music
- Crunchy - January 8
The visual journal will be collected one time during the school year. It is expected that the journal will demonstrate thinking, creativity, and the process of developing one's self as an artist. The collection date for the visual journal will be: December 4, 2009. There should be an obvious investment of at least 10 hours of work by the time we finish the Illustration Friday series for the semester.
WHAT DOES NOT GO IN YOUR SKETCHBOOK
Profanity of any kind. If you feel that only an expletive will convey your idea or thought, just be creative and make something up (in the comic books they use symbols like #(*)$@)! to get the point across!).
ASSESSMENT
You will be graded on your visual journal entries, prep sketches, thumbnails, in-class notes and reflections at the semester. Each week, the visual journal will also be assessed for COMPLETION of assignments in your sketchbooks based on the rubrics for time spent, creativity, craftsmanshop and timeliness - not how well you have drawn in it.
PRIVACY
Because of the sometimes private nature of your process journal/sketchbook and because I want this to be your sketchbook, any pages that you don't want me to view can either be paper clipped together or masking taped together. Please bookmark the current assignment for grading and I WILL RESPECT YOUR PRIVACY.