found faded pages

found faded pages 

the beams of the harbour museum Mevagissy Cornwall 

THINK inside the sketchbook out now

Think inside the Sketchbook

This new book provides an exciting insight into how sketchbooks can be used by teachers and students to make significant changes in atitudes to learning. Case studies are included of sketchbooks from artists, designers, architects, scientists and musicians etc. The authors highlight ways in which sketchbooks can be used as a playground for imagination and trialling ideas, as well as encouraging exploration and creative thinking

http://www.nsead.org/publications/book.aspx?id=186

Think Inside the Sketchbook

Gillian Robinson, Alison Mountain and David Hulston

Published by HarperCollins in association with NSEAD (2011)

At a time when the Government seems hell bent on pushing art and design education to the margins of the school curriculum, it is very good to know that self-help is at hand in the form of Think inside the sketchbook. The authors tell us that sketchbooks and journals are ‘a non-threatening active space for exploration, play, self-evaluation and reflection … tools for gathering evidence, working through trial and error, asking and answering questions … they provide a way of learning which develops children as researchers…This book aims to capture the spirit in which sketchbooks are kept, and offers a number of practical strategies for their implementation.’

Think inside the sketchbook makes very helpful connections between the work of professionals and that of school students. It is a heavily illustrated 96-page A4 book that will be of particular value to educators. It identifies the kinds of thinking that sketchbooks and journals promote, explaining the what, who, why, and how of keeping sketchbooks. It is dominated by the artist’s voice, but also includes examples by designers and other professionals, such as a scientist, mathematician, composer and choreographer. In this particular book, a key challenge was how to bring together so many disparate examples to create what has become a coherent whole. The variety of examples demonstrates the wealth of approaches possible. 

The scope of the book is very broad. Sketchbooks are placed in the same category as learning books, thinking books, visual diaries, daybooks and journals; yet particular branding implies different purposes or emphases. The structure is very clear and the argument is supported by many quotes.  However, a stronger authorial voice might have been able to make more explicit the kinds of thinking prompted by the different approaches. Because it is primarily an advocacy document, where the intention is to inspire and enthuse, the text does not critique the use of sketchbooks by young people.

The book is a welcome addition to the growing range of publications that throw light on the use of sketchbooks. These include facsimiles of sketchbooks by artists such as Constable, Turner, Picasso, Moore and Gormley. Others, such as Tony O’Malley, The Visual Diaries by Brian Lynch, or The Diary of Frida Kahlo by Sarah Lowe, are edited collections of pages from artists’ and designers’ sketchbooks, with interpretative commentaries to illuminate their use. These feature mainly sketchbooks by adult artists: there are not so many that explore the use of sketchbooks by children and young people. An exception is Lines of Enquiry, published by The Campaign for Drawing, which is specifically about 16-18 year old students’ use of sketchbooks in art and design education. The commentary in Think Inside the Sketchbook is not merely a descriptive narrative, it attempts to explain the purposes that underpin the activities of drawing, collecting, collating, reviewing, reworking and manipulating material and ideas to develop thinking.

Think inside the sketchbook will increase the current interest in sketchbooks and their use. It celebrates and validates young people’s work and illuminates how sketchbooks can be used as a medium for learning and thinking. It presents convincing evidence that will encourage teachers to greater effort, enthusiasm and creativity in the use of sketchbooks – both for themselves and for their students.

Eileen Adams

from head to book and beyond

working in the art ideas book brought a fresh and challenging approach to creative writing

can we write upside down?

can we write what we want?

the great fire of london

from head to book

and beyond

thanks to the children of webster primary manchester

pgce sessions

value

As a child in a crowded classroom you may often feel that there is no time for what you have to say, and that your ideas or thoughts can get lost. While no one can easily resolve the problem of large classes and time constraints, having a sketch book space can offer the flexibility and freedom to think personally and creatively. This is a place where the individual child’s voice matters.

Every child needs to have a voice and to know that it is being respected and valued. If children feel that what they say matters and has relevance, they are more likely to engage with the process of learning. As their confidence grows they feel able to take risks, and learn that building from ‘mistakes’ can have a positive outcome.

conversations with teachers

The use of sketchbooks as a means of exploring personal identity, a journey a response to and through a visual world during teenage years is vital to an individuals sense of being on this planet and its social order. 
Their reaction to peer pressure levels, and their engagement or lack of engagement via personal choice and selection is all part and parcel of this fantastic visual tool. It should look like a treasure trove of a mystical land the outpourings of each individual mind, with glued and torn and tattered edges remnants of meals and experiences littering its personal pages.

Journeys taken meeting the end of the road until a new bypass in understanding is found and the journey can continue once more. Where sketchbooks are these rich tapestries of personal expression they serve an arts purpose. 
In secondary education often another purpose is served that of documenting the journey to a final examination peice like a well laid out spoon-fed logical essay, pride is taken in getting this pristine book correct to tick all the examination assessment objective requirements, it serves an artistic purpose.
 Where the sketchbook is purely a once a week homework book set by the teacher marked with a quick comment it becomes a book with pages torn out where mistakes are made,or grades are poor, it is book that is the cause of detention for not being handed in on time and is frequently lost and replaced by the teacher. It is shoved in the bottom of a bag or in a locker down the corridor never to be seen again, what artistic purpose does this serve?

how not to make orange

How not to make orange

A beginner’s guide

Scenario; year 4 girl with statement for special educational needs works with support worker colour mixing.

Adult; ‘Right, it’s our job to make orange, what colours do you think we need to make orange?

Let’s start with yellow, what shall we add to yellow to make orange?’

Child picks up brush and heads straight for the blue

Adult; ‘remember, ( pause ) we are making orange

Child looks at the adult and without losing eye contact moves toward the black with the brush.

Adult, showing slight signs of panic in her voice, ‘Black?  (pause) In yellow? ( tries to control her horror)  Oh that would make a messy colour wouldn’t it?

Child still hasn’t said anything or made a mark on the paper

Adult; how about you trying some red?

Child dips in red and mixes orange

Adult breathes sigh of relief and says to the child, ‘Yes, well done you did it!’

Objective achieved?

Once you have a voice and are feeling valued, your confidence builds and you no longer worry about making mistakes or being humiliated.

Then the sketchbook provides a space for experimentation and it becomes your playground.

With growing confidence the child feels able to take risks, understanding the value of ‘going wrong’ and learning from ‘mistakes’

‘Let your children’s lessons take the form of play'
Plato

Let the sketchbook become a playground for ideas, take risks and remove failure

What are the main benefits of using sketchbooks throughout primary?

Using a journal allows the children to take control over their own learning, offering a space for idea development, exploration, play and self evaluation and reflection. Reluctant writers are encouraged to make marks, give meaning and tell stories in a none threatening and creative space. It a space they have control and ownership over and is therefore more engaging and inspiring. If we are involved, have a personal interest and emotional connection with our learning then we are less stressed and under less pressure and ultimately content. Under these conditions I believe we learn

How exactly are they used throughout each school, how much say does each teacher have in how they are used?

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british museum event forthcoming

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a sketch box

am I a book?