Starting Strategies
Where do I begin?
Take the leap
You have probably already begun Mapping a general course outline to be sure your planning addresses the assessment objectives required. But when starting fresh with a new group of IB visual art students (or those returning after a long summer break) how can you help students take that creative plunge back into art making? "Saute dans le vide", Yves Kleins iconic image from 1960 graphically represents the artist's leap of faith, but I don't recommend following this strategy!
.jpg "Yves klein-leap into the void-1960")
The teaching ideas proposed in this section are for familiarizing students with art making skills and vocabulary while also giving them confidence in their ability to self-direct. On this page there are icebreaker activity ( see the green box below) for the first day and more complex assignments ( see blue box below) for the first weeks of school.
Please use these lessons freely and adapt them to suit your classroom/studio and environment. We hope you find everything you need here to design your own amazing course.
How much direction?
In the beginning of the course students definitely benefit from being given specific tasks, not cookie cutter assignments but ones that encourage some degree of personal exploration. An Open Ended Assignment provides specific guidelines and objectives while allowing for development of individual approaches and independent thinking, a key part of becoming an IBDP visual artist. Approaches to teaching and learning are discussed in the section on Structure and Freedom
Ice Breaker Activities
Making the First Mark
Starting a brand new sketchbook can be intimidating. If students are hesitant or afraid of "messing up" the Visual Journal, take a tip from Jean Miro' : the artist famously spilled ink, paint, coffee, or unevenly primed a canvas so that a starting point was already established. Once you have made a mark, marred the pristine white surface of the empty page, it is much easier to proceed. Here are a few ways to overcome fear of the blank page:
- Spill a cup of tea on your paper and begin a drawing from the stain.
- Walk on your paper, making footprints.
- Rub the page all over with charcoal and buff it off so you have a nice atmospheric surface to work on.
- Erase an old drawing you don't like, almost all the way - now start drawing on top of this ghostly image.
Van Gogh on Facing a Blank Canvas:
"Just slap anything on when you see a blank canvas staring you in the face like some imbecile. You don't know how paralyzing that is, that stare of a blank canvas is, which says to the painter, ‘You can't do a thing’. The canvas has an idiotic stare and mesmerizes some painters so much that they turn into idiots themselves. Many painters are afraid in front of the blank canvas, but the blank canvas is afraid of the real, passionate painter who dares and who has broken the spell of `you can't' once and for all.”
(Letter to Theo van Gogh, October 1884)
Setting the tone for creative exploration
Check out the Collaborative Circle or the Body Map activities as a way to get students interacting with each other- great for first day of class. To set a playful mood try some Surrealist Games or Richard Serra's Verbs.
Back to School
When I was a new IB art teacher back in '94 I dutifully photocopied all the assessment criteria and presented my already overwhelmed students with stacks of dry, complicated, wordy IB Art assessment criteria..
Drawing Exercises
These drawing exercises are designed to loosen inhibitions about making a perfect, realistic drawing and open up ways of thinking about mark making and form.
- Draw with the wrong hand.
- Draw without looking at the paper Blind Drawing
- Draw an object you can feel but cant see, held under the table.
- Draw with chalk taped to a very long stick.
- Draw symmetrically, with a pencil in both hands.
- Draw, with a continuous line, a figure who is moving around the room.
- Try a collaborative drawing where each student continues a group drawing on a roll of paper
If you would like to provide an introduction to basic drawing skills and some terminology check out Elements of Drawing
Elements of Drawing
Discover The Formal Elements of surface, mark making, space, composition, and scale through these exercises. Gain a better understanding of terminology and art vocabulary to use for Visual (formal) Analysis...
Comprehensive Assignments for early in Year 1
Once you have established an atmosphere of creative engagement and set some expectations, your students are ready to begin working on a more sustained project. This first in depth assignment ideally is something that can be broken down into components and expanded over a period of time. This allows students to work at their own pace and skill level. In teaching art, we are often teaching students with a huge range of abilities and capabilities. A good first assignment provides structure but allows the more ambitious artists to leap ahead and those who need more time and guidance to progress slowly and steadily.
A Sense of Place and The Object Study are both comprehensive assignments that can be developed over the first several months of the course, starting in the visual journal and creating content for the other 3 Course Components
A Sense of Place
A Sense of Place is an assignment that encourages exploration of the local environment: visual, physical and cultural.There is also a sample Unit Plan using this material: Unit Plan: Exploring Place and Culture ...
Object Study
The Object Study uses a chosen object to develop depth and breadth in thinking, and and encourages visual exploration in a range of media. Sets the stage for exploring using a wide range of Art Making Forms
Art in Context
Curating a Virtual Exhibition is a complex and engaging assignment that help students become familiar with artists for the The Comparative Study. It also introduces ideas around Curatorial Practice and making connections, and can aid in Finding a Focus developing a personal direction in their own art work. It also works well as a summer assignment for incoming IB Art students.
Curating an Imaginary Exhibition
Help your students to be prepared with some potential thematic interests, a point of departure for Choosing Artworks to investigate...
More starting points
And don't forget the Art Seed Bank, a storehouse of starting points to choose from. First select the pages and make them available in student access, then share with your class.
Art Seed Bank
The Art Seed Bank is a collection of short invitations to create, to think about art, to try something different.Choose from the ever expanding seed catalogue, and watch your seed grow.Take a series of...