A
sketchbook may be called by many names, for example:
- Journal
- Visual
Diary
- Drawings
file
- Work
diary
- Work
mate
In the
past some people kept what they called a commonplace book. In it they
put all sorts of things which interested them: drawings, pieces of
fabric, flowers and other natural things, cuttings from magazines,
pictures of places they had visited and even copies of poems which
they enjoyed.
What you choose to call your book is not important.
It is what is in your book that matters.
Your
sketchbook can be:
- A
running commentary on your visual experiences, so it can include
all sorts of visual information.
- Autobiographical
– it is about you, your work, responses, feelings.
- Autobiographical
– it is about you, your work, responses, feelings.
Your
sketchbook can provide:
- Two-dimensional
representations of ideas
- An
information library on many topics
- Something
to refer back to
- A
place for you to work out ideas
- Support
for other curriculum areas
- Somewhere
to record personal evaluations
Things
to include in your sketchbook:
- Drawings
from observation, imagination and memory
- Colour
notes and experiments
- Cuttings
and photographs
- Found
objects – leaves, fabrics, textures…
- Experiments
with different media and combinations of media
- Written
notes as you draw and collect
Be
proud of your sketchbook and discuss it with other people.
Sharing your sketchbook is a good way of sharing and developing your
ideas.
Compare your sketchbook with those by other artists. When you visit
art galleries, look at the way different artists develop their sketchbooks.
Every artist’s sketchbook is different. When you look inside
a sketchbook, you are looking inside the artist’s mind.
“The sketchbook is the window to the soul”
