Investigate and experiment
In the early units of study for art in secondary schools there is an emphasis on investigation and experimentation. The aim being to give you some starting points to creating and looking at art.
One of the big challenges I see with this is the time given to do it in, so often teachers do what they can and hope for the best. If you want to get ahead in the “study stakes” you might find you need to create a whole HEAP of homework for yourself! hey don’t stress out from it, just think of it in terms of “I want to do art and I want to make sure I give it my best shot” so here are a bunch of possible ways to “get ahead” and stay there.
- Visit art galleries - An easy option but too many people don’t do it, jump online (oh wait, you are already…) and start googling art galleries in your area and beyond. Go for commercial galleries and make a habit of getting to as many as you can during holidays and weekends. Analyse everything and collect postcards, invites and other information to give you ideas and ways to explore art further. Remember many galleries change the displays every 3 - 4 weeks so know when the next show is on.
- Explore a variety of techniques - Example drawing, with pencil, charcoal, crayon, pens, brushes, paint, sticks dipped in paint or ink… Check out art classes offered during holidays and weekends, they may give you access to materials and process you don’t have at school…
- Chat to artists - Find ones with websites, there might be a number of local ones you can catch up with, ask them questions, interview them, find out what makes them tick. Then use that information to give yo more starting points.
- Use a journal or visual Diary - Whatever you want to call it, put all your images, drawings, scraps etc in one place, then use it as a resource to explore visual ideas more deeply. Often you can get ideas for new works by flipping through a journal and seeing what images or concepts stand out to you.
- Explore creativity - This is not often taught in schools, many teachers may think that students that do art have some special “talent” it’s not always the case. If you have some art ability and you are studying at this level check out as many ways that you can find to be creative, check out lateral thinking, critical thinking, problem solving… do searches on these and other topics to do with the creative process and see what others are doing.
- Use words - Okay it’s visual art, so why use words? Well not all of us have a “visual mind” or if we do it may need a break from pictures and words can do that. Words, phrases, poetry, stories, metaphors, all of these can give you creative starting points to work from. One way is to look at writing or mind mapping a bunch of words on a topic and then checking out the connections that may arise from the investigation. Stories might give you a way to illustrate a theme, it might lead you to writing a story to then illustrate, either way they can be powerful starting points for you.
- Ask questions - Chat to people about art, survey them if you like, to find out what their opinions are… you might be surprised at how much people know… or don’t know about art.
If any or all of the above don’t get you thinking about ways to investigate art further then I’ll eat my hat, you will note that it gives a bunch of starting points to work with that should spark some interest for you at some stage.
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