In appearance, a sketchbook should be reminiscent of what you might expect an artist or designer to create. It should not be a tacky ‘school project’, with colourful headings and sparkly backgrounds. It does not need to be – and indeed, should not be – heavily structured or ‘over worked’. It does not need to be rigidly ordered, excessively flowery or decorative. You do not need to spend time adding borders; typing out the annotation or working obsessively over pages again and again. The sketchbook is NOT meant to be a complete a book of finished artworks and illustrations; it is meant to be creative document of exploration and investigation. A place where an art student thinks, works things out and learns.
Layout and presentation is an area that some of you struggle with – often spending hours adding decorative features to their sketchbooks that make little difference to final grades.. here is my top tips...
Top Five Tips.........
Let the artwork shine
Do not distract from your practical work by using large lettering, decorative borders, or unnecessary framing or mounting. Do not spend weeks researching, preparing and reworking beautiful backgrounds – if this compromises the amount of time you spend on the artwork itself. Producing quality Photography work is your number one goal.
Vary page layouts to provide variety and visual interest
Some pages should have many illustrations; some should have single, full-page artworks; others should be somewhere in between. Position items carefully on the page as you work: making sure pages are well-composed.
Use a consistent style of presentation
So that a consistent visual language unites the sketchbook. Some students are drawn towards hard-edged, ordered presentation methods (often those studying graphic design, for example); others prefer messier, looser, gestural presentation styles. Neither is better than the other: both can be amazing. Inconsistency, however (pages jumping from one presentation style to the next), can result in a submission that is distracting, busy and hard on the eye.
Be selective
More is not necessarily better. Although examiners look to reward candidates and have your best interests at heart, bulking up your sketchbook with poor work does you no favours. Weak work can set off alarm bells for an examiner, leading them to be on the lookout for potential weaknesses elsewhere. This does not mean that you should discard everything which is not perfect (work should rarely be thrown away, as most things can be worked over and saved for far less effort than would be required starting anew), but you must discriminate. Don’t automatically include everything. Select work which shows the journey your project has taken and presents your skill in the best light.
Give every page of your sketchbook some TLC
Use each page as an opportunity to remind the examiner that you are a hard-working, dedicated student who cares passionately about this subject. This does not mean that your sketchbook must be crammed to the brim with intense, laboured work (sometimes an expressive, ten minute charcoal drawing on a page is all that is needed) but that each part of your sketchbook is produced with care and dedication.
What to write.........
Lighting: what part of the image is most highlighted? does the photograph/image allow you to guess the time of day? Is the light
natural or artifical ?
harsh or soft ?
direct or indirect ?
What camera angle is used?
Shapes: are there geometric or organicshapes aplied within the composition.
What is the subject within the picture? What is the central focus...?
Balance: the placement of visual elements in the image. Is there a symmetrical balance. Is this even or assymmetrical?
Composition: what is the main focal point ?
how has the past been created and used?
How are lines used within the compositon?
Has the prinicpal of "rule of third" been used, how and where?
what are the negative and possitive spaces- do they enhance the image?
Lines:are there objects in the photograph that act as lines? Are they straight, curvy, thin? Do the lines show movement or energy within the piece?
Consider.......
The story being told what does the image project - encode?
How do you interpret the piece - de-code through your own ideas, thoughs and beliefs...
Talk about......
background, mid ground, foreground, people objects mood, light within the piece
How does the image lik to your own ideas. Have they used the same techniques or idea?
In your example how have you recreated the piece... ?
Your opinion..... What do you think of the image... Do you like or dislike the image ( artists or Your own work), How does it make you feel?
How to annotate an A Level or GCSE Art sketchbook:
The following tips and guidelines should help you understand how to add quality notes to your pages:
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Reveal your own thinking and personal responses (rather than regurgitating facts or the views of others)
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Explain the starting points and ideas, emphasising personal relevance and your own connections to subjects
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Critically analyse and compare artwork of relevant artist models (both historical and contemporary artists, from a range of cultures). Discuss aesthetics, use of media, technique, meaning/emotion/ideas and the influence of an artist upon your own work. While it is important to conduct research into your artist models (and to convey an understanding of this information), avoid copying or summarising large passages of information from other sources. Instead, select the information that you think is useful for your project and link it with your own viewpoints and observations. Use research findings to make you sound clever and knowledgeable – to prove that you are aware of the artists and cultural influences around you – and to help you to critically evaluate artworks (by giving you background information and a peek into the mind of an artist): do not use it to fill your sketchbook with boring facts
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Demonstrate good subject knowledge, using correct vocabulary (phrases such as ‘strong contrast’, ‘draws the eye’ and ‘focal point’ etc)
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Reference of all images, artwork and text from other sources, ensuring that artists, websites and books are acknowledged (it should be obvious to an examiner which work is yours when viewing a page, so cite sources directly underneath the appropriate image. Photographs taken by yourself should be clearly labelled, so examiners know the work is yours and reward you for it)
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Communicate with clarity. It doesn’t matter whether you jot down notes or use full sentences, but never use ‘txt’ speak and try to avoid incorrect spelling, as this indicates sloppiness and can hint to the examiner that you are a lower calibre candidate
When annotating a GCSE or A Level Art sketchbook, it may benefit you to contemplate the following:
What subjects / themes / moods / issues / messages are explored? Why are these relevant or important to the artist (or you)?
What appeals to you visually about this artwork?
How does the composition of the artwork (i.e. the relationship between the visual elements: line, shape, colour, tone, texture and space) help to communicate ideas and reinforce a message? Why might this composition have been chosen? (Discuss in terms of how the visual elements interact and create visual devices that ‘draw attention’, ‘emphasise’, ‘balance’, ‘link’ and/or ‘direct the viewer through the artwork’ etc.)
What mediums, techniques (mark-making methods), styles and processes have been used? How do these communicate a message? How do they affect the mood of the artwork and the communication of ideas? Are these methods useful for your own project?
How does all of the above help you with your own artwork?
Remember that these questions are a guide only and are intended to make you start to think critically about the art you are studying and creating. If you need further help with analysing artist work, the article about writing the Personal Study see the support section on the website about critical analysis which you are likely to find useful.
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