I'd like to share with you why I started using sketchbooks in my elementary art classroom, 7 ways I used sketchbooks, and benefits students got from using them. I'll also give you a few tips for getting started, making sketchbooks and keeping sketchbooks organized.

3 Inexpensive Ways to Make Your Own Sketchbooks Engagement % %

John and I had a fun day in the studio recently. We both wanted to do a bit of experimental mark-making, to explore new ideas. John is looking for inspiration for his printmaking and I thought it would be interesting to play with marks and compositions which could be the starting points of new drawings or which might possible translate into textiles. We gathered lots of tools and then made a few new ones, looking for anything which would make an unusual mark if dipped in paint: We decided to stick to black and white, so we could concentrate on marks and tone. I mixed up a tub of black acrylic and got out some Platignum Calligraphers Black Ink too (a good non-waterproof ink, as it separates into pretty colours when wet, rather than just going grey). I found an oil bar and some liquin too, which is great for smearing not just oil bars but also oil pastels. Plus a Derwent Inktense block and grater (tiny gratings can be scattered onto wet paper or sprayed with water for speckled effects). We both put on latex gloves and set-to on a big piece of cartridge paper each. It was such fun - no pressure to make something which 'works', just pure experimentation. This was my first sheet: I am particularly interested in randomness, so many of the new tools we made were designed to make the marks more hard to control. To add to the random element, we both cut up our sheets into equal pieces, using pre-decided measurements, not aesthetic judgement to create the sections: I like the way it changes things when you isolate a section. The emphasis on the various elements changes, because of the enforced edges, and you start to get interesting things happening with composition. On my 2nd sheet, I started with some large marks in a grey emulsion, to create a new element of contrast. I made a new tool too - a piece of corrugated card to print with. You can see the marks top right: I cut this one into squares. As the paper's dimensions didn't divide exactly into squares, this allowed me a slight element of judgement, as I could move the composition of any square a centimetre or two to the left or right. I then selected the best 6 squares from the 9 created. These are my favourites. It's surprising how well they work just as they are, but you can also see how they could be taken into print or textiles. It would be fun trying to find ways to reinterpret the marks and tones in the different medium. I can highly recommend this as a very enjoyable way of exploring new techniques and getting new inspiration. The randomness is important though, as a way of forcing you not to be too controlling and letting unexpected things happen. John did some experiments using blotting paper, which he tore into strips. Even the offcuts were interesting, which I saved as we were clearing up. The beautiful blue is the Platignum ink: Even my offcuts were quite interesting: Have a go. Even before we got drawing, it was good fun making the tools from odds and ends we found around the studio, taping them to bits of stick and then finding out what marks they made.

This is a really simple straight forward rubric that works beautifully for weekly sketchbooks that I assign in high school visual arts. It makes marking easy - I do it on the spot with students..just call them up one-by-one and go though it. If there's not enough time, I will collect them and write in feedback on this sheet. It has LOOK FOR's which include: ✤elements and principles / composition ✤creativity ✤effort ETC. (these are all really easy for them to understand - so it's not vague, which is key to marking art) At the bottom are extra areas for comments/suggestions...this is where I put their mark and pick one main thing for them to work on. TIP - Sometimes I make them do this as a self-assessment - we sort of mark it together. They're really honest with themselves! Similar resources in my shop: ➼A mini rubric for sketchbooks ➼Fun weekly sketchbook tasks ➼Intro to sketchbooks PPT ➼Creative sketchbook page treatments ➼ More drawing resources ➼ Complete Visual Arts COURSE BUNDLE ◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈◈ ➯ Click HERE to follow me shop and see updates and new products. ➯ Please don't forget to leave feedback on my products! You will receive TPT credits that can be used on future purchases.

Learn how to make your own sketchbooks with this bookbinding tutorial.

How often do you join in when your kids are creating? Doodle Names is a drawing project that parents and kids can enjoy working on side-by-side. I find that my girls and I always have interesting conversations while we sit and draw together. Plus, doodling is fun and relaxing! To get started, write your name … Continued

* retired project! * still ok to use, but a new version was released :) no longer working on this one and haven't been for years, stay blessed! ~⁠♪

This was one of my favorite lessons from last year. (I feel like I always say that....?) But seriously, this was great. It would work for a variety of grades- elementary or high school as well. I did it with 7th grade and will again this year. Using the move-able figures- students had to create a zoomed/close-up composition using the figure, taking the negative space into consideration. I actually had them do a "photo shoot" with their ipads: take photos of the figures in different positions and then cropped the photos. For some students it was easier for them to work from the photo. The students sketched out shaded pencil drawings first. Then they drew them BIG on 12 x 18 slate grey Tru-ray construction paper (one of my favorites, along with their turquoise). They chose a color palette to work in and had to have 3 different shades of oil pastels so that they could convey the shadows. They all came out awesome! And it gave students a chance to strengthen a variety of skills. Some needed to master blending, some needed to strengthen their ability to communicate dimension, etc.

When it comes to art, many of us enjoy the many sensual benefits that it has to offer but hesitate to take up any form of it as we feel that it is too tough.

NEWSELA QUIZLET FOR ART GRADE 4 QUIZLET ON DEGAS & THE DANCER QUIZLET ON DEGAS’s ARTWORK Picture below from Pinterest You will FIRST be c…

In art, negative space is the space around and between the subject of the image. The positive space is the subject or object of the image.