After twenty-seven years of teaching art, I was thrilled to be granted permission to offer an art class based solely on the creation of a sketchbook art journal. The idea is for students to be evaluated on the beauty of brainstorming, playing with media, exploring ideas visually, and personal reflection. During each class, I introduce 2D materials to students by demonstrating them on a large classroom screen. Students follow my lead, practicing techniques and applying them in various ways in their sketchbooks. As students develop a range of media and skills at their own pace, they gradually incorporate words and mixed media to create full double-page layouts that tell their personal stories.
The high-school art room is a safe place for students. It’s a space where kids can immerse themselves in a different world and disconnect from the demands of their busy lives. Here, new art techniques and processes become tools for students to express themselves. Experimenting, researching, planning, and applying all become part of the artists’ journey to create original works and contribute to art discussion and criticism.
While the art room is a haven for many, it doesn’t solve every problem. Sometimes students feel overwhelmed by the expectations required of effective art-making. Ideas don’t always become the amazing creations students imagine.
Doubt, second-guessing, self-esteem issues, anxiety, and depression can interfere with the process of creation. Students can become discouraged and throw out good ideas because they want nothing less than perfection; they often don’t understand that making mistakes and revisions are important and necessary steps of the creative process.
As teachers, we need to provide opportunities to help our students feel they can continually create without always judging outcomes. We need to meet students where they are and model the ups and downs of the creative thought process. We need to encourage students to hold on to their doodles, practice drawing, and make mistakes, and to treat them as the wonderful building blocks that they are.
So, after twenty-seven years of teaching art, I was thrilled to be granted permission to offer an art class based solely on the creation of a sketchbook art journal. The idea is for students to be evaluated on the beauty of brainstorming, playing with media, exploring ideas visually, and personal reflection.
During each class, I introduce 2D materials to students by demonstrating them on a large classroom screen. Students follow my lead, practicing techniques and applying them in various ways in their sketchbooks. As students develop a range of media and skills at their own pace, they gradually incorporate words and mixed media to create full double-page layouts that tell their personal stories.
The most important aspect of this teaching style is modeling the process of creating while using a document camera and large screen in class. Students need to see the art teacher creating art as well and intrinsically enjoying the process. My favorite part, aside from demonstrating different techniques while students are experimenting, is the actual creation of inspiration layouts. Art has so many answers for outcomes, and everyone can achieve different results at the same time.
Often, art journal layouts become a form of personal therapy. Students have the choice to share as little or as much as they want. The class isn’t there to judge, but to simply listen. If insight is invited, it is amazing how sensitive students can be with each other. Peer-to-peer sharing is incredibly impactful. It is always amazing to hear how others find meaning, even when it is not intended. This positive acknowledgment is incredibly empowering.
It’s important for the instructor to model and facilitate the flow of art discussions to help keep the process respectful and safe. It is exciting to see how all levels of ability are acknowledged and students can become true artists in their own unique ways.
It is so gratifying to watch my students feel safe enough to express themselves and share, and to see the sharing grow. Students enjoy working on their art as they see me continue to create on the screen. I gradually walk around to view and compliment students’ original work. Some students tend to be more private in the meaning of their work, while others can’t wait to share their inventive ideas.
As the class has become more popular, I have added three more levels: self-portraits with weekly themes, altered book techniques, and mini journals. Each level meets at the same time and has become more independent. Each table level becomes a support system to brainstorm ideas and share them with their peers. It is very empowering to watch how each level inspires the next one in the same class.
Art journaling has affected me as an artist and educator. This class has shown me how students need a combination of structure and choice to help give them ownership and expression. I have become more personally expressive with my own art and more open-ended with the results. It is liberating and inspiring for me as a high-school art teacher to continue to find ways to experiment and create with my students. This autonomy helps promote intrinsic motivation to create in the art classroom.
Nicole S. Herbst is a high-school art teacher in Sturgeon Bay Schools in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. NHerbst@sbsdmail.net
Art teachers present a variety of lessons that emphasize student choice and the Teaching for Artistic Behavior (TAB) approach. Students work in groups to create a project using unfinished artwork; participate in an afterschool TAB program based on the Studio Habits of Mind; use the concept of the lighthouse to create personal pieces that honor who or what inspires them; embrace brainstorming and media exploration through sketchbook art journals; and more.
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