Each week you are required to choose one of the following prompts as inspiration for your weekly sketchbook work. I will check your sketchbooks every Friday. You are also required to turn 5 of the prompts into final works of art. The due dates for these final works will be announced throughout the year.
Prompt 1
Explore the origin of a word, symbol or icon, and create a color or black and white design based on this information.
Choose a word or icon and begin researching its meaning and origin. Try to cross-reference dual meanings, different contexts and all relevant information. The symbol may be repeated, enlarged and/or combined with other visual imagery. Students may work directly in their sketchbooks or on other surfaces to be added to their books when complete.
Prompt 2
Using an altered surface, tags, wrappers, old packaging, old used envelopes, and/or shipping tags, CREATE an image that includes a human face.
In this problem, try to use the human face in a repeating, layered or overlapping composition. Background areas and the found papers are painted or drawn and altered.
Prompt 3
Create a color design based on a phrase heard during childhood.
Select a phrase from your childhood. Consider its actual meaning and their individual interpretation. A visual image associated with the chosen phrase is then created.
Prompt 4: YOUR STORY
Write and sketch imagery about your personal story of who you are and how you became the person you are today. This will include both how you think the world sees you and who you really are. Your story must include those important people in your life who have influenced your development as a person. Write a descriptive list, paragraph or imagery that describes you. Include some of the following.
A. Likes and Dislikes as well as things you Love and Hate B. Hobbies, collections, favorite books, favorite TV, favorite movies C. Activities both school and out of school D. Dreams, Aspirations and Goal E. Fears, Mindset and Attitude F. Feelings about Culture and Society G. Motivations and Inspirations H. Successes and Achievements J. Important Relationships, Friendship and what it means K. Why are you here? What is your purpose? L. Religion and Spirituality M. What is the one thing you feel you were meant to do? N. The People in our Lives: People influence lives in many ways. Reflect on the influential people in your life. Who raised you? Who has given you advice that you still use? Who has inspired you to pursue a career or hobby? Who has encouraged you?
Prompt 5: THE ELECTION
The Election: We are currently in the middle of a historic election. For many reasons it is unprecedented. First, we have the real very real possibility of the first female president. Second, we also might seea non Politician who speaks and acts like no other candidate in the history of presidential elections. Sketch it…your thoughts, feelings, fears or make some caricatures/political cartoons. Think about; What will our future be with either candidate? How will their presidency affect your life?
Prompt 6: Technique Week, 4 Sketches
Hands, Feet and Hair
These are always tricky parts of the human form to render. This week practice them in your sketchbook in four sketches.
Prompt 7: Night
Make a free association chart or graphic organizer from the word Night. From all of the ideas originating from this word, choose one to develop in your sketchbook. Make sure your sketch includes images, ideas, reflections and any inspiration for a possible Breadth piece.
Prompt 8: A Poster Design
Design a band/musician Poster-Illustration-Advertising that tells the public about an upcoming concert/show. Choose any band/musician you want and the concert/show can take place anywhere. The TWIST is you must not include a face or any distinguishing characteristic of the musician. This forces you to think more deeply about the genre of music and the imagery the music invokes in its listeners. NO COPYING-STEALING-PLAGARIZING ALREADY USED IMAGES FROM THEIR ALBUMS or SHOW POSTERS.
Prompt 9: History of Architecture
Find one example of each of the three orders of Greek columns, Doric, Ionic and Corinthian. Sketch the columns, identify where they were and label the different parts of each of the columns (such as different elements in the capitols and surrounding facade).
Prompt 10: Self Portrait of the Mundane
Think of one of the most mundane or boring acts you do each day. Create a drawing of you completing, doing or participating in this boring activity. The twist, make the boring interesting, make it artful.
Prompt 11: Drawing from Life
Set up a Still Life of 5 or more objects which includes a single light source and fabric. Draw it with correct proportions, perspective, shading/values and accuracy. Still Life doesn’t have to be boring. Make it your own, consider your style and approach to make it unique.
Prompt 12: Letters and Numbers
Use letters and/or numbers in an abstract inscrutable manner. Meaning DO NOT try to write legible words! Use the letters and/or numbers to make an interesting design and ultimately a unique piece of art(Breadth).
Prompt 13: Discovering your Point of View and Style through your memories
Remember a vivid situation and think of it as a photograph and do a sketch of it, and put a frame around it, in other words draw a box around it like a photo. It could be a perception or it could be a memory that you’re in. Either you are in the frame or you are looking at the frame. This is called point of view.
You can choose something from childhood or something from the past week or month. Each of you has a decade+ worth of pictures in your minds. Your point of view and style already resides in your brain through your memories. Tap into it. They’re just sitting there, ripe and ready for some kind of use in a unique piece of art.
Prompt 15: Patterns in Nature
We studied the microscopic in nature but now take a look at the nature you walk past and on every day. See the miraculous patterns that the human eye can see without a microscope, they are beautiful and they are everywhere. Create drawings, paintings or collages that are inspired by these patterns you witness in real life NOT images from the internet.
Prompt 16: Art Movements and Knowing Your Influences
How do you know if you are making original art if you do not understand the timeline of art history? First knowing your style and then where it exists on the timeline is an important part of developing as an artist and designer. You must know your influences!
Take some time in this prompt to study some art movements from the past. Simply use Google to explore, go to Wikipedia’s art movement page or a site called artyfactory.com(click on art appreciation tab). Look at art movements and sketch your favorites, take notes and begin to figure out who you admire and who you could see as being an influence in your work.
How to make this into a Breadth? Two ways, create an original piece based on an art movement or artist’s style. Or you could take a famous piece of art and literally use parts of the work to then alter it, collage over it, re-draw or re-envision it into an original piece. This is called appropriating imagery.
Prompt 17: Untraditional Self-Portrait
Create a non-figurative self-portrait, a picture of yourself that doesn’t contain a literal picture of yourself. Be as creative as you want— be expressive, weird, and don’t be afraid to be self-revelatory. You must think symbolically and metaphorically!
Prompt 18: Re-visit and Redux
Take a previous prompt and either develop your idea further or re-do the idea completely. Remember throughout the year you are required to turn several of these prompts into final works of art. Use this prompt to help further this cause.
Prompt 19 : Homelessness
Persons who are homeless are simultaneously ubiquitous and invisible. Investigate the homeless situation locally and globally, research possible solutions, and prepare visual, textual, and oral conversations from independent research and personal experience. Draw it.
Prompt 20 : Explore the Topic of Emotions
· Do animals experience emotions? If so, do they experience emotions in the same way humans do? If not, how do they experience the world and what dictates their behavior?
· How are emotions useful for humans and the human race?
· Are emotions necessary for human survival? Why or why not?
· What is the most beneficial emotion? How about the most destructive?
Prompt 21: Artificial Intelligence
· What do you think about the singularity? The idea that eventually artificial intelligence will advance to the point where computers are more intelligent than humans.
· What is artificial intelligence?
· What is intelligence?
· Is intelligence a single thing so that one can ask a yes or no question ``Is this machine intelligent or not?''?
· What about IQ? Do computer programs have IQs?
· Does AI aim to put the human mind into a computer?
· How far is AI from reaching human-level intelligence? When will it happen? And then what will happen?
Prompt 22: The Future of the Human Race
· What are the pros and cons of colonizing other planets? How could this help or hurt the human race?
· What is most likely to bring about the extinction of the human race? How can it be avoided?
· Will humans as a species ever be able to work together as a whole to achieve a goal? What is holding humans back from working together on a global scale?
· Will humans continue to advance technologically or will we fall back to how we lived for thousands of years?
· What will be the best possible scenario for how the world will develop over the next 25 years? What do we need to get there?
Prompt 23: Conveying Messages through Signs and Text
Look at the work of Robert Indiana, his art encompasses paintings, sculpture, and graphics. It is his particular contribution of making a work of art from text or a word that you should analyze and use as a point of reference for your own art. Ask yourself “what socio-cultural issues of today can be incorporated into my own art work?” Research and discuss any issues that come to mind that are facing our world and ask which you can personally isolate into your images? You will create a piece of art that conveys a message through a “sign” or a single WORD in a graphic style.
Prompt 24: Make a Visual Pun
Pun: A play on words, usually the assignment of different meanings to similarly sounding words or phrases, with humorous intent.
Visual Pun: A drawing, cartoon, photograph, etc. depicting objects arranged so that the names of the objects or a description of their placement suggests a play on words.
Examples: Hot Dog (a dog in the sun)
Prompt 25: Power of Body Place and Location
Check out the artist Maria Gaspar on youtube, see her video called Body in Place
1.Choose a place or location that is visible to you but seemingly invisible to others. Think about why it is invisible to others?
2. Think about this Place and Location and what it represents to you. What does it mean to others, do others ever encounter this location? What is the strength of this place?
3. Use your body to create an intervention that creates a new story of that location and place.
4. Take a photo, make a drawing or painting of your body in this place. Tell the new story of this place through your artwork.
Prompt 26: Gross
Make art (photos, drawings, paintings, collages) inspired by the idea of grotesque. Grotesque art can induce reflection of the disorder and distortion of things in our human experience.
Prompt 27: Copy a Copy a Copy
Check out the artist Molly Springfield on youtube
1. Select a page from a book and make a photocopy of it, try to choose a book that has some significance to you.
2. Make a copy of the copy, this time try to manipulate the image with size ratio, density, etc.
3. Make a copy of the copy of the original copy
4. Continue this process until your image is distorted and changed into something entirely different
5. Present the end result as a final piece of art. You can paste it, mod podge it, collage it, frame it..etc.
Prompt 28: Space
Create a series of positive and negative space designs. On your desk at home stack a few objects into a pile. With a light shining from the back look at the space that is white (light) and draw the shapes as a contour line shape. Use black paint or ink to fill in the spaces as a flat shape. The silhouette of the object should still be seen but new shapes created.
Prompt 29: A Vehicle
Draw or design a vehicle. This can be a car, spaceship, airplane, boat, motorcycle, bicycle or anything you want. Include details and make it big! Any media
Prompt 30: Animal in Motion
Draw a series of animals in motion. Such as a cheetah running, a rabbit hopping, a bird flying. This can be in any media and you can use just three views or images in a row.
Prompt 31: View from a Window
A view out a window of your choice (with motion or still) showing inside and out
Prompt 32: Food
Food .. You are what you eat
Prompt 33: Insects
Contour drawings of insects like a bug collection... (or dead flies off the window sill)
Prompt 34: Feathers
Feathers. On a bird or not.
Prompt 35: Exoskeleton
Design an exoskeleton that humans could use to live underwater. Include labels for the different features your exoskeleton includes.
Prompt 36: Trap Door
You discover a secret trap door to another world under your bed…What happens next?
Prompt 37: Bubbles
Bubbles. Bubbles in the air or in water or wherever. Color or not.
Prompt 38: Sound
Draw an instrument/s or something that makes sounds like a toy or a blender. Draw, paint, or collage the sounds.
Prompt 39: Masks
Draw a masked man (or woman) that is not a superhero.
Prompt 40: Hair
Draw hair. A lot of it.
Prompt 41: Animal or Human?
Draw an animal doing something a human would do like taking a bath, walking a human or watching TV
Prompt 42: Refraction
Refraction– Draw and object or two that is partially submerged in water.
Prompt 43: Light/Dark
Draw a light object in a dark environment
Prompt 44: Swift
Prompt 45: Divided
Prompt 46: Poison
Prompt 47: Underwater
Prompt 48: Long
Prompt 49: Crooked
Prompt 50: Screech
Prompt 51: Gigantic
Prompt 52: Run
Prompt 53: Shattered
Prompt 54: Fierce
Prompt 55: Mysterious
Prompt 56: Graceful
Prompt 57: Filthy
Prompt 58: Cloud
Prompt 59: Deep
Prompt 60: Furious
Prompt 61: Trail
Prompt 62: Juicy
Prompt 63: Blind
Prompt 64: Ship
Prompt 65: Squeak
Prompt 66: Climb
Prompt 67: Fall
Prompt 68: United
Prompt 69: Mask
Prompt 70: Found