Lesson 2: The Process
Welcome to my studio vs welcome to my gallery
The Process: The choices you are making to fully express your idea. It should get deeper over time. They develop through practice, experimentation, and revision
What are you going to use as documentation of your process in your concentration? Does the photo you are planning to use give some a needed insight into your work?
After completing each artwork, pause to decide what you want to keep an what you want to change in your next artwork so it relates better to your idea or question or further investigates it.
Example AP Portfolio with Process Photos:
Good process photos must:
- Give information that is important because it shows something that the drawing itself cannot show.
- Show part of the journey that you took to get there
- Be well lit and crafted (Take a beautiful photo)
- Don't include photos of typical steps (example: contours vs colored in)
Things you can include in your sketchbook: Capture everything
- Practice
- Experimentation
- Revision
- Planning
- Brainstorming
- Inquiry Evolving
- Reflections
- Research
- Analyzing artworks of others
- Observing
- Playing with iterations (different versions)
- Making connections
- Documenting personal meaning
- Documenting intent of the artwork
Showing the process of thinking and not the progress (baby steps you are making in finishing the artwork):
Valuable to see that she was working in nature and with nature:
Valuable to show that she is working with nature and using nature
Valuable because it shows the size- This is important to her idea
Valuable because it shows the variety of marks that she was making:
Valuable because it shows size and practice
Valuable because it shows a unique technique that you would not understand otherwise
Valuable because it shows different approaches and studying the anatomy
Valuable because it shows practice and thought process
Valuable because it shows a different direction that was taken
Valuable because it shows unique steps that took place to get to the end result:
Valuable because you can see the influence from the reference photos:
Valuable because it shows the thought process of refining the composition
Where do you see evidence of practice, experimentation, and revision?
"Two sides of a window"
Where do you see evidence of practice, experimentation, and revision?
"Grandmas legacy through memory and the effects of breast cancer later in life" Digital collage
Where do you see evidence of practice, experimentation, and revision?
"Butterflies are the human soul"
Process and not Progress Photos: Works that are half finished toward fully finishes and process
Showing thinking vs showing steps
What portfolio would this fit into? This is a good example of good photos of the process.
Process Photo Ideas:
- Photo of an elaborate sketchbook page which includes and combination of:
- Written/visual brainstorming
- Thumbnail sketches/ composition experiments
- Areas where you practiced with drawing form and shaded with materials
- Write down what the artwork is about
- Write down how the artwork relates to you
- Write down questions you have or things you need to figure out to complete the project
- Write down how it relates to your idea and the other artworks
- Notes (demonstrations, internet tutorials, steps, and etc.)
- Reference photos printed out and pasted on
- Photos pasted on from mentor artists
- Write down how your artwork connects/relates to other artists
- Art history connections written/printed
- Reflections on progress: Written notes on thoughts/ successes/ issues along the way
- Reflection: Write what you are learning
- Reflection: Write down notes from critiques/conversations with other students
- Photo of you working on your artwork while having test papers, your sketchbook, and materials surrounding you
- Photo of you utilizing a unique technique (that hopefully relates to your idea is some type of way)
- Photo of you creating your artwork to show size (if that relates to your artwork in some type of way)
- Photo of your sketchbook that has thumbnails with different compositions, practice with materials, writing your thoughts, writing about what the artwork means, and writing about how this artwork will relate to your main idea.
- Photo of a grouping of reference photos that loosely inspired you.
- Detail shots if it is needed to show something as it relates to your idea.
- Photo of an artwork before and after you made major revisions to it.
- Showing revision: reusing an image/artwork again later on in your concentration in a different way.