Art Journals

Visual Verbal Journals

What is an Art Journal?

Visual Verbal Journals

What is an Art Journal?
- It is a type of journal showing visual thinking
-Words are an important part of the Journal.
-Journals are personally meaningful
-Journals allow us to think about our thinking and avoid
just reflex reaction

Visual Verbal Journals

Art Journals

Your process journal should have all your rough

ideas, rough drawings, ideas you thought of with
supervisors or other people, reflections on the
process itself (challenges, potential solutions, etc.)

Your art journal is a practical workbook for your rough

notes. It need not be neat, but should be honest and filled in
regularly to show you how your project is developing.

Visual Verbal Journals

What does an Art Journal
include?

Visual Verbal Journals

CONTENT:

SKETCHES DRAWINGS

WORDS:
describe and
support depictions
and become
graphic devices
Visual Verbal Journals
CONTENT:
PHOTOGRAPHS

PERSONALLY
MEANINGFUL
WORDS:
SYMBOLS
describe and support
depictions and become
graphic devices
Visual Verbal Journals
CONTENT: COLLAGES

WORDS:
describe and support
depictions and become
graphic devices Visual Verbal Journa
Visual Verbal Journals
What are the uses of
Art Journals?

Visual Verbal Journals

-Research
-Source of ideas for future
artworks
-Reflection
-Evaluation
-Exploring new ideas
-Exploring new medias
-Challenges and difficulties
(potential solutions)

Visual Verbal Journals

Benefits to students:

-Be more personal, original, creative ideas

because they come from YOUR sketchbook.
-Better develop your ideas (you don’t start doing the
first thing that pop into your head).

-Become a source for future artworks

-Plan finish art works in your sketch book first, so you
don’t waste time on an art work that really doesn’t work.

Visual Verbal Journals

Benefits to teachers:
-Provide insight into students’ emotional and
cognitive experiences
-Can show teaching style students’ are most
responsive to
-Can be used as authentic assessment
(Zimmerman 1994)

Visual Verbal Journals

Artists’ Art Journals

Visual Verbal Journals

- Artists using Visual Journals:

•Leonardo da Vinci
recorded questions and daily observations visually and
verbally in a sketchbook

Visual Verbal Journals

How do Art Journals
influence creativity?

Visual Verbal Journals

Writing helps develop ideas:
"I write so I can find out what I am thinking"
Jerome Bruner

Drawing helps develop ideas:

Visual imagery offers a freedom that words do not.

Visual Verbal Journals

Art Journals Examples

Visual Verbal Journals

Visual Verbal Journals
Visual Verbal Journals
 Composition Variations:
Full Page Design

Visual Verbal Journals

Bleeds

Visual Verbal Journals

Borders

Visual Verbal Journals

Grids

Visual Verbal Journals

Mandala = Radial Design

Visual Verbal Journals

Columns

Visual Verbal Journals

Diagonals

Visual Verbal Journals

Organic Shapes

Visual Verbal Journals

Cut Outs and Windows

Visual Verbal Journals

Transparent Overlay

Visual Verbal Journals

Visual Verbal Journals
More Examples

Visual Verbal Journals

Visual Verbal Journals
Visual Verbal Journals
Assessments:
Criteria:

-Composition

-Development of ideas and media

experimentation: demonstrate
progression

-Craftsmanship: although not every

entry must be complete, all should be
readable, executed with care, and
presented in an orderly manner

Visual Verbal Journals

Suggestions for New Journals:

-Tear random pages

-Paint washes

-Gesso pages

-Glue in tissue paper, found objects, leaves

-Cut holes through several pages

-Cut and fold pages to hide or reveal areas

-Do rubbings on parts of pages Visual Verbal Journals