Summer Enrichment For In-Coming Art 2 & 3!

Hey there! Hope you're all enjoying your summer so far! This post is specifically for my new Art 2 students as well as my present students going into Art 3 for the 2017-18 school year. As I'd mentioned in class, we should all be working on some sketchbook preps so we have pages ready for our wonderful drawings. So here's the deal: art 2/3 are required to purchase a hardcover 8 1/2" x 11" sketchbook for the year like this one. Prices vary in the $10-15 but I've had a lot of luck visiting places like Jerry's Artarama (8th Street and 67th Ave), Michael's (various locations) and Blick Art Supply (US1, across from South Miami Hospital). These locations have coupons that you can get online and they usually have great in-store sales. Or you can also order from Amazon. Please get one that has at least 100 pages.

Why hardcover? Spiral sketchbooks are less expensive, but they also tend to unravel with heavy use and abuse. We want to make sure we have something sturdy that will last the year and look good at potential magnet high school auditions. I would also try to purchase my sketchbook as soon as possible during the summer because when back-to-school shopping comes around, these sketchbooks will be impossible to find.

Ok, so you have your sketchbooks... now what? It's a very good idea to prep some of your pages, but what does this mean? It means creating interesting textures, painted backgrounds, collages, etc in order to have interesting pages to draw on. It decreases the possibility of you going through "white page syndrome", or creative block because you don't know how to start a drawing. Having something already down on your page makes it easier to come up with creative drawing ideas later.

Sketchbook Prep Ideas:

Using the list below, prepare pages in your sketchbook using your own individual creativity.

• Create a two color wash (watercolor or acrylic) on the page.

• Collage text on the page and wash over the page to subdue the texture.

• Scribble on the page with pencil; blend with a paper towel to create a value.

• Create a one color wash on the page.

• Cut squares or other shapes into the page.

• Create a repetitive pattern on the page using a geometric shape.

• Find a simple object and cover the page with simple contour drawings of it.

• Using muted colors paint a page.

• Create a texture on the page with paint by lifting paint with a paper towel. 

• Create a negative space painting with a wash.

• Cover the page with writing about your first day and summer.

• Collage random pieces on the page.

• Cut strips of colored paper and glue to the surface. (you can also use mod podge or gloss medium to glue pieces down and create a shiny drawing surface.)

• Doodle on the page with a pen.

• Trade books and have another student treat the surface of a page.

• Tear a page out and re-collage onto another page.

• Find a leaf outside. Represent the leaf in some way on the page.

• Other media exploration.

Art 3: I would like to see 7-10 two-page layout preps by the first week of school.

Art 2: I would like to see 3-5 two-page layout preps by the first week of school. 

I will be posting sketchbook prep ideas in the coming days both on this blog and our instagram account @arvida_visual_arts.