Thesis
The practice of a sketchbook: a curriculum
University of Iowa
Master of Arts (MA), University of Iowa
Spring 2023
DOI: 10.25820/etd.007003
Abstract
Sketchbooks are the record of a lived experience through the eyes of a visual thinker, the record of a life lived. Scholars, artists, and educators all define sketchbooks differently, such as journals, diaries, field notebooks, study books, and portfolios. In my research, I ask, what is the significance of a sketchbook in an artist’s practice and how can sketchbooks be used in a high school visual arts classroom? I did extensive reading on metacognition, artist’s sketchbooks, and art curricula providing a literature review that shows how sketchbooks reveal thinking and connection, encourage creativity, contain observations of the world through drawing, and enhance personal character. I used arts-based research as my method to develop the habit of a sketchbook in my own artistic practice. I analyzed my process, pages, and experiences to design a nine-week visual art curriculum that has visual art students developing their habit of a sketchbook using backward curriculum design planning. The curriculum includes drawing exercises, media exploration/demonstrations, creative constraints, art history/sketchbook samples, and gallery activities. A pacing chart is used to demonstrate the practical application of the unit in the classroom. Sketchbooks are an essential tool in the visual art classroom that encourages creativity, enhances personal character, and develops metacognition in students.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- The practice of a sketchbook: a curriculum
- Creators
- Monica J. David
- Contributors
- Allison Rowe (Advisor)Carolyn Colvin (Committee Member)Maria Belen Hernando Llorens (Committee Member)Jeffrey Nordine (Committee Member)
- Resource Type
- Thesis
- Degree Awarded
- Master of Arts (MA), University of Iowa
- Degree in
- Teaching and Learning (Art Education)
- Date degree season
- Spring 2023
- Publisher
- University of Iowa
- DOI
- 10.25820/etd.007003
- Number of pages
- vii, 74 pages
- Copyright
- Copyright 2023 Monica J. David
- Language
- English
- Date submitted
- 04/25/2023
- Date approved
- 05/04/2023
- Description illustrations
- illustrations, tables
- Description bibliographic
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 73-74).
- Public Abstract (ETD)
- What is the purpose of a sketchbook? How does one use a sketchbook? This thesis is about sketchbooks and how they are an essential tool for an artist to think and understand their own thinking. Sketchbooks help individuals make their thinking visible, connect ideas, experiment and practice art media, develop their creativity, and play. Sketchbooks are a place for artmaking, recording one’s life, analyzing, and learning. They are the mirror to an artist that gives insight into who they are as creative individuals, and why they make art. As a result of my own habit of a sketchbook, research, and classroom teaching experience, I designed a nine-week curriculum for visual art students to develop their own sketchbook habits and learn how to use this tool for themselves. The curriculum includes drawing exercises, media exploration/demonstrations, creative constraints, art history/sketchbook samples, and gallery activities. These learning activities enhance the personal character of visual art students, help them transfer their learning to other content areas, and give them an understanding of who they are and the place they hold in the world.
- Academic Unit
- Teaching and Learning
- Record Identifier
- 9984425312702771
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