Finding ideas can be hard, but making them come to life is an even bigger challenge. This is especially true for artists who are new to taking ownership of the art-making process, but every student struggles with it.
The “it” I’m talking about is idea development - the space between finding an idea and jumping into making the work. Development is often short or non-existent without explicit instruction, but telling students exactly how they have to plan isn’t a good fit for me. When students are using their own ideas, planning methods need to be flexible and individualized.
In my experience, developing ideas is the most important stage of student-directed work, because it’s where the most learning can happen - as long as students spend some time with it. To encourage them put in the work to grow artistically and accomplish hard things, I ask them to think about the following questions:
What is your idea? What is your end goal?
What do you need to learn, try out or practice to be successful?
What actions do you need to take to accomplish this?
Thinking about an envisioned artwork as a goal makes sense, because students understand that goals take work and effort. This frame of mind is helpful when the struggle that is always a part of the creative process shows up.
I ask students to think about what they need to learn, try out or practice to be successful because it allows them to plan a way to develop their idea that is tailored to their work preferences and artistic needs. This way they can decide to do anything from compositional sketching to experimentation with techniques to asking for a demonstration from me or a peer. It’s flexible and individualized.
I’ve created this inspiration and idea development planning sheet, based on my Artistic Thinking Process, to use with students. They will use it to think through ideas, set goals and to record plans for action. I’ll use it to understand their goals, hold them accountable for growth and determine how best to support them as they follow their ideas.
Thank you for this! I’ve been struggling with this area this year and these seem like good tips.