‘Drawing Projects For Children’ - By Paula Briggs - Analysis of the Book and Elements I want to implement into my Workshops.
As part of my ongoing research into e-resources, artist involvement in education and how artists are trying to integrate themselves into the education system, I have decided to look at a book by former teacher and artist Paula Briggs. Briggs is the co-founder of AccessArt, a charity who aims to deliver meaningful arts education through workshops to students of all ages. This book is an aspect of this work, and consolidates some of the best projects, tasks and warm up exercises that young people can do to explore their artistic abilities. Finding ways to consolidate valuable teaching tools is important because it gives students the opportunity to learn a range techniques in one place on their own terms. It also benefits the artist because it is another outlet to educate others with, as well as being another method of generating an income based on their teaching abilities. Although it is important to note that this book is aimed at primary school students, I think that it is still useful for my research because it shows how to make important skill building tasks approachable, age appropriate and importantly, engaging for the student to work on in their own time. Having content that is approximately aged and is interesting is something that continuously requires consideration because it is the difference between a student understanding and wanting to do the work you create and not being engaged with it at all. However I like how the book is introduced by saying “remember, great drawing experiences are not always about he outcome, but often the things you learn when you experiment” (Briggs, 2015) because it shows how drawing is not always about what the final result is, but rather how it builds your confidence, ability to use materials and your hand-eye co-ordination. It is my intention to look at aspects of this book and analyse the key elements to identify what I need to include within my workshop content.
Early on in the book, the tasks are categorised by their difficulty. This is important because it gives the reader an idea of the level of difficulty the tasks are, what order to do them in, and it gives the reader the option to challenge themselves, or not. Giving students an understanding and a freedom over their. Learning will help them build in confidence and ownership over how and what they learn. This is complimented with a small paragraph about the difference between “playing it safe and taking risks” (Briggs, 2015) and specifically discussion about getting “the most out of drawing, they need to be encouraged to push beyond what they consider ‘safe’ (‘safe’ drawings are those in which we know what the outcome I going to be before we have even started making them” and to take risks” (Briggs, 2015). This is an important aspect of the book because it acknowledges that many young people find it hard to take risks for fear of getting it wrong, or it not being the outcome like the reference, or what they had hoped to create which is why they remain in a ‘safe’ position with their work. Finding educational content that stretches their abilities and encourages them to take risks in their work will build their confidence without them feeling overwhelmed about what they are trying to do. It goes on to say that
“as a facilitator, you should demonstrate that taking risks is not only acceptable, it is desirable. One key way you can do this is establishing how success might be measured. For example, success may be ‘an enthusiastic exploration of the medium’, rather than ‘to produce a beautifully drawn image’” (Briggs, 2015)
This is key to my understanding because it is important that you teach others that the outcome is not the key aspect, it is what you learn in the process. Improving your skills, finding an interest in a create method or medium and taking creative risks are more important than the picture looking right. Although it is important to acknowledge that in order to pass exams at secondary school level, having an understanding of the fundamentals of drawing and painting are somewhat required to be successful, this should not be the central focus of a child’s development, at any age. But rather giving a student the space to explore, create and fall upon their chosen creative path is something that is equally as important not just for their arts studies, but for their educational universally. It has shown me that my workshop content needs to be about the process that students will undertake, the materials they are trying and how they can push themselves creatively, rather than focusing too heavily on the outcome. This will help students understand the importance of being experimental, trying new things and having the confidence to push themselves creatively, which is very important.
The inclusion of ‘warm-up’ exercises was another interesting aspect of the book because it detailed the benefits of beginning with a small activity that gets students thinking about a process, or just generally thinking creatively. It also discusses the importance of such tasks to the facilitator, be it a teacher, artist educator or even a parent, to help students engage with a process early on, and get them thinking about how they are going to work through the tasks given to them. It states that
“when used appropriately, warm up exercises can benefit the type of work produced during a drawing session” … “warm ups are also beneficial for you as a facilitator; by thinking through which warm up will be most appropriate for your session, you will be forced to clarify and dissect its aims” (Briggs, 2015).
Therefore, the need for early warm up or introductory tasks could be the difference between a child understanding the session, or not, and the success of the session in relation to the facilitator. This has shown me that having five or ten minute tasks before the main body of the workshop will help students centre their focus on what they are learning, gage their interests and ultimately help them progress with the creative skillset quicker and easier than giving them a main task that may overwhelm them. I intend to incorporate something similar within my workshop content as a result of this. The book goes onto some general factors to consider while planning for a workshop and warm up task that include finding a bridging gap between the warm up and the main task or project, the focus of the session, the aims and objectives, the simplicity of the session and encouraging students to reflect on their experience of the session they are taking. All of these aspects are also something I am going to focus upon within my workshop content to find ways of formulating simple, clear, direct and approachable educational content for my target audience.
The introduction to the projects section of the book is particularly insightful. It discusses the purpose, time they take, content and the importance of the projects, as well as making sure the reader understands that they are flexible and can be done in any order. Having an introduction like this makes the tasks approachable for the facilitator as well as the student. It gives you things to think about and how you can frame the tasks around other areas of the student’s work, if for example they are working from home. The most interesting aspect of this section is the list of considerations that can be thought about while each project or main task is being done. Some of the pointers stated that
“- intersperse drawing with other important and related activities, such as cutting, making, and of course looking and talking
Do not assume that a drawing class should be any less focused than a maths class. Sometimes the energy of a drawing activity results in noise and movement, but often children need calm and quiet to focus.
Be wary of demonstrations and use them cautiously. A good demonstration will plant seeds and enable exploration. A bad demonstration (or too much of a good demonstration!) will influence the children too strongly.” (Briggs, 2015)
Although these are only a few of a wide range of suggestions, this list is invaluable to someone like myself who is wanting to go into teaching as a career. Finding methods of what to do and not do when teaching student sis important to improving your teaching skills. Knowing that your influence has a big impact over a child’s understanding and the direction their work can do in is something I had not considered in its integrity prior to reading this book. I find it really understandable and interesting how impressionable young people can be, and how that can have a detrimental impact on their learning. I intend on implementing elements of what is suggested in this section of the book into my own workshops, with a focus on giving students the space and the tips to experiment with the subject matter I provide in their own way, while keeping it within the brief. It has also shown me that the tasks need to have freedom within them for the student to think outside of the box and create something that allows them to push themselves and take risks, without feeling restricted too heavily with the work. In essence, I see this as a constant balance between directing a child’s learning and giving them the freedom to explore.
As this book is centred around drawing tasks, I want to look at one task in particular that focuses on mark making. This is going to be an important aspect of this research because I will be creating a workshop on a similar subject matter. Finding ways to teach about different mark making techniques is important to drawing at any age, which is why I want to put particular emphasis on this in this part of my research. I will do this in note form to consolidate my thoughts so that I can refer to them while producing my own workshop content. The specific project I will be looking at in this area of my research is “Seasonal Drawing” (Briggs, 2015)
three part/stage project
Has a materials list, showing everything you need. Has a mixture of art related materials and materials you have at home.
Has a subject matter section; This is interesting because it tells the facilitator the types of things you can use as a reference, but there is still wiggle room if you don’t have the specific items shown. Therefore it can be adapted if required.
This task is centred around observational drawing of small objects using a range of mediums. The ‘seasonal’ element refers to the objects you use and the association of the time of year they are commonly linked to.
Task in short: draw the object, work in watercolour over the top to add colour.
The activity itself has six steps in total - the steps are very brief and make links to some of the warm up tasks in terms of techniques used. This is where the warm up tasks come in handy because they start students off in the style that they need to be working in for later tasks.
The instructions are brief, to the point and compliment the photographs well. The photographs do not necessarily show you how to do anything written about in the tasks, but they compliment the wiring in a sense that it shown what another student did. This can prompt a student if they are struggling or confused about an aspect of the task. But, there is not any provision for anyone who requires or relies pictorial images to tell them what to do, which is a potential setback for some learners.
It is clear that some of the warm up tasks are focused on the primary drawing skill that the projects/tasks are later used within. One could argue that the warm up tasks are where the ‘fundamental teaching’ lies rather than the main tasks. But, I like how one compliments the other, creating more of a full art lesson rather than just a fun activity.
After looking at Paula Briggs’ book and specifically the tasks within the piece, I have found great inspiration from the content. I think the emphasis on letting students have freedom with their creativity, as well as a clear focus on skills based learning is felt throughout. Although this book is not necessarily the most effective for students that are older, as some of the tasks are quite primitive, I think it would be fair to say that the tasks could be adapted to make them more difficult if needed. As my workshops are focused on KS3, taking books like this into consideration for the type of content that can be taught to young people is important because many students do not get an adequate arts education at primary level, therefore fundamental drawing skills will be limited. Therefore, having wide ranging tasks that can be made more difficult is crucial to working with a multi-ability demographic, whether it be in school or remotely. It is my intention to use this book as a source of inspiration for further production of my own educational content and specifically my online workshops in the future. Although some of the content may be a challenge for learners that require very obvious tutorial imagery, I think students would benefit from this teaching. However, for those who require a clear step-by-step picture based overview, they may require some assistance with this.
I think this has been an insightful and important part of my research on a number of levels. This is because it has shown me new ways of presenting, publishing and conveying my workshop content to my demographic. Although publishing a book is a challenge and very much a long term goal, it shows that educational content from an artist is viable in this format and can be beneficial to young people. I have taken reference of how the book is written, the focus on explaining different parts to either the student or the facilitator, helping both parties understand what the task is and how to achieve the best results. But one of the most important things was found in the informational area of the book where Briggs emphasises that the outcome of the tasks is not the important factor, it is learning the fundamentals and the processes to an adequate level. This is important because it is often forgotten about due to the pressure for exam success and for the outcome to be positive. Allowing a student the space to grow and experiment creatively is therefore the priority, and a sentiment I want to share within my workshops. Overall, this has been very pleased with this area of my research and will refer to this book for the remainder of my project.
SOURCES
Briggs, P., 2015. Drawing projects for children. 1st ed. London: Black Dog Publishing.
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