Project 1

Where are you now? A Sense of Place: visual exploration of your surroundings

Drawings
Armed with your sketchbook and a pencil, look around you with curiosity. Sit down and make a sketch, whatever captures your attention, a tree, a building, a face. You can focus on a tiny detail or a wide view. Move around. After at least 5 sketches of different views or aspects of your environment, have a
good look at your sketches and reflect on what you most enjoyed drawing and what is most visually interesting. Return to this spot to do a more sustained drawing, really developing the qualities of the drawing, bringing it beyond
the “sketch”.

Traces
collect some small objects, natural and manmade, scraps of paper, wrappers, your boarding pass, a leaf, a stone, a coin, things that tell stories of your experience. Assemble these objects into some kind of order: you can draw them, attach them on a support (like a collage) place them on a rock, string them, sew them onto your clothes, - just create a context for the objects to be together. Think about the story they tell when placed together in a certain way. 

Mapping your path 
Make a map of the journey you make to arrive at school. What did you encounter along the way? What are your landmarks? A landmark can be physical, like mountains, or a memory of something that happened there. Make this map as real or as symbolic as you like using any media.

Photographing
Take your camera or phone and look for interesting viewpoints. Try a combination of close- up, medium and long shots. Can you find some unusual way to frame your pictures? Lying on your back, using a reflection, an opening? Take as many pictures as you like then edit your photos and select only 5. It is
important to be able to edit and critique your work and be able select your best images. These 5 images should evocatively capture a “sense of place” and be varied rather than several shots of the same object or viewpoint.

Reflecting
Stepping back, look at all the information you have gathered. What words come to mind when thinking about your observations? Write a list of these words. Is there a particular focus that comes through your work? Write a summary of your observations and what you think your individual focus within this environment might be.

Studio Work
Now you can begin to think about making a more developed piece of artwork based on these explorations. Which of the activities did you enjoy the most? Often what you explore in your journal is prep for the next artwork you will make. You are gathering raw material, storing it away like a squirrel
stores nuts for winter. Know yourself. Trust yourself. Your own interests will lead you to make your best work.