Artistic Process

  1. Determine Artistic Intent: Look into artistic, scientific, historical, political or literary sources to inspire meaning into your work. Take notes on anything you may want to reference later. Consider if this work will be personal or try to tackle a broad social issue.
  2. Researching Artists: Document work that inspires you and/or try to imitate an artist’s style. It is vital to gather inspiration from others. Remember to have many sources instead of only one.
  3. Initial Ideas: Brainstorm thoughts, words, sketches, and inspiration. Start to fill sketchbook pages without worrying if it "looks good" yet.
  4. Media Testing: Research how to use selected supplies properly. Experiment with art supplies. Find and follow-along with tutorials.
  5. Developing Ideas: After initial research and experimentation, has your artistic plan begun to develop? Have you filled pages in your sketchbook? Have you thought about how to gather reference images or what to observe in real life? How can you achieve your original artistic intent?
  6. Gather Resources: Take photographs if needed. Use technology to edit your photos if needed. Determine if you need to observe something in real life.
  7. Select Color Schemes: Pull color schemes from other works of art. Research color theory. Experiment with technology to enhance or change color schemes on your photos. (PicsArt, Prisma, Snapseed, etc.) Make a bank of color swatches in your sketchbook.
  8. Composition Sketches: Research or review different types of composition guides. Plan different layouts with thumbnail sketches. Try to overlay composition guidelines onto your thumbnail sketches.
  9. Rough Draft: Solidify where you want to take a project. Make a rough draft as practice for your final project.
  10. Project Preparation: Consider all materials available and select supplies. (Papers, canvas boards, illustration board, cardboard, etc.) Do any preparatory work such as toning a canvas, gridding your paper, or disrupting your surface creatively with collage or washes.
  11. Process: Photograph the making of your project in different stages. Discuss changes in project direction or what you learn as you create.
  12. Critique / Reflect: Step back and look at your work from afar. Discuss your work with others. Participate in conversations about how to enhance your work aesthetically.
  13. Revise: Make any revisions based on critiques and reflections.
  14. Share your Work: Photograph your work and store it in your digital portfolio. Write an artist statement about the making of the work as well as what you hoped to achieve through it's creation.