This document provides guidelines for creating an effective sketchbook for art students. It recommends including annotations explaining ideas, artist research from various sources not just online, layouts showing the progression of ideas, and documentation of one's own artwork. Students should begin with research, gather materials from various sources, experiment extensively with their own ideas, and annotate their work and artistic influences continuously throughout the sketchbook. The sketchbook should tell the story of the student's creative process and development of ideas over time.

1. Recipe for a Good
Sketchbook
A students Guide

2. Ingredients
• Annotation – ideas, explanations, inspirations.
• A fluent style throughout
• Inspirations not just from the internet... i.e
magazines, books, images of locations, gallery visits
etc...
• Artist Research – found not just on the www.
• Layout (considered and arranged)
• Your own drawings, photographs, paintings, samples,
collages, documentation of your own artwork.
• Technical information (where appropriate)

3. Directions
1. Begin with research into the themes , artists from handouts
PowerPoint presentations and in on your briefs.
2. Remember to print things out as you go and most importantly stick
things in – do not leave it all until the week before your deadline!
3. Gather secondary source materials from magazines, internet and
library books, your primary source comes from your own work that
you produce.
4. Experiment and explore own own artwork and your ideas as much
as possible, don’t just stop when you have taken a few good
images or experiments.
5. Continuous annotation throughout, describing what you have done
and your opinions as you do it as well as showing a clear link
between your work and the work of others is crucial.
6. Descriptions of artistic techniques recorded in bullet points.
7. Continue to experiment with ideas working towards a final outcome
including artistic experimentation, research into artists and other
subjects related to your ideas.

4. Frequently asked Questions
• What order does my sketchbook go in?
The order that you do it in. Do not leave
spaces as this will then change the order and
therefore it will not be the natural progression
of your project. It should show the
development of ideas, a bit like telling a story.

5. • Do I need to fill my sketchbook?
No, its quality not quantity, as long as you make
sure you have covered all the things asked of
you by your tutors to the best of your ability.

6. What should I write in my sketchbook?
• Describe what you have do in class. Describe each image that
you include in your sketchbook in some detail write about the
materials and techniques you used, why you did it what were
your ideas, and what influenced you ?
• Write about what went well and what did not work so well
and why?
• Refer to artists that have influenced your experiments and/or
the activity your tutor assigned or artists given to you to
research by tutors.
• Write about any problems you have encountered and how
you have solved them.
• What are you going to do next.
• Take notes at all lectures, PowerPoint presentations,
demonstrations and any one to one tuition your receive
about your own experiments.
• Make lists of things you need to do.

7. What and how should I write in my sketchbook?
• The first four units you are going to work towards
are units 1 Introduction to Visual Language, Unit
2 introduction to research skills, Unit 3
Introduction to critical and contextual awareness,
Unit 4 Introduction to Materials, techniques and
Processes.
• The assessment criteria asks you to critically
compare everything different ways to
communicate visually, different ways to research
including primary and secondary research, a
range of critical perspectives that influence the
analysis of art and design and range of materials
and techniques used in art and design.

8. SOME OF THE ACTIVITIES INVOLVED IN CRITICAL
THINKING
• Making a claim and supporting it
• Using appropriate evidence
• Making links between ideas
• Asking questions
• Evaluating
• Predicting
• Describing
• Analysing
• Comparing and contrasting
• Identifying problems and solutions
• Critical activity is all about you expressing your opinions
about art + design and backing them up with evidence.
Tell us why and what has influenced you.

9. • How many artists do I research?
As many as possible , these should depend on who you find
when researching ideas for your work as well as the ones
suggested by tutors. Do not write lots of biographical details
about the artist unless asked to this is irrelevant! Do not include
artists CV’s or lists of their exhibitions etc. It is more important to
tell us about the artists ideas and themes in their work and how
this influences you.

10. Other bits of useful info...
• Do not write or draw in pencil in your sketchbook. Be
creative and try as many different mark making tools
in your sketchbook when drawing.
• If your writing is difficult to read, type it up
• Do not use brightly coloured pages, you will not get
extra marks for this.
• Do not Leave bits of loose paper in the sketchbook.
• Do not leave blank pages in between
• Come prepared to class with pritt sticks and pens.
Consider what pens you will need if your sketchbook
has black pages?

11. Finally....
Make your sketchbook interesting, inspiring,
neat but also a working sketchbook so not
PERFECT, individual... Make it your own!
Any student that fails to bring sketchbooks to
every lesson will told to work in the library for
the duration of the class and marked absent!!!