How to Grade Art with a one-column Rubric
How do you grade art, isn’t it all subjective? Your personal taste, as to what you like and don’t like when it comes to art is subjective, however, when teaching and assessing art, you aren’t grading based on your personal taste. I have students in classes that do incredibly well, even though they create work […]
Why Visual Literacy Matters
I’ve always loved creating, but there was a solid chunk of my life where I hated using sketchbooks. I couldn’t seem to get mine to look like I thought it was supposed to look. You know, the kind that you see photos of? Organized, thoughtfully laid out, filled with beautiful drawings. At some point, I […]
Homeschooling: Is online learning for you?
In the wake of COVID and almost everyone experiencing online learning in some form. Parents and schools are working hard to think about what next school year is going to look like. Will it be in person with less students, hybrid, online for a few months, followed by in person for a few months. The […]
How Artists Make Pictures
Yesterday, my brother, Ashley, shared how he comes up with ideas and brings them to life in children’s books. He shared that he knows how to figure out what words to use and what order those words should appear, but how has no idea how to create illustrations. There are several parts to creating images that […]
Behind the Scenes: How to Write a Children’s book
5 steps to consider when writing If you are like me, you never quite understand how artists think. How do they know which line to draw first, or even where to put the line? Or maybe even what part of an image is meant to draw the viewer’s attention compared to the images that play […]
Art Supplies for Making Art At Home
A lot of people are asking, how will students make art at home if they don’t have supplies? While this is a valid question, we also need to be willing to ask a few different questions. When we can’t come up with an answer to a question, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t an answer, […]
3 Ways to Start Exploring Art History Today
When people discover that I offer online AP Art History and AP Art courses, they often wonder if I have anything that helps students get ready for those courses. And, for years the answer has been, no. This year, I’ve committed to creating some supports and courses (those are coming) to help students feel more […]
What is the Difference between the Scientific Method and the Creative Process?
Taking an art class is about gaining an understanding of how to use the elements and principles of design to communicate. It’s also about learning new techniques, how to use different mediums, and how to decide what medium and technique to use. When most people think of art class, they think of the latter, ie: […]
Learning How to Learn and Think
We often think of classes like Art and Art history as, “extra” “electives” or “specials”, I must admit, I’m not a big fan of any of those terms. They are subjects, things to learn about. Art is way of communicating, it’s a language. Art History is a way to learn about history. It’s also a […]
What if You Asked a Different Question
Why? Too often we make choices, choose answers, and follow processes because it’s what someone before us did. We’re doing what’s always been done. This often means that we aren’t making progress, and when it comes to problems, if we always ask the same question, we may always end up with the wrong answer. […]