visual arts process diary (vapd)
In NSW mandatory and elective Visual Arts courses students
are required to keep a Visual Arts Process Diary (VAPD). This diary is used as a tool in teaching and learning and provides a direct link between the teacher and the student. The diary may document the conceptualization or starting point of an artwork whilst leaving open the possibilities and alternatives for the final and completed work. The skills and strategies required to utilize the diary in a meaningful way are introduced, exemplified and developed by the teacher. As critical points during the production of artworks are addressed and resolved in the VAPD, it can be conceived of as a site for the student’s ideas about artmaking options and an exchange of ideas between the student and teacher. The diary is similar to an artists' journal in that it can trace the development of student judgement and changes in artworks can be negotiated, discussed and worked through over time just as alternative views, multiple ideas, experiments and even mistakes can be documented. However, teacher feedback and advice is a critical component of the VAPD and assists students with the development of their artmaking practice. |
The VAPD may include drawings, photographs, collections, paintings, sketches, annotated diagrams, notes, critical comments, lists, and reflections. It can take various forms including a sketchbook, folder, container for 3D works, CD, video, computer and digital files, slides, or a combination
of these. It contains some of the ideas and interests students explore and their experiments and practice with media, techniques and processes, and it may function as a repository of things learned, prompts and other stimuli, influential quotations, and a record of works completed that allows for consistent reflection, evaluation and assessment. The VAPD is most effective when considered in relation to the artworks produced by students and usually teachers’ comments and advice are indicated in a student’s diary and the entry dated. However, the diary is not used as a substitute for the making of artworks and students’ developing bodies of work. Click on the link for artexpress: artexpress.artsunit.nsw.edu.au/ NSW Visual Arts Process Diaries: https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/insideartexpress/ |
Visual Arts Process Diary Examples
[from the 2006 Perpich Arts High School Paris and Barcelona study tour]
[from the 2006 Perpich Arts High School Paris and Barcelona study tour]