MIXED MEDIA ON PAPER (WITH A DOODLE)

Following a process-based approach doesn’t mean that the only kind of invitation we can offer artists is a blank page. Sometimes (maybe more for adults than children) being given some small thing to contend with on the page gives us a place to start.

When we offer art materials to another person, whether adult or child, there’s always a little collaboration going on. As the artist arrives at the workspace: What tools and materials have been placed within reach? What other things are available nearby? What surface has been provided? What was talked about beforehand? Have any decisions been made before the artist gets there?

The answers to these questions are the facilitator’s part of the collaboration, which, ideally, ends when the artist begins.

As art facilitators, how can we make sure we are leaving the artist enough choices? We can…

• offer a collection of self-serve materials that are always available to combine with the materials at hand
• offer materials and tools that can be used and combined in multiple ways
• let artists know that (within the boundaries of safety) what they do when they get to their workspaces is entirely up to them, and demonstrate to them over time that we are happy and excited when they take the things we’ve given them and use them in ways that we had not imagined.

Something like a minimal doodle on a page can be useful to…

• start an artistic conversation about a theme, shape, or subject matter that we’ve been talking about together, without expectations about how the doodle will be used
• take the place of more fully realized, representational materials (like coloring pages or detailed, pre-cut shapes)

So—thank you for reading! I’ve drawn a line on your page… Feel free to use it, flip your page over, or do anything you choose.