The IWB

[Rain]

Hey ppl,

I'm in first year IB and just chose art. I'm starting my IWB and was wondering if anyone could give any advice on what is to be written in it and just any helpful suggestions. Please respond ASAP and thank you for viewing and hopefully responding!

[r a i n b o w stardust]

Hey there. I've just started IB, but I'll give you what tips I can. Hopefully this is useful.

Have you chosen a theme yet? I would get that done first and make sure it's broad and enjoyable for you. The purpose of the IWB is personal development, so it doesn't have to be perfectly done. The examiners want to see that so don't erase or cut out mistakes. Put in everything that has to do with your theme (don't turn it into a personal artbook with unneccesary doodles). Experiment techniques and styles. Go to exhibitions, research artists, include articles that are relevant and be critical. Use art vocabulary. Make sure to include drawings and writing equally.

Apparently we're supposed to work on the IWB daily....

[Rain]

Hey there. I've just started IB, but I'll give you what tips I can. Hopefully this is useful.

Have you chosen a theme yet? I would get that done first and make sure it's broad and enjoyable for you. The purpose of the IWB is personal development, so it doesn't have to be perfectly done. The examiners want to see that so don't erase or cut out mistakes. Put in everything that has to do with your theme (don't turn it into a personal artbook with unneccesary doodles). Experiment techniques and styles. Go to exhibitions, research artists, include articles that are relevant and be critical. Use art vocabulary. Make sure to include drawings and writing equally.

Apparently we're supposed to work on the IWB daily....

Thanks for that it was helpful. Yea, so I was told, I'm in the first week of school and already the teachers have started to pile on the work, but i'm trying to get into the habit of putting in entries everyday. And to sketch everyday. Not too sure about the theme but i like room to experiment and explore, and it is for 2 years so, i think one too specific would bring me down. I'd get bored with it. What's the theme you're considering so far?

[robertomx]

Hey there again Okay, the IWB is very important. As it was the part where i did best in my Visual Arts experience I guess I can sort of tell you what you are supposed to do. Basically, your IWB is the place to register EVERYTHING that has to do with your studio work; i.e., you're supposed to write about the way you got an idea for a piece, your sketches, your explanations as to why you chose to use this or that technique, the symbolism in your work, the reason for each element to be there, the reason for the colors, your reason for changing the techinque you had chosen if you do so, the progress of your work, how it's coming, the difficulties you face, the changes you make, EVERYTHING until the piece is completed. Don't forget to date your entries. Now, obviously it is not easy. I didn't write daily entries, and I don't think it's necessary, but I wrote whenever something important happened. For example, if I had initially decided to go with a painting but then I changed it to a sculpture I wrote why. The examiner will be expecting something NON CONVENTIONAL; with this I do NOT mean you can't use oils or aquarelas or whatever. Of course you can, but the IB wants you to think outside of the box. That is why in your IWB you should register anything to do with media experimentation. For example, a friend of mine decided to use toilet paper in hers to make little balls out of it, glue it together to form letters and then form a poem. Obviously that wasn't a normal thing to do hahah, so she explained why she used it and whether she was pleased with what that had achieved or not. That's what I mean; IB doesn't want just a 'pretty' art piece, they want something with meaning. Something that means something to you, as they want you to be reflective. That's why you have the IWB: that way you can explain to the examiner the reasons behind your work so that they can see it really made you think and work. Now, something that's also important is that you use art 'lingo' haha, what I mean is that you are expected to use appropriate vocabulary when talking about art (yours and others'). There are good websites on the internet that can help you with that, or you can always ask your teacher for help (if s/he's a good teacher of course). Try to analyze other artists' art; read about it. It's kind of a requirement that you are able to relate your work to other people's art (and draw influence from them). Especially contemporary artists. Try to go to a museum of contemporary art and talk about it in your IWB. My school used to organize those kinds of trips, but I don't know about yours. If not, the Internet is always a good option (haha). However, I would suggest that rather than printing/buying and pasting images of art pieces of other artists you tried to replicate them yourself. That would make your IWB more 'artsy' and impressive. NEVER erase mistakes, as in, if you sketched something and then you changed your idea, don't try to make it look as if you had that idea from the beginning. That way the examiner can see you are reflective and growing. Try to describe what you're trying to accomplish from the beginning. Of course I would suggest to have a strong (and a tad broad) theme to link all your pieces, but that is not strictly required (although most of the times expected). Write by hand, make it personal. It's yours.

I hope that this helped you. If you need anything don't hesitate to ask

[r a i n b o w stardust]

Thanks for that it was helpful. Yea, so I was told, I'm in the first week of school and already the teachers have started to pile on the work, but i'm trying to get into the habit of putting in entries everyday. And to sketch everyday. Not too sure about the theme but i like room to experiment and explore, and it is for 2 years so, i think one too specific would bring me down. I'd get bored with it. What's the theme you're considering so far?

Hehe, I know what you feel. It's not easy to write a daily entry and I still haven't started on my sketchbook

You're right about finding a broad theme. I've been researching and thinking about it and asked my teacher if I could do Myths but she declined since I couldn't relate any modern issues to it. Our teacher wants us to pick a theme that's cultural and easy to relate to social issues. So I've been thinking of doing Children or Fairy Tales- both of which I have found to fit the requirements. Look at what other IB students have done. It may inspire you

[Rain]

Well so far my teacher has been pretty controlling about what we put in it telling us specific things to put in, so we have the same thing in there so far, which I don't think is right. The year before us is saying to not listen to her and go my own way because she's wasting time, but I'm not too sure as to what to do. So right now I'm in desperate need of help!

I've been contemplating themes such as controversy and expectancy, but i'm not quite sure yet and I have yet to figure out how the IWB should look.....

Edited October 2, 2009 by Rain

[robertomx]

What kinds of things is she asking you to put in? I'm pretty sure that's not the right thing to do, but it's best if you tell us what stuff she's making you write about/ work on so we can help you more?

[Rain]

Well first off, everyone has the same entries so far, only it's our opinion for some things.

The list so far is:

What art means to you (me) ?

What you (I) think of IB and IB art?

Aristotle's theory (and what we think)

Elements of Art:

Line

Shape

Colour

Texture

Form

Space

What is Still Life

Contour Drawing

Colour Mixing

For colour mixing we're mixing colours she gave us a sheet how to do and put it in and write how you got it.

She wants us to go on to Cubism and Pointillism. But I don't want to go further into the book, as I'm already 15 pages in and I'm not sure if it's ok for us all to be doing the same thing and while the books are looking different because of the way we chose to put everything in, the content is pretty repetitive and pretty much the same. The elements of art has the same info on the page because she gave us definitions she told us to use....... and she's grading the work for our own internal grades.

[robertomx]

Well... yes, she's doing it wrong. [Honestly, what is it with the teachers that even though they have the syllabus they still don't do things right?] I sort of can understand what she wants you to do (to understand the basics of art and everything) but the IB Arts course isn't supposed to be like that. That's what makes IB different: they want YOU to discover/learn/develop your concepts and abilities in a more personal way. You're supposed to go through those things but... in a way that helps you develop your studio work. See, the thing is that you should first come up with an idea, then develop it, sketch etc (obviously registering everything in the workbook) and THEN experimenting with whatever it is that helps you with the technique you want to use for your work. Say, I want to do a painting. THEN I will be experimenting with colours and so on (and it'd help to use some influences from other artists). Try talking to your IBC to tell him/her about this. Look, the bottom line is, this is going to be taken into account to come up with YOUR grade, not the teacher's. You could tell that to your IBC and your teacher. If you're in doubt about how the IWB should look like, send me a message. I'll try to help

[Rain]

Wow......well my thing looks nothing like that....i'm like 15 pages in and there is no sign of a theme anywhere.... Hopefully I can get on track soon. Thanks for your advice, i'll make sure to send you a message if i have any further questions! Thanks alot!

Edited October 4, 2009 by Aboo
No text speak!