In March we are hosting a conference at school. The focus of the day is reading, and it's easy to see why. We are having a major push across the school, in all subjects, to get pupils reading more. That can only be a good thing and, as an avid reader myself, I will be speaking at the conference about how we are trying to integrate reading into our lessons in the art department.
But I really wanted to talk about something else. Something very close to my heart and the reason I became the avid reader I am today. The books I see the majority of my STEP group poring over every morning. Comic books. The book that ignited my love of reading as a child was an old Spider-Man Annual I inherited from my, now sadly departed, cousin. I still have the book in my collection today. I loved the art, the colour, the story. I was hooked and wanted to read more. This book led to more comics, which led to fantasy and science-fiction books, which led to wanting to read every day. I now set my annual target on goodreads.com at 300 books a year. I see pupils in school starting along the same path, reading Marvel books, DC books and Manga. I chat to them about what they're reading and find it saddening to hear that some members of staff (not all I hasten to add) have told them to read a 'proper' book instead. I'm hopefully going to share some reasons why everyone (even you) should start reading comics. Drawing Inferences. In comics, probably more than in any other text, readers must build their understanding by filling in the gaps. The artist leaves a whole world of action and information between the panels of the story and the reader is expected to infer the action that takes place off the page. The more complex and sophisticated the comic, the more important this skill becomes. If the reader can't make inferences then they are lost. Comics teach you how to 'read between the lines'. Visualisation. Comics are a visual form of storytelling. The images are there for the reader so people who struggle to imagine scenes or picture what a character looks like has a frame of refence for what they should 'see' in their head as they read the text. Through comics readers can be taught how to make their own mental images when reading other, more traditional, texts. Thinking Differently. Readers of comic books must process all the different components - visual, spatial, and textual - of what they are reading and integrate these into their understanding of the story. This means that reading these books actually involves much more complex processing than reading a more traditional text. More research remains to be done regarding the neurological benefits of reading comic books, but it is evident that there is far more to this genre than simply "looking at pictures," as some critics believe. There's More Than Just Superheroes. We all know, and have probably seen, the big superhero films. Marvel and DC characters are a massive part of everyone's culture. But there's more to comics than Batman and Spider-Man. Through comics I've read about Holocaust survivors (Maus), the issues faced by women in Iran in the 1980s (Persepolis) and explored the effects of war on society (Saga). Comics are much more than simple superhero stories and can be a gateway to further exploration and understanding of very complex ideas. Comics Are Cool. Unless you've been living under a rock, you've likely heard of a multitude of comic book characters. You've probably even seen most of their films. You know why? Because these characters are cool. And where do these stories originate from? Comic books. I take great pleasure in talking to pupils about the latest Marvel film and telling them where they can go to find more stories about their favourite characters that they can read and enjoy. To put it simply comic books are good. The writing is often, not always, excellent, the stories are interesting, and the illustrations are impressive. It’s no surprise that people appreciate the work of art that a comic book is, and all the hard work that goes into it. What’s more of a surprise is that more people don’t give them a try. Go to your local comic shop today. You might just like what you find... As art teachers we're pretty good at teaching our pupils the skills they need. We can teach them, through modelling and scaffolding during lessons, how to create tone, mix colours, print and these skills develop over time. Practice doesn't always make perfect, and some pupils will struggle with certain skills and aspects of practical work, but I'm confident that with the right teaching and encouragement that all pupils will improve.
Our school CPD recently asked us to think about how we teach students the thinking skills they need for a project. As an artist, and a teacher, I'm aware that the thought processes that go on in my head when I look at a work of art, or a piece of work I'm producing, aren't the same as the ones happening in my pupils' minds. But how do we teach kids how to think like an artist? Is this an innate ability that can't be taught? Something we're born with? To help me out with this I've revisited the great book 'Think Like an Artist' by Will Gompertz. In it he discusses the traits he thinks are common to all artists and asks if these are ways of thinking that can be developed in all of us. I have chosen a few to look into with my pupils over the next few weeks to see if it makes a difference to the way they think and work in the classroom. 1. Artists Don't Fail - Every day I'm asked by pupils if the can start again. Told they think their work is a failure. That it's not good enough. I've lost count of the amount of work I've rescued from the bin and stuck back into sketchbooks. But how do we teach pupils that making mistakes is a natural part of the creative process? All artists suffer setbacks, don't get things right and mess up their work from time to time. It's very rare that things go according to plan when you're creating artwork. I try to show this in my modelling. I talk through the processes in my head, adjust mistakes along the way and admit when I'm not happy with something. Trying all the time to show pupils that when it comes to creativity, failure is as inevitable as it is unavoidable. 2. Artists Steal - Ideas come when we encourage our brain to combine random elements in new ways. Mixing old and new, creating strange combinations. That's where ideas, although not always good ones, are born. If you look at the early work of any artist you will see them emulating someone else. As their work develops they pick up new ideas, techniques, skills, meanings and concepts that help shape their work into something new. That's how artists develop. We encourage pupils to work the same way - consuming as much art as possible, and other influences, to create a space in their mind where new ideas can be born. As Jean-Luc Godard said, 'Its not where you take things from, it's where you take them to.' 3. Artists Pause For Thought - Pupils often rush through their work, eager to get it finished before moving on to the next thing. As teachers we are guilty of this too, pushing kids to work quicker, do more work and get things finished as quickly as possible. We need to teach children to think more about their work, to step back from it and look at it with fresh eyes. To spend just as much time thinking about what they are going to do as they spend actually doing it. By thinking in depth about the big picture (the project as a whole) and the fine detail (the work being produced this lesson) we can help pupils become reflective and considered practitioners. These are initial thoughts and ideas; ways I think I can help pupils think more like artists and allow their talents to flourish. Our pupils exist in a world beset by problems and they won't resolve them with brute force or skills alone. They will need to use their brains - by thinking like artists. We are all born artists. We just forget to remember that. We need to believe it again; that's what artists do... |
Mr CarneyA weekly (in an ideal world but less often in reality) peek into the thoughts of your friendly neighbourhood art teacher.* My BookshelfArchives
September 2023
|