Materials and techniques

The choice of materials and techniques is up to the student, as long as the art Art Making Forms requirements are met. Students should experiment with a range of materials and techniques before choosing those that feel most suited to their personal expressive means. Experimentation is key, but it is not necessary (and frankly impossible) to try out every technique available. Encourage your students to try out different solutions and then to stick with the ones that work to develop a deeper understanding of those materials. A broad range of material approaches is great but try to aim for some more in depth development of skills in specific areas.

Choosing what medium is appropriate to a concept is key to the success of the artwork, not only for conceptual pieces. The materials used, the surface or support, the marks, the colors, all of these contribute to the overall effect and how the work communicates. Students will be able to make these choices more easily once they have experimented with a range of materials and technique.

Ready to go practical assignments

Cherry pick your lesson plans

This section of the site presents an ongoing compilation of hands on teaching idea that will be exciting and useful to an IB art teacher.  These lessons are organized by technique, not in any particular order. There are one session lessons for you to grab when you need a quick solution, or more complex ideas to build a unit on. You might browse the lessons for a starting point then adapt it to your own needs. See Student Access feature

 Although many of the practical teaching ideas are of my own devising I have also included lessons and links from some excellent educational resources:  journals, websites and museum learning departments (duly acknowledged).

Teaching thinking, looking, making

Some of the ideas here teach conceptual thinking, some teach more traditional skills, some investigate materials, some investigate ideas..From lens-less photography to invisible drawing, hopefully you will find many ideas to use in your teaching. 

Browse the teaching Ideas by key word or go to the sitemap for an overview of what is available now.