Thinking like an artist

Headnote

Second-grade students try to think through some of the processes that Hans Hofmann might have used when creating To Miz-Pax Vobiscum. The puzzle was created by older students.

How can the thought processes used by artists help students to develop original ideas and to arrive at varied conclusions for similar problems? Clearly, not all artists approach creating works of art in the same manner; however, certain underlying approaches seem to drive the artistic process.

For example, most master artists maintain sketchbooks wherein ideas are captured for use at some other time. Other artists create smaller or less detailed versions of what they perceive a final work to be. Still other artists develop story boards, experiment with a variety of materials, or try different arrangements of the colors, lines, textures and shapes.

One way to introduce students to the diverse cognitive processes of artists is through a simple puzzle activity that we call "Thinking Like an Artist." This activity encourages careful observation of a work of art while prompting students to decode the thought processes used by the artist in its creation.

Additionally, "Thinking Like an Artist" allows students to simultaneously act as an art critic and aesthetician as they describe, analyze, interpret, make judgments, and determine how changes to an image alter its value or beauty.

MOTIVATION Distribute art reproductions, one per student. Ask students to look closely at the image they have been given. What...