Tools and Materials Journal Assignment
· Analyze tools, materials,
and processes used to make art.
· Ask questions about tools, materials, and processes
used to make art.
· Identify experts
who can help you search for answers about tools, materials,
and processes used to make art.
Getting
Started
Review your first Inquiry Journal entry to recall basic information
about the artwork you selected for study in this program.
If you have not already done so, photocopy or print out a
copy of the artwork for your journal.
Lesson
Two introduces the tools, materials, and processes Luis Jiménez
uses to make his painted fiberglass cast sculptures.
Tools
(and equipment) are the things artists use to make art that
are not used up in the process, such as, hammers, brushes,
software, kilns, presses, cameras, etc.
Materials
(or supplies) are used up in the art making process and are
usually (but not always) part of the final artwork. Examples
of art materials are paper, clay, canvas, paint, plaster,
glue, wood, film, pencils, etc.
Processes
are the steps that artists use to make art. For example steps
in the photography process are:
- loading film in camera
- shooting pictures
- rewinding and removing film
- developing film
- printing photographs
Think of
questions that relate each of the three topics (tools, materials,
and processes) to the artwork you selected. For example for
tools:
- What tools did the artist
use to make the artwork?
- Does the artwork show any
evidence of the use of a specific tool?
Once you
have chosen either tools, materials, or processes as you topic,
think about who in art has knowledge and experience about
this topic. Different art experts understand art in different
ways. Click to read descriptions of what
various art experts do. You can learn a lot from experts
if you ask specific questions about the things they know best.
Different
art experts have different knowledge about artists' use of
tools, materials, and processes. For example for the first
topic, tools, you might ask an artist who works in the same
a or similar medium what tools s/he uses. Or you might ask
an art historian whether the tools used to make the artwork
you selected were new innovations for their times or well-established,
traditional tools used for some time in that culture.
Information
about some art-making tools, materials, and processes are
available online.
Use the
alphabet on the left of ArtLex
to search for information
about specific tools, materials, and processes.
The Getty
Museum's site includes videos on the process of bronze
casting.
The National
Geographic provides diagrams to show how a Native American
parfleche
case is made from leather.
The Spencer
Museum of Art site, The Print Room, includes close-up
details of the effects of various printmaking tools and processes.
Click on "Image Maps" for details. Click on "Glossary
of Terms" for information about many different printmaking
processes.
The Hudson
Museum includes diagrams
for making a birchbark container.
Click to
learn about the processes involved in making
papier mache
A man in
Pennsylvania was inspired to make a 24-foot-high
bronze horse, to complete a dream Leonardo Da Vinci had
500 years earlier. Click on "From Clay to Bronze"
for step by step description and 20 photographs showing how
the huge horse was made. Click on "Sculptor's Statement"
to see how Leonardo's sketches were used.
Now think
about whether there is someone outside art who has experience
or knowledge about the topic you selected. Click to read descriptions
of what
experts in a variety of disciplines do. The list names
only experts used in this program. Of course there are others,
including psychologists, mechanics, physicians, lawyers, athletes,
musicians, and many more who can bring different perspectives
to the topic Again, you can learn a lot from experts if you
ask specific questions about the things they know best.
For example
for the topic of tools, you might ask a machinist or welder
what tools s/he uses to work with metal. You might ask a logger,
sawyer, or cabinetmaker how s/he use tools to cut and form
wood. Or you might ask a cloth manufacturer to explain how
looms work.
Choose
either tools, materials, or process as the topic to write
about in your journal.
Think of
a question related to the topic that you believe an art
expert might be able to help you answer.
Think of a question related to the topic that you believe
an expert
outside art might help you answer.
Checklist
I included:
- Photocopy or printout of the artwork
I selected
- My topic (tools, materials, or process)
- A specific type of art
expert who might guide my inquiry
- A question related to this topic
for an art expert
- A type of non-art
expert who might guide my inquiry
- A question related to the topic
for a non-art expert
- Any other thoughts I have about
how the artist made the artwork I selected.
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