FAQ

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 * How do I create artwork that is up to the IB STANDARD?

DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE: You will be much happier with the end result and much less stressed out if you do a little each day instead of trying to put it all together at the end.

I have artist's block!!! I can't think of anything. What should I make my artwork about?
DIG IN. What you are going through right now is totally normal, and I will be referring to it as "having-the-Carole's" for the remainder of the year. Sometimes you just have so many ideas that none of them seem worthwhile, but really all you have to do is pick one and go with it. I know it is scary. Sometimes you have a vision in your head of what you might want to create and you don't want to fail at it, so it's easier to just procrastinate than to try and potentially fail. Here's the secret: You are going to fail. We all do, but what separates the winners from the losers is that the winners try. They go out there and they fail and they pick up and try again. You never learn anything if you don't fail once in a while.

How do I pick a theme?
 1) Expand more than one idea. Your goal here is to choose your theme. This theme will focus your artwork over the next two years.  2) Make a list of many ideas. Think free form. Write down whatever comes to mind.  3) Narrow each of those ideas down to one word each.  4) Take each of those words on a separate sheet of paper (one word=one sheet) and mind-map/brainstorm/expand each of your ideas/themes.  5) Create a sentence from your most successful mind map. Your sentence should specific and support the ideas and intentions you had expanded in your mind map.    Now sit back and take a look at each of your brainstorms. Ask yourself, "Which one of these am I most interested in? Which one could I create at least 15 unique artworks based on (you should produce 18-25 over the two years)?" Then use that one word/sentence as your IWB Page mind map.   Do not panic over your theme. You need a thread of thought and process that connects all of your works together, so your theme can be flexible as long as you support your direction changes with research and idea development. 

How can I keep up with the IWB (Investigation Work Book)?
Try to work on at least one page every day and you will have more than enough to fill your IWB. One page at a time. Step by step. Try not to think ahead and just work on that one current step. We are learning how to organize and present all the appropriate information in the expected format so the examiners can follow our thought, brainstorming, research and idea development into our studio work.