Grade by Grade
A. Creating and Presenting · Creating Art: The Creative Process, Design and Studio Techniques

Generating and Planning Ideas: Brainstorms, Thumbnails and Research

A1.1About 70 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can use several strategies, alone and with others, to generate many ideas for a creative challenge.
  • I can research artists and gather my own reference material responsibly.
  • I can use thumbnail sketches and a viewfinder to compare compositions.
  • I can write a detailed plan with an intention, format, materials and timeline.

Words to know

brainstorming
Producing as many ideas as possible in a short time, without judging them yet.
mind map
A diagram that starts with a central word and branches out into related ideas and details.
SCAMPER
A checklist for changing an idea: Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify (or magnify), Put to another use, Eliminate, Reverse (or rearrange).
reference material
Photos, objects, sketches from life or other sources an artist looks at while working.
format
The shape and orientation of the art work: landscape (wider than tall), portrait (taller than wide), square, circular and so on.
viewfinder
A small frame (often cut from card) that you look through to choose and crop a composition.
composition
The arrangement of the parts of an art work.
artistic intention
What you want your art work to do: the feeling, idea or message you want viewers to get.

From "I have no idea" to too many ideas

The most common sentence in any art room is "I don't know what to do." Professional artists feel this too. The difference is that they have strategies for getting unstuck. In this lesson you will build a toolkit of idea-generating and planning strategies, the first three stages of the creative process: challenging and inspiring, imagining and generating, planning and focusing.

The golden rule: your first idea is rarely your best idea. The first idea is usually the one everyone else has too. Generating many ideas pushes you past the obvious.

Strategies for generating ideas

  • Mind map: write the theme in the centre and branch out. Go at least three levels deep, from general to very specific.
  • Lists of 20: write 20 answers to a question like "What does belonging look like?" The first 5 are easy; numbers 12 to 20 are where surprising ideas live.
  • SCAMPER: take an ordinary idea and change it. Substitute (a snowman made of books), Combine (a tree and a city), Adapt (a hockey card format for a portrait of your grandmother), Modify or magnify (a giant mitten filling the page), Put to another use (a skate as a flower pot), Eliminate (a portrait with no face), Reverse or rearrange (looking up from under the ice).
  • Observation: draw from life for 10 minutes: your kitchen, a bus stop, your pet. Real details spark ideas.
  • Personal inventory: places, people, objects, memories, worries and hopes that matter to you. Art about real experiences usually has more power.
  • Collaborative brainstorming: in a group, everyone adds ideas, no one criticizes, and you build on each other with "yes, and...". Choose afterwards.
WINTERcoldlightsoundspeoplefrosty red cheeksbreath clouds4:45 p.m. sunsetstreetlights on snowcrunch of bootssnowplow at 3 a.m.shovelling for a neighbouroutdoor rink
A mind map grows from one central word. Each branch is a category, and the small words under it are specific details. Specific details (a 4:45 p.m. sunset, a snowplow at 3 a.m.) make stronger art ideas than general ones ("snow").

Research: looking with purpose

Research is part of stage 1 (challenging and inspiring). It can mean:

  • Looking at artists: how have other artists treated this theme? For a winter theme you might look at Lawren Harris's snowy landscapes or at photographs of the northern lights. Write down what you notice and how the artist did it.
  • Collecting reference: take your own photos, draw from life, or collect objects. Your own references are best: you understand them, and you are not copying someone else's work.
  • Learning facts: if your art is about an issue (say, plastic in the Great Lakes), learn the facts so your message is accurate.

If you do use someone else's image for reference, change it substantially, combine several sources, and give credit. You will study copyright and responsible use in the companion unit, Reflecting, Responding and Analysing.

Thumbnails and the viewfinder

Once you have a list of ideas, make thumbnail sketches: small (about 5 cm × 7 cm), fast (1 to 2 minutes each) drawings that show only the big shapes and their placement. Thumbnails let you test:

  • Format: landscape, portrait, square, long panorama?
  • Viewpoint: close-up or far away? From above (bird's-eye) or below (worm's-eye)?
  • Placement: where is the most important thing? Is there empty space?
  • Value plan: where are the darkest darks and lightest lights?

A viewfinder helps you choose a composition from real life or a photo. Cut a 4 cm × 5 cm rectangle out of the middle of an index card and look through it with one eye. Move it closer or farther and slide it around until the composition feels right.

A: wide landscapecalm, lots of spaceB: tall portraithouse feels grandC: close-upcozy, personal
Three thumbnails of the same idea, "home on a winter evening". Changing the format (wide, tall) and the viewpoint (far, close) changes the feeling before you add a single detail. This is why artists make several thumbnails before choosing.

Writing a plan

After you choose an idea (stage 3, planning and focusing), write a short plan. A good plan answers:

  1. Intention: what should viewers feel, think or understand?
  2. Subject and composition: what is in it, and where? (Attach your chosen thumbnail.)
  3. Elements and principles: which ones will you use on purpose? For example, "cool colours and horizontal lines for calm, with emphasis on the lit window". You will learn all of them in the next lessons.
  4. Format and size: for example, landscape, 28 cm × 43 cm.
  5. Materials, tools and techniques.
  6. Timeline: when will each stage be done?
  7. Criteria: how will you know it is successful?
Worked example

Let's turn a list into a plan

Challenge: "Make an art work about something that is changing in your community." Jordan, in Thunder Bay, has 20 minutes.

  1. List of 20 (first few): new houses, my school's new gym, the old movie theatre closing, ice forming later on the lake, my little sister growing up, the corner store's new owners...
  2. Pick 3 with energy: the theatre closing, ice forming later, the corner store. Jordan circles the theatre because he has memories there.
  3. SCAMPER push: Combine the theatre with a calendar? Reverse: show the screen watching the empty seats? Jordan likes the reversed viewpoint.
  4. Thumbnails: he draws 6: wide view of the marquee, close-up of one torn ticket, view from the screen towards empty seats (portrait and landscape), and two others.
  5. Choice and reason: the view from the screen, landscape format, because the rows of empty seats repeat across the page and feel lonely.
  6. Plan: Intention: viewers feel the loss of a shared place. Composition: seats fill the bottom two-thirds; one lit exit sign. Elements: dark values, repeated curved lines. Size 28 cm × 43 cm. Materials: charcoal and white chalk on grey paper. Timeline: tests by Wednesday, draft Friday, final next Thursday. Criteria: the empty seats read clearly; the exit sign is the brightest point.

Jordan moved from 20 rough ideas to one focused, written plan. Each stage left evidence: the list, the SCAMPER notes, 6 thumbnails and the plan.

When you are stuck

Change one thing: the viewpoint (from above, from an ant's eye), the scale (make a small thing huge), or the time (the same place at 3 a.m.). Or set a timer for 5 minutes and draw anything related to the theme without stopping.

Hands-on activity

Idea generator workout

You need: your sketchbook, a pencil, an index card, scissors, a timer.

  1. Make a viewfinder: cut a 4 cm × 5 cm window out of the centre of the index card. (Grown-up help if you use a craft knife.)
  2. Theme: "Hidden". Make a mind map at least three levels deep (5 minutes).
  3. Write a list of 20 things that can be hidden (8 minutes). Star the three most surprising.
  4. Apply two SCAMPER moves to one starred idea.
  5. Walk around your home with the viewfinder. Find three compositions that fit "Hidden" (for example, a sock peeking from under a couch). Draw each as a thumbnail.
  6. Draw three more thumbnails of your favourite idea, changing format and viewpoint.
  7. Write a 7-part plan (intention, subject and composition, elements and principles, format and size, materials, timeline, criteria).

What to look for: at least 6 thumbnails that are genuinely different (not the same picture redrawn), and a plan whose intention matches the chosen thumbnail.

Just for fun

Why did the art student bring a ladder to the brainstorm?

The teacher said to take the ideas to the next level.

Your turn

1

What does each letter of SCAMPER stand for?

2

Why should you make many thumbnails instead of one?

3

Apply "Modify/magnify" to the idea "a maple leaf".

4

Name two good sources of reference material that avoid copying another artist.

5

Write an intention sentence for an art work about the first snowfall.

6

What is the difference between landscape and portrait format?

7

Give one rule for good group brainstorming.

More practice: warm-up

1

What goes in the centre of a mind map?

2

How big is a typical thumbnail sketch?

3

What tool can you make from an index card to choose a composition?

4

True or false: in a brainstorm, you should judge ideas as soon as you hear them.

5

Which stage comes first: planning and focusing, or imagining and generating?

More practice: on your own

1

Mei's list of ideas for "Family" is: family photo, family dinner, family tree. Why might these be weak, and how could she improve them?

2

Ali wants to draw a hockey player. He finds a great photo online by a sports photographer. What should he do to use it responsibly?

3

How does changing the viewpoint from eye level to a worm's-eye view change a picture of a tree?

4

Write the materials and timeline part of a plan for a small watercolour painting due in one week.

5

Explain how a viewfinder helps with composition.

Challenge

1

Design a 30-minute collaborative idea session for a group of four planning a mural about their school. List the steps and roles.

2

Two plans for "Calm": Plan A says "Paint something calm with nice colours." Plan B says "Lake at dawn, landscape format, wide horizontal bands, cool blues and soft greys, little contrast, watercolour washes." Explain why Plan B is stronger.

3

Use SCAMPER three different ways on "a winter boot" and describe the art work each would lead to.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

Which strategy pushes past obvious ideas by asking for many answers to one question?

2.

In SCAMPER, the "E" stands for...

3.

A drawing that is taller than it is wide is in...

4.

What is the main purpose of a thumbnail sketch?

5.

Which is the most responsible way to use reference material?

6.

Which part of a plan describes what you want viewers to feel or understand?

For parents and teachers

Idea generation is a skill, not a talent. If your teen says "I can't think of anything", ask questions instead of giving ideas: "What did you see on the way home? What would it look like from above? What if it were huge?" Encourage lists that go past the obvious (20 ideas, not 3). Common difficulties: making thumbnails that are too detailed (they should be fast and rough), and choosing an idea without a clear intention. Help them take their own reference photos so they are not tempted to copy online images. Supervise craft-knife use when cutting the viewfinder.