First homework

Now that you’ve created a concept map, it’s time to generate some art that relates to it. For homework tonight, create 2 pages of sketchbook “drawing” that relate to your group concept map. Topics are as follows: dreams, travel, weather.

Remember, the purpose of the concept map is to focus your thoughts on a particular subject. It should also help you determine if that subject might be worth exploring in a concentration of 12 works of art. The three concepts maps we generated in class were to help you understand the brainstorming process. When working on your sketchbook drawings tonight, the purpose is to sketch ideas that could be turned in to finished pieces of art. You are only completing two sketchbook pages based on your group’s topic of weather, dreams or travel. I look forward to seeing your creations!

Concept Map

Did you make any yet? Are you confused, unsure of how to start? That’s ok. That is what this post will explore. First, the purpose of generating a concept map is to help you brainstorm potential concentration topics/themes. Remember, a concentration is an in-depth exploration of a particular design concept. Your concentration should be based on an idea in which you have a strong personal interest or connection. So the concept map is a way to organize your thoughts and generate some ideas. The concept map is a way to test your concentration idea, to see if it will generate enough content for your concentration.

The Details:

A concept map shows the relationships among a set of connected concepts and ideas. It is a tangible way to display how your mind  “sees” a particular topic. It is a way to help you think through a topic. By constructing a concept map, you can reflect on what you know and realize what you don’t know. In a concept map, the concepts are usually represented by single words enclosed in a box or circle and are connected to other concept boxes by arrows or lines.

So we will walk through this process using the concept map I made in June. First, I started by choosing the theme of THYROID. I chose this for personal reasons: I have been hypothyroid for 7 years and had recently been struggling with some health issues related to my thyroid (nothing serious and it’s all fixed now because I have an awesome doctor). The term thyroid was placed as my MAIN IDEA in the center of the concept map. Second, I identified facts, terms, and ideas that I thought were associated with the topic (THYROID). I made a list of these items in my sketchbook which I will either show you later this week or will scan and post here if I have the time. When I looked at my list, I determined that the information on the list could be divided into four areas: levels & medication, medical, symptoms, and blood test. Third, I labeled each quadrant of the concept map with these four areas in red. Lastly, I wrote the words from the list items into the proper place on the concept map.

After creating this concept map, the next step would be for me to generate several sketches based on these ideas with the hope that I’d have enough content to create 12 pieces of art work. Whew! Did you get all of that? If not, try your best. We will spend time during the first week of school reviewing how to create a concept map. If you are not sure where to begin or what topic to choose for the central theme, I would suggest choosing ideas from the the summer assignment sketchbook pages:

• when I grow up…
• childhood memories
• things that make me sad
• favorite places, people, artists, etc.
• breakfast food
• things I did this summer
• song, poem, or book interpretation
• architecture, house, room