Part One
How? Get outside.
- Use your phone and/or a sketchbook to capture aspects of nature around you
- Find textures, colours, shapes, lines and other elements and principles of design in the natural space you’re exploring
- Based on the elements of design you see, how might they be used to express different moods in a visual story?
- What medium are you drawn to? Why? What are the best qualities of the medium?
- Identify a few artists (locally or nationally or even globally) who use this medium in an impactful and innovative way. What are they doing differently? What is their theme or message? Have any of these artists created a visual story about the natural space you’re visiting? If they have, what can you learn from their work?
- Visualize how you might use this medium to inspire people in your community to create a better balance between people and nature? Explain your idea.
- In what ways do your skills compliment this medium? What unique perspective or attribute could you bring to this medium and the story you want to tell?
Part Two
- Gather as a class and discuss the different ideas for visual stories – the mediums, the moods, the elements of design
- Debate the effectiveness of different mediums and their possible impact on an audience
- Which approach to visual storytelling is more effective: an explicit, in-your-face message or a more subtle, nudging message? What about a positive message versus a negative message?
- Take the time to find examples of all four visual storytelling approaches before you debate these questions – and try to find examples of when each approach worked and when it didn’t
- Should art (visual storytelling) stand on its own merit for people to interpret, or should there be a specific/explicit message?
Resources
