Idea Board Guidelines

This step-by-step process is designed to help students develop thoughtful, original artworks by exploring personal ideas, artistic influences, and creative direction. Please follow the structure below and keep in mind things from Idea Board Inspiration before starting a new project:

Identify Your Core Idea

Think deeply about what you want to express or explore through your artwork.

  1. Research Inspiring Artists
    Collect artworks by artists who inspire you. Analyze why you’re drawn to them—look closely at their style, color palette, composition, materials, and themes. Ask yourself what makes their work unique.

  2. Gather Visual References
    Collect reference images or take your own photos that relate to your concept, mood, or subject matter.

  3. Digest and Interpret
    Absorb your research and begin sketching your own visual ideas. Translate your inspiration into original thought—this is your personal interpretation stage.

  4. Create Three Idea Sketches
    Develop and present three distinct composition sketches that explore different directions or visual solutions.

  5. Write a Short Description
    Summarize your concept in 3–5 sentences. Include your theme, artistic intent, and approach.

  6. Present to Oogie Art Instructors
    Share your idea board and sketches with your teacher. Be prepared to answer questions and receive feedback for refinement.

Step 1: Think About Your Message
What do you want to say? A self-portrait doesn’t have to be just your face—it can express your thoughts, identity, struggles, dreams, or fears.
An interior space can represent your mind, your memories, or even a symbolic moment in your life. Ask yourself:

  • What emotion or message do I want to convey?

  • What part of myself or my world do I want to show?

Step 2: Research Inspiring Artists
Find artists whose works speak to you.

  • Style (Is it realistic, surreal, abstract?)

  • Color choices

  • Composition

  • Materials

  • Themes (identity, isolation, duality, transformation, etc.)

Step 3: Collect Visual References
Gather photos or take your own of:

  • Yourself in different expressions, angles, or outfits

  • Your room, objects, and spaces that hold meaning to you

  • Symbolic objects, hands, mirrors, furniture, natural elements
    Don’t be afraid to stage a reference image with unusual lighting or perspective.

Step 4: Digest, Reflect & Sketch Ideas
Start with quick idea sketches (thumbnails) based on your thoughts and references. Don’t aim to be perfect—this is the stage to explore and try combining realistic elements with surreal ones:

  • A self-portrait with melting features or transparent skin

  • An interior space with floating objects or windows opening to impossible scenes

  • A figure interacting with time, nature, or identity in symbolic ways

Step 5: Present Your Ideas
Choose your 3 strongest idea sketches and write a short description (3–5 sentences) explaining your concept, what you’re trying to say, and how you plan to visualize it. Then present it to your Oogie Art instructor for feedback. Be open to questions and suggestions to help push your idea further.

How to Start Developing Your Idea Sketches

If you're unsure how to begin your next project—especially a self-portrait or interior space drawing—start by thinking beyond what you see. Your goal isn’t just to replicate, but to express something personal, symbolic, or unexpected. Here’s how to approach it:

Always Document Work Progress

Idea Board Inspiration

Use the following prompts to explore meaningful themes, experiment with composition, and develop powerful visual narratives. These ideas can help you push beyond surface-level thinking and build conceptually strong artworks.

Interactions

  • Cliques and social groups

  • Accidents or chance encounters

  • People's interaction with music

  • A family through any number of years

  • Encountering a new person, place, or experience

  • The clash of two enemies

Technical Exploration

  • Light and shadow

  • Reflections on various surfaces

  • Folds and fabrics with pattern

  • Creating depth using line

  • Illustrating a single story using a specific artistic style

  • Hands in various poses, done in various media

Combinations & Juxtapositions

  • Plants and organic materials with architecture

  • Transportation through natural landscapes

  • Urban vs. rural life

  • Technology paired with antique or vintage items

  • Size distortions that equalize or exaggerate everyday objects

Society & Human Behavior

  • Society’s greatest advances—at what cost?

  • Costumes and clothing from different cultures

  • Settings and attire from various time periods

  • Consumerism and overconsumption

  • Rich vs. poor: A visual dichotomy

  • How we avoid unwanted encounters

  • Online behavior: How people meet, talk, and act

  • Moments of gathering: Birthdays, retirement parties, weekend events

  • Cultural collisions and intersections

  • Human and animal interaction

Visual Techniques & Unconventional Methods

  • Landscapes or subjects in varying color schemes

  • Drawing with nontraditional materials or on unusual surfaces

  • Positive and negative space

  • Close-ups that emphasize texture

  • Water, refraction, and transparency

Contemporary & Social Themes

  • Indigenous people in modern society

  • Uniting against a common enemy

  • The lives of twins

  • Animals and the food industry

  • Musical instruments and the people who play them

  • Unlikely still life object groupings

  • Teenage decisions and consequences

  • Beauty in impoverished environments

  • Homelessness and survival

  • Social issues and inequality

  • Crime and justice

  • Documenting your own community

Idea Board Inspiration

Use the following prompts to explore meaningful themes, experiment with composition, and develop powerful visual narratives. These ideas can help you push beyond surface-level thinking and build conceptually strong artworks.

Interactions

  • Cliques and social groups

  • Accidents or chance encounters

  • People's interaction with music

  • A family through any number of years

  • Encountering a new person, place, or experience

  • The clash of two enemies

Technical Exploration

  • Light and shadow

  • Reflections on various surfaces

  • Folds and fabrics with pattern

  • Creating depth using line

  • Illustrating a single story using a specific artistic style

  • Hands in various poses, done in various media

Combinations & Juxtapositions

  • Plants and organic materials with architecture

  • Transportation through natural landscapes

  • Urban vs. rural life

  • Technology paired with antique or vintage items

  • Size distortions that equalize or exaggerate everyday objects

Society & Human Behavior

  • Society’s greatest advances—at what cost?

  • Costumes and clothing from different cultures

  • Settings and attire from various time periods

  • Consumerism and overconsumption

  • Rich vs. poor: A visual dichotomy

  • How we avoid unwanted encounters

  • Online behavior: How people meet, talk, and act

  • Moments of gathering: Birthdays, retirement parties, weekend events

  • Cultural collisions and intersections

  • Human and animal interaction

Visual Techniques & Unconventional Methods

  • Landscapes or subjects in varying color schemes

  • Drawing with nontraditional materials or on unusual surfaces

  • Positive and negative space

  • Close-ups that emphasize texture

  • Water, refraction, and transparency

Contemporary & Social Themes

  • Indigenous people in modern society

  • Uniting against a common enemy

  • The lives of twins

  • Animals and the food industry

  • Musical instruments and the people who play them

  • Unlikely still life object groupings

  • Teenage decisions and consequences

  • Beauty in impoverished environments

  • Homelessness and survival

  • Social issues and inequality

  • Crime and justice

  • Documenting your own community