I often ask my students to brainstorm before a project. There are so many things they can create, but they first need to think of them. I find that most students go with the first idea that comes to their minds. And that idea is often one that they've seen before or is a classic symbol of what I've asked them to think about, like love = hearts. But by brainstorming as a class, we make a list of hundreds of variations on an idea and this gives the students choices.
For instance, the 7th grade is now doing paintings on the theme: I dreamed that I could fly. What does flying mean? Most often I get responses such as birds, airplanes, wings and spaceships. But with group brainstorming, we came up with kites, being shot from a cannon, jet packs, red bull has wings, floating like a snowflake, meditative flying, flying on a magic carpet, flying in a dream, air balloons, aliens, flying high as a mood, swimming as flying through water, flying on rollar skates or ice skates, flying into someone, flying as a butterfly or a dragonfly or a fly....
By looking beyond your first idea, artists can find new meanings in old themes, expand on a personal interest, look for double meanings in a word or image, surprise the viewer, give a subject more complication and delight the viewer with new interpretations. Making good art is all about choices. Taking the time to make those choices makes all the difference in your art.
