From source to mark

Learning

Develop a mark through close observation and select one form to carry forward.

Making

Source → observation → feature → first mark → selection

Evidence

First-looking response → source drawing → selected feature → first marks → selection and reflection

Materials

Graphite, ink, one brush, scrap stock, visual diary.

Room

Set out materials for close observational drawing before class.

Visual references

Contrasting visual languages ready to show. 08 / Visual references →

Worked example

Repeated observation → selected feature → first mark. 09 / Worked example →

Studio support

09 / Mark making →

Look → Observe → Identify a feature → Develop a first mark → Select → Critique → Reflect

Look

Begin with The Birth of Alexander. Ask students to look before contextual information is provided. Prompt direct observation first, then introduce context and ask what changes in their reading.

Model

Use the cat visual-diary example to model repeated observation → noticed feature → first mark. Show how close looking makes recurring lines, shapes and features noticeable.

Artist possibilities

Use the artists and artworks in the Student Studio Guide. Explain that visual language may use recognisable marks, words, figures and symbols. Students are not required to make their source unrecognisable.

Make

Students select something familiar, personally meaningful or recurring and record it through close observation. They identify one line, shape or feature that continues to matter.

Select

Students isolate and develop one feature into a first mark while keeping a meaningful connection to the source.

Critique

Use the Critique + Feedback structure to discuss what is visible, what the mark carries from the source and what may be worth developing.

Reflect

Students record what they selected, why they selected it and what they may carry into Lesson 02.

Looking moves too quickly

What can you point to before you explain what it might mean?

Observation and interpretation merge

What do you see? What does that visible detail make you think?

Cannot choose a source

What is something familiar, meaningful or recurring in your life?

Nothing stands out

Which line, shape or feature has appeared more than once as you looked and drew?

Feature feels arbitrary

Which feature still matters when you think about the source?

Cannot make a selection

Which first mark keeps the clearest connection to your source? What makes you say that?

Connection is unclear

What does this mark carry from the source? Point to the evidence in both.

Responding to feedback

What did your peer notice? What might be worth carrying into Lesson 02?

1 / Brief cue

Give one short cue while the student keeps looking. “Point to one feature that keeps returning.”

2 / Structured choice

Ask the student to circle two features that still connect to the source, then choose one to draw on its own.

3 / Model or direct guidance

Model the move from repeated observation to a noticed feature and first mark. Name what you can see, then ask the student to identify the equivalent move in their own source.

Teacher looks for

• direct observation before interpretation
• a source that is familiar, meaningful or recurring
• identification of a visual feature
• development of that feature into a first mark
• a deliberate selection
• an explanation connecting the mark to its source
• participation in critique and reflection

Evidence produced

• first-looking response
• source observation or drawing
• selected feature
• first marks
• selected mark
• critique or reflection

After the lesson

Read the student reflections alongside their visual diary work, your questioning and observations from the lesson.

Look for:

• what students can now explain or do
• common points of uncertainty
• students who still need modelling or a worked example
• students ready to work with greater independence

Use this evidence when planning the next lesson. You might:

• revisit one idea
• model something again
• provide a scaffold to a small group
• adjust pacing
• change a resource or example
• reduce support where students are ready

Visual references

08 / Visual references →

Worked example

09 / Worked example →

Class presentation

Week 1 / Mark + meaning →

Studio Building Block

09 / Mark making →

Studio Guide

Mark making →