Draw something every day

Drawing of teasel headObservational drawing Aim to find at least 5 minutes each day to draw something from direct observation.  Don’t worry if you think you can’t draw because the point is not the finished product but the process of observing something carefully and in detail (some tips to help with this at the end of this page.)

This activity is good for developing your observational skills, or to make a record of key features of an object or place, while the focussed attention is also a calming, meditative activity. Continue reading

Timelines, story boards and comic strips

page from Comics are research

Al-Jawad M. Comics are Research: Graphic Narratives as a New Way of Seeing Clinical Practice. Journal of Medical Humantities. February 2013

Drawing gives us a way to explore and play with the sequence of events. Formats such as annotated timelines and storyboards (short comic strips) can help us visualise and communicate ideas about what has happened in the past or to project into the future. Continue reading

Mapping ideas, processes and places

mindmap exampleYou may already be familiar with mind mapping to plan essays or organise your lecture notes (see also Make your notes more visual).  Mind mapping can also help you -individually or with fellow students – to build up a ‘bigger picture’ of complex systems or subjects. Unlike text which is read in a linear sequence, mind maps and diagrams allow a great deal of information to be taken in simultaneously. Continue reading