A-level art students (whether at AS or A2 Level) must present a Coursework portfolio that shows development. Students are sometimes confused about what the term ‘development’ means in this context, and are uncertain about how they should go about achieving this. This blog post endeavours to answer these questions and provides a process by which students can ensure their work develops sufficiently. This is intended as a broad guide only, and should be used only in conjunction with advice from your teacher.
When a student is told that their work must show development the teacher is telling them that their work must change a little (both in use of media and composition) from one piece to the next. In other words, an A-Level Art Coursework portfolio must tell a visual story: with a starting point, a conclusion, and a journey in between. It is not acceptable, for example, to show the same things drawn or painted from different angles over and over again, or to execute the same composition first in pastel, then in paint, then in charcoal and so on…or to submit paintings of many different items that have no visual or thematic connection to each other.
‘Development’ is the means by which a student works systematically towards better artwork, trialing, refining and exploring compositional devices and technique. It is also the means by which a student demonstrates to the examiners that they have gone through a learning process and arrived at a successful final piece.
The following process was undertaken by my A-Level Painting students (this process could be easily modified for Graphic Design, Photography or Sculpture) during the course of the year:
- Select an original, personally relevant, visually complex, readily-available A-Level subject or theme that can sustain your interest for a year (see the accompanying guide for selecting A-Level Art themes);
A-Level Art sketchbook page by Nikau Hindin (see below for more information about Nikau)
Complete 4-10 drawings of your chosen topic in your A-Level Art Sketchbook, using a range of black and white and coloured mediums such as graphite pencil, Indian ink, acrylic, coloured pencil, watercolours, oil. The level of realism achieved in these drawings will be dependent on the student’s own drawing style and preferences. Mix and layer mediums as appropriate. Include photographs if desired. The drawings may be semi-incomplete and can merge into each other. At this point, do not worry so much about what you are achieving in terms of composition. You are merely conducting visual research and exploring your topic.
- Fill gaps around the drawings with notes discussing your theme / issue / message…why this is personally relevant to you; what appeals to you visually about the subject; how the subject matter might be composed in order to support or convey your ideas. Look carefully at what you have drawn and make notes about how the visual elements (line, tone, texture, space, colour etc) interact… For example, are there strong contrasts between highly detailed areas and sparse areas? Are the negative spaces as interesting as the objects themselves? Are there repetitions of certain shapes and colours? Are you exploring frames within frames? …In essence, establish what you are dealing with visually.
This A-Level Art sketchbook page shows an investigation into the artwork of Janet Fish by A2 Painting student Nikau Hindin (see below for more information about Nikau)
Select an artist model whose work relates to your subject matter and inspires you. Research this artist. Complete several pages in your A-Level Art Sketchbook, including composition studies, imitations and pastiches of their artwork, using a range of mediums. Fill spaces around the illustrations with notes explaining/discussing their technique/s (mark-making methods); use of media / materials; style; composition (i.e. the relationship between the visual elements: line, shape, colour, tone, texture and space. Discuss how these elements form ‘visual devices’ that ‘draw attention’, ‘emphasise’, ‘balance’, ‘link’ or ‘direct the viewer through the artwork’ and so on). Write notes about the ideas, moods and subjects explored within the drawings and how all of the above relates to your topic or theme. Your comments should show evidence that you have researched your artist (using proper terminology) and should also contain your own thoughts and responses. Under no circumstances should it appear as if you are just regurgitating information from a textbook. Learn from this artist and establish how this artist is relevant / useful for your own project;
- Complete 10 – 15 drawings and paintings that show a smooth transition from your original artworks to images that are influenced by your first artist model. Do not leap in and copy everything the artist does… It may be, for example, that you simply copy the way a particular artist uses foreground, mid-ground and background, or the way in which they apply paint onto a scratched, irregular surface. The purpose of this exercise is to learn particular techniques or compositional strategies – not to copy their work in its entirety. The result should be a series of paintings which show gradual changes and exploration. After each one you should have a discussion with your teacher about what you can do next to help convey your ideas more successfully.
- When you have learned all that you need to from the first artist, select another artist and repeat the process. The intention is that by the time you get to your final piece, your work is a beautiful combination of your own ideas and the influence of others. Your work should look absolutely original – a beautiful mixture of wisdom gained from a multitude of sources. It can be good practice to choose a range of artist models – ie. national / international, contemporary / historical etc…but this is not always necessary. The best outcomes occur when students choose artists whose work really moves them. It can be typical for an AS student to have 2-4 artist models and A2 students to have 3-10 artist models.
Here is an A-Level (A2) Painting portfolio by one of my students Nikau Hindin, a talented A-Level Art student from ACG Parnell College. Her Coursework portfolio achieved 98%.
A2 A-Level Art Coursework: artwork develops from purely observational pieces to complex compositions that clearly communicate a message.
(Note: I will shortly be completing several in depth Case Studies, showcasing high achieving A-Level Art students, of which Nikau will be one).
If you have any questions about how to show development in your work, please do not hesitate to make a comment below.
Written by Amiria Gale [artist + experienced teacher]:
- Art and Design Teacher for seven years;
- Faculty Co-ordinator, responsible for the course design, curriculum development and assessment of Art and Design work in high-achieving Auckland schools;
- Bachelor of Architectural Studies; Bachelor of Architecture (First Class Honours) and Graduate Diploma of Teaching (Secondary);
- CIE Accredited Art & Design and Design & Technology Coursework Assessor.
[This is part of a series of blog posts aimed at assisting Art A-Level students to gain exemplary grades]
Hey, (i’ve now posted the question here!! pls reply/help!!)
i really like your website, it helps clarify some of my doubts regarding the way in which im moving ahead with my cie as level coursework, but im still a little confused. i’ve started my as coursework with the topic folds. i chose this topic because i found the unsymmetrical and interesting shapes and forms created by folds, in cloth, to be very interesting and appealing. i’ve also gone onto study artist alison watt, and i have been inspired by her compositional style. im now interpretating folds as the journey of life, with its ups and downs, etc leading towards an unknown destination…
after reading your post on coursework development, im confused as to how i can change my work further from this point…??? till now i’ve made a lot of studies of draperies and folds in cloth in different mediums, i’ve also studied leonardo da vinci’s sketches of draperies… from wat i have read on ur site, i get a feeling that the work i have done is not enough to gain an A grade… im a very commited and hard-working student, and i reallllyyy want to understand in a clear manner, what it is that cie expects from a student… wat is the PROCESS that has to be followed? ive gone through the syllabus and everything, but now i feel like ive read too much, but at the same time, i havent seen enough examples to understand wat has to be done exactly… could u pls inspire me with some advice or suggestings regarding how to move on from this point? i’ll reallyy appreciate it…
also, if you could outline the steps involved in the process for the as level coursework, and how those steps can be achieved, i would really appretiate that as well…. im a part of the first a-level batch from my school, so the art teacher hasn’t really been very helpful as she herself is not very clear about how to proceed…. pls do reply asap….im in great need of help…
Thanks for reposting this here, SJ.
Firstly, your theme (i.e. folds representing the ups and downs of life) sounds great, so there is no issue with this.
There is some concern, however, that an entire body of work based solely upon folds of cloth may not give you enough to work with visually. It runs the risk of being very repetitive, with insufficient variety of shape, texture and form (even if you crunch and fold the cloth in many different ways). It also doesn’t give you the opportunity to demonstrate a good handling of perspective or space (showing depth and distance, with things in the foreground / background etc). My initial reaction, therefore, was that you would benefit from bringing in some additional objects (perhaps little keepsakes that symbolise various stages in the journey of someone’s life, intertwined amongst the cloth etc). This would provide you with a good level of variety within your works and may make it easier to convey your ‘message’ about the ups and downs of life etc. (If you decide to do this, you should do it from the very start, so will have to rework some of your existing drawings and paintings, so that your folio remains coherent). When I looked at Alison Watt’s paintings, however, it became evident that a very able student would be able to manage with drawing/painting fabric alone, as long as there were very complex and intricate folds in places, allowing you to demonstrate a competent handling of light/shadow/depth etc. Even if you are an able student, however, I would advise something along the lines of this:
Collect fabric items that have a range of textures (so there is variety in the fabric surfaces) and which somehow represent different stages in your life. It could be, for example, a mother’s wedding dress, a blanket you were wrapped in as a baby, a jersey you wore on your first day of school etc – as well as some that invoke more tragic memories. (The relevance of these could be explained in a sketchbook alongside photos / drawings). Arrange these fabric items in an interior setting that isn’t too complex, but that nonetheless gives you the opportunity to demonstrate that you can accurately draw a range of different objects in space… For example, hang the fabric items over a wooden chair (crumpled together to create folds etc) in the corner of a room, perhaps with part of a wooden window frame showing, to visually connect to the chair etc.
Complete some realistic drawings (and/or paintings) of this setting. The examiners appreciate contemporary work, of course, but are also very appreciative of traditional ‘old school’ realism, so some highly realistic works such as this could benefit you. These pieces would then fill the top 1/3 or ½ of your first A1 board of Coursework – i.e. they would come before your existing work, and would set up your ‘starting point’ for the folio. The drawings inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s drapery would then follow and then the close-ups inspired by Alison Watt. You would need to rework some of your existing pieces, so that the range of textures in the first drawings (i.e. different cloth types, as mentioned) was also depicted in the subsequent work (otherwise your submission will appear disjointed and won’t ‘flow’). In case I haven’t been clear, it would need it to look like your Alison Watt work had come after the drawings of fabric items arranged in a corner of the room. This would then give you the first step in development, which (in this example) would be to go from a traditional large-scale room interior, to semi-abstract close-ups. When this is complete, I am imagining you would have filled approximately 1 1/2 to 2 x A1 boards of work.
Your next step would be to move forward from here to new work that has reference to another artist. You might decide, for example, that in order to help strengthen the idea of the ‘ups and downs of life’ you want semi-translucent imagery to appear in the fabric in some places… In this case, you would study an artist who uses transparency (using gel medium to create translucent acrylic layers etc) and would then produce work that is influenced by them. This new work would be very similar to your previous work, in that it would appear similar to compositions by Alison Watt, but it would now have semi-translucent imagery (such as imagery that links back to your ‘room interior’ drawings, showing close ups of lace or other parts of the clothing items that were visible in your initial drawings and which suggest ‘ups and downs’ of some kind).
You then select another artist and repeat the process. This time you might look at creating tactile surfaces – i.e. physically raised textures – by gluing on different materials etc, perhaps creating literal references to ‘ups and downs’ etc. Other ways of developing your work could be to use print-making methods to incorporate patterns (such as those that originally appeared on part of the fabric) and/or to manipulate your paintings digitally (i.e. scan your paintings, combine with photographs you have taken of the fabric items and then print and/or re-draw…)
By the time you reach the end of your third or fourth A1 boards (depending on how many you submit) the intention is that you would have shown clearly how you got from your starting point to a final painting that clearly expresses your ideas.
Note that all my suggestions above are examples only, intended to explain how you might show development in a folio based on folded fabric. You should use your own instincts and interests to guide the direction your work takes.
I hope that helps!
OMG!! thank u soooo much… all this time i’ve been doing the wrong thing… i hadn’t clearly understood how to go about this but ur reply has given me some ideas and shown me the direction my work should flow in… THANX A TON!!
i would really appreciate if u could provide some simple, clear to understand, STANDARD guideline regarding the CIE AS LEVEL ART COURSEWORK and EXAM-WORK (CONTROLLED TEST) PROCESS… it would be a LOT of help…!!!!
a few more questions: does ur final work have to show elements of the objects with which the coursework was started, or could that completely evolve in the process and ur final work not contain any element with which u first began the coursework?
also, when showing work done from first hand resources, will including pictures be enough to indicate this… can we also do work from direct/observational study and not include pics, instead just annotate that the studies are observational?
is it ok to base ur work closely on the photos clicked and include certain changes, which are not just copied from the picture? do the pictures have to completely copied from only, or can personal interpretations and ideas flow into the work created from the picture…?? AND one last question…. is there a chance of getting more marks for producing more works….or IS IT QUALITY OVER QUANTITY?? should i include a lot of works in my coursework or should it be more selective?? how does one make this selection?? im afraid that if i dont include many works i might lose marks… will it be okay if i include fewer, but BETTER/ HIGHER QUALITY WORK??
Haha, I see I have opened the floodgate of questions.
Unfortunately there is no such thing as a ‘standard guideline’ for what to do for each of the four A-Level Art components. Schools and students complete a whole range of submissions in a range of styles…the majority of which are acceptable. Nonetheless, I am in the process of writing posts that outlining the CIE requirements – with a bit of additional knowledge thrown in based on my experience – that hopefully will make things clearer. I will let you know when I have finished these.
Over the next few months I will also begin adding case studies featuring students who achieved grades in the nineties or high eighties. Studying the work of others is often the easiest way for students (and teachers) to learn what to do.
I was wondering what country are you in? If you are in New Zealand, there are many other schools that would be happy to have your teacher and classmates visit. When I was in my first year teaching A-Levels, I used to take my class on class trips to visit other schools to learn and be inspired by their work – it is a great thing to do. The CIE Art teachers from different schools would also meet regularly to share ideas and discuss approaches. Perhaps you could raise this with your teacher, as there might be something similar in your country.
As for your other questions…
1. The final piece should definitely be derived from your starting point. In other words, it is not advisable to start off drawing one thing, and then have your theme kind of change direction and result in you drawing something else. Similarly, while the compositions will evolve – and may in fact become totally abstract, with no actual recognisable traces of your original objects – there should still be a clear connection to your initial work…i.e. similar colour schemes, similar types of lines or patterning etc.
2. Drawing from Photographs: You do not need to include photographs to ‘prove’ that any work is observational – or even annotate that it is so. The work itself is very likely indicate to the examiner whether the student has interacted with a real life subject (which is what they want) as opposed to simply copying images of the net. Work drawn from life often has a richer, detailed more authentic feel to it, which is why the examiners prefer it. In saying that, there are many examples when drawing from life is not practical – especially when students are stopping and starting work frequently. For this reason, working from photographs is quite common – and including them in your sketchbook can be a good idea. I would set my students ‘photographic assignments’, where they would arrange and take beautiful photographs, some of which would be drawn from, and some of which would be included as artworks in their own right. In saying this, there are some who frown upon the use of photographs, because of the potential to trace or simply copy an image slavishly, without any creative interpretation.
You can use photographs to help achieve supreme realism (it certainly makes it much easier to achieve highly realistic works), but you should avoid being nothing more than a ‘glorified photocopier’. In other words, you SHOULD change photographs – whether it is as simple as omitting a few background details to allow a greater emphasis on images in the foreground, or manipulating colours, or whether it is much bigger changes, such as chopping, deleting and arranging things etc… In the controlled test you have to hand in the photographs you have worked from, along with the rest of your prepation – not so they can measure how exactly you have copied the photo/s…but so they can ensure you haven’t just blown them up and traced them. They want to see that you have interpreted / manipulated / used your artistic discretion etc to create a stunning piece of work. Not just copied. They love for students simply to arrange objects in front of them and draw them…
3. It is most definitely quality over quantity. CIE gives a maximum quantity of work permissible, but not a minimum. My Painting students generally submitted three A1 sheets (the maximum is four) of drawings and paintings + workbook + final piece. (Note that the workbook is not a requirement at AS). They had no trouble achieving high grades with this quantity. I have seen some AS Graphic Design students gain As with only two A1 sheets. So yes, you should definitely be selective. Your teacher should help you decide what work to show and in what order / arrangement to present it. You should select pieces that a) present your skill in the best light and b) help to illustrate the ‘journey’ from start to finish. If you are massively over-producing, perhaps you should slow down and produce more careful, refined work.
There, I think that’s everything!
hey!!
all of this info reaalllyyy helps!!
THANX A LOT!!!
im studying in India… our art teacher also did get in touch with and take us to go see examples of works from other schools… and for what we saw, the process of work was explained, but certain doubts/questions still remained in all our minds regarding certain aspects of the process…
from what u have shared with me here, im now able to better, and almost clearly understand how to proceed and what is expected of me…
regarding the quantity vs quality question… we have to fill 4 A1 sheets (max) for our coursework … what i wanted to know was, should these sheets be filled with MANY WORKS EACH??…AS MANY AS CAN BE POSSIBLY ACCOMMODATED ONTO THAT PAGE (many works/layers as possible on each page)… or can just including 2-4 (or so) works of varying sizes on each page, of good quality be good enough?
also, could you please let me know when exactly u will be adding the case studies of other students and outlining the CIE requirements… I AM VERY EAGERLY WAITING FOR THIS!!!… i have to submit my coursework by october 2011, so if u could please pls pls consider uploading it a little bit before that, i will reallly realllyy realllyyyyy appreciate it….
im sorry if i am coming across as someone who is nagging, but its nice to finally have found someone who can clarify all my doubts, so im just trying to get all my question answered from you in the time that you are around to help… all ur help is truly very very greatly valued and held in high regard… THANX AGAIN!!!!
Hi again.
You definitely should NOT layer works. By layering you are essentially ignoring the 4 page limit. Also, the examiners get very irritated having to flick through and check folded or layered work (there is a good chance they won’t even bother to lift up all pieces – remember they have to moderate thousands of coursework submissions and so don’t have time to unfold a million pieces of work). There is no hard and fast rule in terms of number of images per sheet, but (as you will see from the examples I will soon upload) my students generally have about 8-14 images on the first board, with progressively fewer over the remaining boards – the last board sometimes only has 2-4 artworks (plus the separate final piece). The NCEA boards on the A-Level Art Ideas post are very similar to what our AS students submit.
I will add the case studies as absolutely soon as I can (possibly the first one later tonight). I am very, very short on time (I have a young baby and am also still completing my own art, so can only work on this blog at night when she is asleep)! But I will be uploading the case studies one by one, whenever I have a chance, so there will definitely be some for you to view long before your Coursework deadline.
hey,
also do examiners give more marks or consider a student to be better if he/she comes up with or uses a new, original idea- compared to a student who might use an idea which has been explored before by many other students ( an idea which is maybe ordinary, which many others may have used in the past…) ???? will it be okay to take a popular, but reasonably personal and emotive topic (for my A level coursework) , and respond to that in my own way… do examiners get annoyed or so to see similar topics being repeated??
and… should the coursework’s be annotated with a lot of detail, explaining every single thought and idea so that the examiner knows exactly what u were thinking… or do examiners not appreciate overly annotated coureswork’s and prefer candidate thoughts to be conveyed in a brief manner…??
In terms of new / original ideas… of course new ideas appeal and are the ideal, but the reality of the matter is that it is virtually impossible to come up with an idea that no one else in the world has explored before. If you can come up with something that is pretty new and exciting, it certainly has an advantage, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with taking a popular topic and responding to it in your own way. Examiners appreciate skill and creativity above all else. The theme is mostly important for your sake, as a good one will inspire you to produce the best work.
In terms of writing…except for the A2 Personal Study (which you will not do until next year) lots of writing isn’t necessary. It is the practical work that matters. Brief notes are absolutely fine. My students do end up writing quite a bit, but this is mainly because it helps them sort out their ideas and intentions. It can also give their submission a ‘I-am-a-hard-working-student-who-has-put-in-lots-of-work-so-please-take-pity-on-me’ vibe, which can be beneficial
. But notes should never take precedence to artwork. I have had a number of students with weak English who wrote very little, and usually wrote in bullet point form etc, and they achieved just as highly as those who wrote a lot. You should do whatever comes most naturally to you.
hey,
thanx a lot, again!! i cannot thank u enough!!
its gr8 that ur taking time out for this blog with eveything else u have going on…
im going to be patiently waiting for u to put up the student examples…!!!
Hello
Just letting you know I have posted the first of the Case Studies – an AS Coursework folio that got 100%. It belonged to Nikau Hindin – my highest achieving student in 2008. She got 99% overall for AS.
Hi. I am an Alevel Art and Design student. I was searching on my Art topics and came across your site, which, when I went through, came out to be of great help.
I am confused about my personal study topic. I chose ‘Nature’. And according to my teacher, I require both western and eastern artists that had worked on it. I found Monet and two, three more. Now, the problem I’m facing is that I don’t have sufficient material to write about on Nature. What do I do? I’ve explained what and how the artists feel, are inspired from, and etc. Do you, as an experience teacer, would recommend this topic to work on?
Awaits your reply. Thank you.
Hi Rola,
Nature can be an acceptable starting point for Personal Study, but your topic needs to be narrowed down significantly, so that the scope of your study is clearly defined, otherwise you will remain lost about how to proceed. As mentioned in the Personal Study blog post, topics are usually focused on process and materials or subject and theme. Therefore, you should generate a topic that is focused on how artists approach a particular aspect of nature, with reference to composition, use of media and/or technique. It can often help to contrast and compare artwork from different artists, which is probably why your teacher has suggested western and eastern artists.
For example, your title could be something along the lines of:
“The representation of landscape in Impressionist and paintings: light, texture and colour.” or
“A comparison of landscapes by Monet and [someone]: an investigation into light, technique and composition.”
Defining a topic clearly helps you know what you have to write about. For example, in the first example, you could analyse and imitate detailed portions of the paintings, explaining the processes used and painting techniques and your own responses to these. You could contrast and compare compositions using diagrams, discussing use of colour, tone, line etc.
So, in summary, nature can be a starting point, but your actual topic must be much more specific. You can even narrow it down to one particular aspect of nature, i.e. trees or water…
A helpful guide for writing a related study can be found on the Firtusnere Art Department website. Here they suggest that students should: “start with a main title that is generic and then define it further with a sub-title that is posed as a specific investigation or question that provokes interest amongst readers. Here are two examples:
The Ugly Aesthetic: A study into how six contemporary photographers have depicted beauty within ugliness.
The Exploited Image: To what extremes will a photographer go in order to capture an iconic image even if their actions border on the edge of exploitation?”
Hope that helps.
Hi Amiria,
My son is in his CIE A level and has taken Art & Design as a subject and submitting his work in the Oct- Nov session. He has reviewed some cultural aspects of India and developed it through a series of supporting studies. Though there is development each study is a painting in itself. Do you think we should also present the photographs of the source of inspiration as another supporting study or just let it be. Perhaps we could present it as a collage or a decoupage.
e.g For instance, if we are talking about the culture of Coorg- part of India, should he also present photos of the subjects from where he has taken inspiration.
Though I have read the bit about photos in your blog, it would be great if you could answer this.
SV
I forgot to mention, the above query is for component 3 coursework He has completed the sketch book too.
SV
Hi Sangeeta,
Thanks for taking the time to ask this question here.
Although there are no hard and fast guidelines regarding the inclusion of photographs in the Coursework, I would generally advise including them, as this ‘proves’ that the subject matter is something your son has experienced firsthand, however there are a few different things to consider.
Firstly, I would only include the photographs if your son has taken them himself (if they are photographs that someone else has taken, or that have been sourced from the internet or a magazine, I would definitely not include them, as drawing from second hand sources is discouraged, and you do not want to bring this to the examiners’ attention).
Secondly, I would only include the photographs if they are of a high quality. The supporting work should represent your son’s skills in the best light, so any poor quality work should not be included. It is ideal if the photographs are artworks in their own right, i.e. beautifully composed / creative angles / good lighting etc.
If your son’s paintings are all exact replicas of photographs, I would probably not include all of these photographs – and would include different ones as well – as it is hoped that students do more than just slavishly copy photographs.
My own A-Level students generally have initial photographic investigations (and any subsequent photographs) included in their sketchbook. They select the best photographs (they usually take hundreds, so they have lots to choose from) and then write notes around them explaining / evaluating and planning their artwork etc (similar to this example on my post about A-Level sketchbooks).
Sometimes it is appropriate to include the photographs within the 10 x A1 sheets of work as well as in the sketchbook. My students generally only do this if they have photos of very high quality that can be seamlessly integrated within their preparatory pieces. I would advise NOT creating a collage or decoupage – or any other ‘artwork’ out of these photographs, unless your son’s artworks are also in a collage style. If a collage is made from the photographs, this is likely to appear quite different from subsequent work, and would appear a little out of place.
I have included below an example of the first A1 sheet of exam preparation for an AS student, Nikau Hindin, who achieved 99% overall for AS. Although this is a different component, it illustrates how photographs can be seamlessly integrated within preparatory work. The top right works are photographs. They are clearly her own, and are similar to the drawings, yet not exactly the same (so are not too repetitive). They are also clear, focused and aesthetically pleasing / interesting compositions etc.
Hope this helps!
Thanks so much for the much needed advice Amiria. We thought long and arrived at the decision to avoid presenting any photographs. Your views played a huge part and it absolutely made sense. The works look good as they are and they tell a story by themselves. Keeping our fingers crossed for good grades now!!.
SV
No worries. I am glad my comments helped. I hope your son gets a great grade!
hi
i have finished my CIE AS level art exam and coursework and I now have to soon begin my A level Coursework. I have been thinking of the topic Awakening and was wondering whether you could make any suggestions regarding how i can approach this topic in regard with visual recordings and ideas as well. I want to approach it from a personal point of view, but am not very sure of how to represent my ideas.
Hi again,
Congratulations on finishing your AS work – I hope you do well!
It is difficult to suggest how you should visually present the topic awakening, without knowing the reasons this topic appeals to you. As I outline in my blog post about how to selecting a good A-Level Art idea, it is important that the topic you suggest is relevant and meaningful to you personally. Is this the case with your Awakening theme? If so, this should drive your decisions in terms of how to proceed visually. For example, if you are thinking of this in terms of a spiritual awakening – a spiritual awakening being something that perhaps you have experienced yourself, or have learned of through those who are close to you…then the imagery related the spiritual awakening in question might be used – perhaps spiritual books…or a monastery… or the specific location the awakening occured etc. If ‘awakening’ is just something that sounds good as a topic on a theoretical level, and/or if you are really struggling to know to proceed, I suggest changing topics…as the visual imagery should not be that difficult to come up with…it should be something that really resonates with you. So my suggestions of what might be clever interpretations of the topic aren’t really what you need. You need to work out what it is that you are really passionate about, and then begin to express it…
Hmmm, sorry, I don’t think that was the answer you were looking for!
Hey,
Thanx, i really hope that i do well!!
i have gone through ur post about selecting a topic for a-level art. i haven’t chosen this topic just because it sounds good, i know i didn’t give you enough background info stating why this topic resonates with me personally.
my basic though in regard to choosing this topic was an experience that i have gone thorough in the past. its not a spiritual awakening that im leaning towards… its more in regard with my own personal awakening, u could say, and how a realisation over a short period of time has changed my outlook towards life. i went through something in school a few years back which really changed me as a person, i became more of an introvert, which i never was… i suffered from low self confidence, and just feelings of lonliness and a longing to be accepted lingered… untill a while back when i had a sudden realisation that i am a beautiful person, i should live my life as i want, do what i want and not be too consious or over analysing about what the other person may think of me… and slowly im opening up to just being ME… not being afraid to hide who i am and to say what i want without having to think about it a lot… now i just want to be me!! and enjoy life and everything it has to offer… to just live (all of this may sound a bit cheesy, but it is wat it is, a lot of people must be going through this)
so, thats sort of what i want to represent, my personal realisation or awakening which has changed my life…which has given me the freedom and courage to be more of myself… and the joy and pleasure that one starts getting from life when u start living in this manner… its very liberating…
is this topic okay to carry forward with??
i have some thoughts and ideas but im just not very sure of what visual elements to use for this…
should i do self portraits and bring in elements or objects which symbolise my life or this change which has occured?? like wat??
i would love to include nature in my works… would this work? because i love just being in nature, its such a nice feeling, it awakens me in a sense and gives me a feeling of joy!!
perhaps using metaphors in nature to represent this?? like a caterpillar to butterfly- as it breaks out of its cocoon and realises that its beautiful and has to potential to fly, or maybe something like that?
the butterfly is somewhat of a common example…
i have had a lot of other ideas but typing everthing out here will produce a very long list…
wat about just from dark to light…??doesn’t it make sense in regard with becoming aware??
or how about just approaching awakening as a change and representing it in that aspect…….
ok, now im just going on and on and on……
sorry…
well, could u pls comment on my thoughs and ideas and let me know wat u think of all this?
thanx
How awesome that you had this ‘awakening’ so early! Most people torment themselves through their entire teens and sometimes most of their twenties before they reach this understanding!
Great work!
This is an excellent topic to use.
In terms of what to use visually… I think portraiture is indeed the most obvious option. Another possibility is to use imagery associated with the things that you perceived as being responsible for your initial insecurities, or, as you suggest, things that are connected with your realisation. Were there books you read or messages from others that triggered this awakening?
Although nature could form part of your submission, I think the caterpillar to butterfly thing could be too literal, and my gut feeling is probably that portraiture on its own is enough. The notion of dark to light can be used within portraiture (i.e. perhaps dark backgrounds, with strengthening light on the portrait etc)… anyway, here are some ideas that may help…
- Using sequences in some way, i.e. images of you from a baby to current day, shown in sequence, or overlapping etc – perhaps something similar to these awesome drawings by Wang Tzu-Ting;
;
- Portraits that have pieces peeled away / ripped up and torn off etc, as if you are tearing down insecurities…or portraits that are dripping away (i.e. these portraits by Chrissy Angliker or Carne Griffiths)
- Perhaps you could take inspiration from these awesome drawings by Liliana Porter where little people are holding onto big splashes of paint that look like they are flying away etc…as if joy / happiness is exploding out of you and flooding over the world etc
- A painting of you viewing yourself in a picture or painting (i.e. looking at yourself – I wouldn’t advise a mirror, as this is very over-done in high school art). A depiction of the moment of realisation…as if looking at yourself and realising how needless your previous suffering is…
- This example of A-Level work has rather a depressingly beautiful vibe. I imagine something similar could be done in a more positive light…i.e. kind of like the ebb and flow of joy…
- Another random idea: you could do a frank, photo-journalist style paintings of your ‘flaws’, i.e. huge clear works that illustrate your ‘imperfections’ as if you accept them absolutely / embrace them…and indeed, see beauty in the funny, tiny ways your body (or whatever) is imperfect;
- Another possibility is to make a project that is based on how the human brain is flawed… i.e. most humans subject themselves to continuous torment – needlessly fretting about things that have happened in the past or worrying about what might happen in the future – both of which lead them to bypass what really matters: what is happening now…concentrating on imagery of the brain maybe?
Anyway, hopefully that gives you some ideas – obviously you would only pick one of these – not try and incorporate all of them!
Good luck. Amiria
hi again….
i really like your ideas!! thanx again…
i had thought of the concept of being realeased from a grip of fear and tearing away or or casting away from conciousness, for this reason i am leaning most towards the second point u have made… about creating portraits and peeling them away, showing them ripped apart. the artist links for all the ideas are really interesting as well… espically the link to carne griffiths – i think her works are a perfect inspiration for me from which i can also use to understand how to incorporate nature in my compositions..
in regard with other visual elements which i could use, u have mentioned bringing in imagery associated to what contributed to my realisation – it was mostly songs that i listened to at that time – and it was the message that these songs were trying to communicate… songs such as perfect by pink, fireworks by katy perry and many more, whoes words inspired me and influenced my way of thinking… so, is there any way in which i could bring this aspect of my realisation into my compositions? i dont want to just work with words and images… i was thinking i could maybe perhaps use the songs in the explanation of my thoughts and feeling and perhaps create compositions which communicate the sentiment of the song…. an awakening through music… through its lyrics….
any thoughts?
Just bear in mind that you don’t need to bring in many (if any) other elements. Portraiture alone is a complex subject…so don’t feel that you need to bring in more things just for the sake of it. I am glad you intend good to steer clear of using song lyrics in the work – these could very easily appear cheesy, unless handled carefully. Your suggestion of creating compositions which communicate the sentiment of the song sounds great, although may turn out to be something that sounds good in theory but is hard to implement. But if you can, this would be awesome!
cool, thanx!
hey, i was thinking that maybe i should use another word as the topic for my coursework instead of awakening, because i feel that maybe, if i call it awakening, something else would be expected to be produced as a result of it visually than what i am planning to portray (with the portrait, and tearing/ripping apart and nature)… also it might be considered a very serious or heavy topic for someone my age… (?)
wat are your views on renaming the theme to something like Revial or maybe Transformation, i.e. changes.. any more suggestions? wat do u think? : \
I wouldn’t worry about the official ‘title’ of your Coursework at all. This is just an arbitrary word – what is important is the work, your ideas and how these are expressed with skill through your compositions. My students in New Zealand don’t even have a ‘title’ for their project…they simply discussed their ideas / thoughts within their sketchbook and went about making art.
In other words, don’t fret about this! Put your energy into creating amazing artwork.
hey amiria,
i have been going through a lot of ideas for my topic (awakening)… as you know, i started off with trying to include nature with portraits to symbolise life(carne griffiths). I have got a lot of other ideas since, like combing images of different emotions,like sad and enlightened emotions…or faces looking towards or away from each other, one sad, one enlightened, etc…. i have also though of using leaves-at different stages of their lives- fresh new ones, partially dry ones, more dry and then completely dry ones- and then to arrange them in circles, like a mandala – in this arrangement i though i could show the enlightened face in the fresh new leaves in the center of the page and then accomodate some sad faces within the dryed leaves, to show that those emotions have faded/died… what do you think of this? will it get too complex??
i had also though of maybe using imagery of water splashed on the face, or maybe just do works focusing on the light falling on the face and the expression on the face (spotlight in dark setting)?
i am somewhat confused as i have a lot of ideas and am not sure what to proceed with and whether i should proceed with any of my ideas??
also, should this development of thoughts be recorded in the sketchbook, because as of now i have it written down in a lot of different places… pls help… i really want to represent this topic in a new and different way, i dont want to do anything cliche.
i like your idea of the mind being flawed, maybe referencing body dsymorphic disorder or something… any further ideas on all of this??
pls help, i am stuck, and confused!!
so far i have created a few realistic drawing of different emotions, sad, happy, etc…
what do i do now??
Hi SJ,
I personally tend to favour the simpler imagery you have suggested…faces looking away from each other with different emotions etc, and also the water splashed on face idea (you might like these paintings by Linnea Strid http://www.flickr.com/photos/linneastrid/5591152513/in/photostream). With regards to a mandala type arrangement of leaves – symmetrical things can sometimes be hard to work with, and there is a danger that it might not convey your ideas clearly. It is generally best to have a narrow subject and totally ace it, than to introduce many different elements.
How far through your course are you (time wise)? The sorts of investigations you are talking about can be trialled quite quickly within your sketchbook – kind of brainstorming, if you wish – to sort out your initial direction.
And yes, your development of thoughts should definitely be recorded in your sketchbook – but, as well as writing, get in the habit of exploring ideas through drawings etc…i.e. don’t just fill your book with pages and pages of notes without images to accompany it (the examiners will not read it all – they just skim, and thus the images are most important).
I have been thinking more about your topic, and the hard part I guess is making it clear what your work is about, and avoiding making it look like you are simply representing different human emotions. I do still like the idea of the mind being flawed – body dsymorphic disorder is a good suggestion.
At this point, don’t stress so much about coming up with an amazing, highly resolved composition. What really matters is how well executed your work is. The artists you learn from will help guide your compositional choices and inform your technique – these things are refined and developed over the course. You don’t have to have everything resolved yet.
After completing some initial drawings of yourself showing different emotions etc, and possibly with water etc running on face, the next step is to pick an artist. (By the way, I imagine your first works are realistic in style – in which case, here is where you need to really demonstrate to the examiner that you excel at this. Produce some really accurate drawings with a full range of tone. My students generally start with black and white mediums – graphite, charcoal, Indian ink etc – on a range of different ‘grounds’ (i.e. undercoats and different types of paper / painting surfaces)). Don’t worry so much about what direction your work will take or what it will look like in the end, just produce amazing work.
Okay, so then you need to select an artist and use them to guide your next compositional decisions. For example, you might select, for example, Langdon Graves, who produces drawings with pieces omitted. You could use this to focus attention on aspects of your body you used to be unhappy with (if going with the body dsymorphic disorder, for example)…or produce one like this one, where the ‘happy you’ is holding hands with your previous self, who had a distorted self image – with parts erased / exaggerated etc. I have just picked this artist to illustrate a point – you should pick one that appeals to you. Obviously you analyse their work in your sketchbook etc before you begin to apply their ideas to your own work. In a way you are pretty much ‘copying’ the artist’s technique and/or idea, but as you do it with your own subject matter, the work ends up looking different…and also, as you continually add in ideas from artists, by the time you get to your final work your work will be a combination of your ideas and those from a number of different artists, so it will look completely original.
You might do maybe 3-4 pieces inspired by this artist, then you pick another, and repeat the process, merging new ideas into what you already have…
Ok hope that gives you some idea!
You are likely to also find these helpful (these are reports on NCEA student artwork – the New Zealand equivalent of A Level), written by NZ examiners to help teachers…
Scholarship is an extra award, given to the very best submissions. Excellence is the highest grade available. Students have to produce less work than for A Level, but otherwise, the process is the same…
http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/qualifications-standards/awards/scholarship/scholarship-subjects/scholarship-visual-arts/painting-exemplars-2010/
http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/qualifications-standards/awards/scholarship/scholarship-subjects/scholarship-visual-arts/painting-exemplars-2009/
The full lists of work available on the NZQA site is here and the bottom of this page.
Hey Amiria!
I just started my A level in art and design and I wanted to discuss my topics with you. Since we have to select two topics, one fore component2 and other for component 3, i was thinking on nature and light respectively. I noticed that you’ve told people that light is a very broad topic so how can i narrow it down?
And is nature okay? I wanted to select something which could give me many options for my paintings.. Plus these topics interest me so these two were the first topics that came to my mind so yeah..
I was thinking on the topic perspective as well but a classfellow of mine was thinking on the same.. I REALLY REALLY want to work on it, but unfortunately we can’t repeat topics.
Plus can you give me a list of more topics.. I just want some ideas so that i can select on my own but just some examples could probably help me out.. Please, reply as soon as possible!
Hi Amna,
While it is understandable that you want to select a topic that gives you options and flexibility, even a very narrow topic can give you this. It is possible to produce wildly imaginative and creative work about one issue – in fact, this is much, much better than a broad topic that includes paintings and drawings of many different things. Drawing a big range of things means you don’t get to develop real competence in one area and means the message and ideas in your work can appear quite scattered. Of course, there are always exceptions, but this is almost always the case.
Both topics you have suggested are VERY open ended. While this can be an initial starting point, I would narrow them down considerably. Bear in mind that your theme should not just be a thing, but an actual idea or message, even if the message is something as simple as expressing the joy and aesthetic pleasure in a particular object.
I have written a brief list of art project ideas that you may find helpful. These ideas are intended to just be starting points, with students interpreting them individually etc. I also assume you have read this blog post on A Level Art Ideas? It may be helpful to read many of the questions and answers at the bottom too…
Yes I’ve read all your blogs and they have been most helpful!
Okay but can you tell me HOW i can narrow it down? Or give me some ideas so i can select my theme..
Okay wait, i thought about it for a loooonnng time and decided on puppetry for component 2. How does that sound? Do you think it’ll work out?
Will this be a 3D component? Or will you be painting / drawing puppets? Either way, it could be an excellent topic, as long as you have some kind of story behind it…rather than just making or painting random puppets etc….
Hi Amiria:)
your blog is very interesting and has cleared many doubts in my mind.
I am currently in a level. i wanted to select a sort-of serious topic that interests me.after browsing endless topic ideas i have settled on ‘bound’ as my coursework topic.my main focus is on women in India,and how they are bound by the society,how they must behave.bound by religion,and the norms they must follow.bound by economic constrains,family etc.i wanted to compare the olden days and the modern society woman.now women are trying to break away from these constrains that they are bound by.i wanted to do portraits of these different women..form the rural areas to the modern working woman(even if they are in high positions they are made to feel inferior.)using symbolism to represent the topic.i wanted to study creepers ,caged birds,roots ropes(bound hands) chains etc .and finally incorporate these ides somehow to show the final painting.
i am not sure how to move forward ,or if this is the correct way of approaching the topics .can u suggest some artists that i could study? how els could i represent my topic?
also.the board prefers that we work form first hand sources ,pictures of our imagination??
thans alot
Hi NS,
I really like your topic a lot. In terms of the possibilities you have discussed, the only thing I would suggest is that perhaps some of the imagery is too obvious – i.e. chains etc. Although it does depend on how this is executed – you may be able to pull it off convincingly.
Are you sitting CIE A-Levels? This is my area of specialty, so my advice relates specifically to this.
I would begin by drawing / painting / investigating all of the imagery (the different woman + symbolic items etc) that you think may form part of your topic. Then analyse your artwork and establish what works and what doesn’t – establish areas of potential etc, and then begin to develop / improve the composition and your painting technique with reference to different artists, as outlined in the blog post above. Basically the artist models, along with your own ideas and input from your teacher, help to guide how you develop with your work. There is no one right way.
Your final work does need to be more than the merging of the woman plus symbols, however. Your Coursework project should be a journey in which you learn new techniques / skills / understanding of composition etc. At the beginning, you shouldn’t exactly know how your final painting will end up…it should evolve as you go…
I am writing a post on good artist models (it is a work in progress, I am adding more artists whenever I have time) that you might like to look at. You don’t need to select one that uses similar ideas as you – you can simply learn techniques etc from an artist, as long as you think these would be beneficial for expressing your own ideas.
As for firsthand versus imagination… In the examination first hand sources are required – in the coursework this isn’t specified. I do believe, however, that the examiners have a soft spot for first hand observation, and if you are trying to make something look real, then drawing from memory will not work. Work can be imaginative and drawn from observation, however!
Hope that helps!
HI Amira!
your blog’s really interesting and has helped me a lot
during my o level board exams
thanks for that
I have chosen my coursework topic to be hidden..and now im really confused.
I really need your suggestions on what i can do?
I was thinking of hidden emotions such as pain and frustration
also hidden reality.
should i think of something else??
I cant think clearly
I really need your help
and also can you please suggests some artist that i could study??
thanks a lot !
Hi Ma,
Thanks for your comment. A hidden emotion can be an acceptable starting point, however you are best to think of a particular instance in which this emotion has been provoked. For example, if you wish to explore hidden pain, I would think of something in your life that actually causes you to feel pain – hidden pain – and would then explore this particular issue.
If by hidden reality, you mean something similar – i.e. how people go about their daily lives pretending that things are okay, but under the surface are coping with a different reality – then this could also work, but again, you are best to have specific examples.
A specific starting point gives you particular imagery to work with and also ensures that the issue is something you really connect with on a personal level.
I have just written a blog post on good artist models (it’s a work in progress) that might interest you, however ideally the artist selection should come later – after you have come up with ideas of your own…
Good luck!
Hi again!
i am doing my A-levels.your inputs were very helpful and i did go thru the artist list you put up
Are there any other approaches because it difficult to express the term bound with just portraits of women..what els could be done????
Have you seen this student’s work? They are maybe exploring similar ideas to you (not so much to do with ‘bound’ necessarily, but with gender roles and societal expectations etc)… It might give you some ideas?
thanks alot!!i have got a good idea how to progress:):)
hey again Amira,thanks for the suggestions
and yes i did look up the “good artist model”
its quite interesting,i really like it!
well you see for the topic hidden,you told me for hidden reality -”If by hidden reality, you mean something similar – i.e. how people go about their daily lives pretending that things are okay, but under the surface are coping with a different reality ”
I contemplated a lot, and on a personal level,I tend to meet a lot of people in my school,who are two faced
so their actual personality is hidden
and i was thinking i could do something on that
and how people wear masks and hide their true self!
i dont know if this would work or not, i need your help
thanks again
your a life saver
Hi Ma,
Yes the tendency for people to be ‘two faced’ could be a really interesting topic! My only advice would be not approach it from a negative perspective…ie. don’t simply endeavour to portray the two faced people you know, but instead attempt to analyse why humans tend to act one way in one situation and another in a different one… You could look to sympathise with these ‘nasty’ people (even if they have hurt you) and understand what it is that causes people to wear ‘masks’ in this way. I really like the sound of this topic – it has a lot of potential visually.
Hi Amiria
just like to say how amazing you are at art. I wish i was as good as you. The amount of detail must have taken you ages.
Im currently doing my A-Levels (AS) and i have been given the topic Figurative. My starting point was an image of my hand in pencil , then i took pictures of different hand positions (8 images) then I chosen one of the images which looked tensed and quite scary. This gave me the idea of drawing different parts of the human body tensed showing wrinkles etc. the next image i drew was me screaming but only showing my nose and mouth. I then decided to closeups of the nose tensed and the eyes showing wrinkles.
I wanted to show the opposite of this facial expression by drawing images which that doesnt change your facial features. this it shows a big contrast between the two.
In my work ive started using images off the internet, until i realsied I may get marked down. :/ Since then, all my images have been primary which has been backed up by photographs. What should i do with these internet images. It took me aages to finish.
Ive only looked at one artist edvard much – the scream. any more artist i could look at?
Also, im unsure what to call my project
Thank you!!
Hi Adam,
Thanks for your kind comments
Are you doing CIE A Levels? This is my area of expertise, so my comments relate specifically to this.
Regarding the use of images sourced off the internet, yes, this is discouraged (because it indicates students are less involved with their project and also raises copyright issues). How many pieces have you produced from second hand imagery? Whatever the case, I wouldn’t throw them away. You can have them in your sketchbook, or if a few are really good pieces, they can be included as part of your initial investigations on your A1 preparatory sheets, especially if they are surrounded by images that are clearly from your own observation. It would be even better if the drawings are somehow different from the original images you copied (is there some way you could modify them a bit, so that they ‘become your own’)? If not, if you just go out of your way to demonstrate that the remainder of your work is highly personal / original and from your own observations etc (include your own photographs in your sketchbook to show that the drawings are firsthand etc), you should be fine. In my experience, the examiners are pretty forgiving and look for reasons to reward candidates, not penalise them. But I would definitely avoid internet imagery in the future.
I think it will also help you to think about ideas that correspond with your theme – in other words, the message or meaning behind your work. Visually, what you have done sounds quite cool, but it always helps to have a theoretical idea to help direct your decisions (in your case, it could be something as straight forward as an expression of teenage angst – inner torment trying to escape or something
). Once you have sorted out this, you should find coming up with a ‘name’ for your project quite easy…(incidentally, a project name isn’t really that important – it’s the quality of work that matters).
So far what you have done sounds great – the only thing I question is the relevance of the facial expression where features don’t change. You mention that the purpose of this is to show contrast…but I immediately wondered what the purpose of this contrast was and whether it helped to communicate the idea/s behind your work. Something to think about!
As for artist models, you might be interested in the art of Melissa Cooke?
Good luck!!
Thank for for replying.
Ok, i wont throw them away. From now on I’ll try to avoid images off the interent
About half of my work that ive done so far (10 altogether) is from the internet. :/ I will also try to put the internet picture next to primary images so it looks as if i haven’t just copied it.
I have also took your advice about a theoreical idea behind the images. So what i have come up with are teenagers who are stressed out or have a busy life and want to escape/ teenagers dreaming, not caring about anthing, in their own “bubble”.(the face realxed which contrasts with the tensed face)
I clicked on the link to see Mellissa Cooke’s work and this was the sort of artist i have been looking for! I will use it for my artist analysis!
I just have a few more questions i would like to ask:?
When we paint/draw a primary picture, do we have to use the same colours? can we change it and maybe use blue instead of the original colour, brown?
Also, do ALL the artist we look at have to influence our work.
thanks you for the advice, i feel more confident now, and has just gave me the energy to carry on!
Hi Adam,
There are no rules – colours can be changed (or works can be entirely black and white or monochromatic – whatever suits your project). Have a look at some of the examples of student work on this site to get a feel for how colours can be manipulated. Often a similar colour scheme is used throughout a body of work to help convey certain ideas and to make the work link together visually.
As for artists, yes – they should influence your work: this is the purpose of studying them. Obviously you will look at many artists along the way, but if you are going to take the time to analyse their work and learn from them, they should be ones that directly influence your work.
Thanks – hope your work is going well!
Hi Amiria,
I just like to clarify a few doubts…
For my A- Level (Cambridge)Component 3:Coursework, I have chosen Fashion Design from the syllabus.I am the first one in school to have undertaken fashion design in our school, it would be great if you could give me advice
Right now I’m working with a fashion designer in the city who is helping me with the design/construction process.I have chosen The Beatles and The 1960s for my theme/source of inspiration
I have been listenig to The Beatles music throughout my childhood,and I still do every day.Since The Beatles were from the 1960s, i am also exploring the 60s and the fashion/fads/culture from that decade.The 60s itself is very inspiring-the bright colours,the prints,the dress patterns etc.
It very intresting and exciting for me,and my research is coming along well.I am trying to add as much cultural elements as possible and i have a couple of dresses in mind. I am also thinking of creating designs from my favourite songs. What do you think?
The only thing I’m not sure of is :
what is expected as the FINAL outcome of the project, say a dress, but how elaborate?
Also how many dresses (ones I’ve made on my own) do I have to submit as my supporting work?
Can I experiment with other related themes as well?
Do students uasually make their own dresses from scratch?
I’ve looked through your blog, it’s extremly helpful =]
Thank you so much!
Hi Nomita,
Thanks for your question. I must say that Fashion Design is rarely selected by NZ students (as part of Art & Design, that is; it is much more common when taken as part of the Design & Technology Syllabus) so please bear in mind that I am not experienced in this area. I will do my best to help you, however!
The Fashion Design section of the 9704 syllabus says:
Candidates should explore personal solutions in designing garments or items for personal adornment for different occasions and age groups.
They should identify dress requirements for specific purposes, occasions and environments, and suggest practically how these may be met.
The ‘specific purposes’ phrase implies that it is a good idea to base your fashion design around a specific need – a Design Brief, in other words. For example, you could design a costume to be worn by a speaker at a Beatles Convention or perhaps for a lead singer of a Beatles cover band (these are just examples…it can be hypothetical, as long as it sounds plausible).
The phrase ‘personal adornment’ also indicates that the piece they are looking for is decorative and more like wearable art (i.e. quite elaborate), rather than what you might consider a typical clothing item.
The syllabus goes on to say:
They should consider and understand the different purposes of clothing and the way in which this affects the design and fabric used in production.
Candidates should look at the function of clothing in terms of protection and warmth as well as ease of wear.
The psychological influence of wearing particular garments or adornments should also be considered
To help understand feasibility and production, candidates need to consider the properties of different materials and how fashion items are constructed.
They should also be aware of the balance between the function and the conventions that influence fashion and, in particular, those factors that bring about change over time.
Candidates should be aware of the changes in technology which have influenced fashion items.
Candidates’ designs should demonstrate their knowledge of shape, line, colour and texture.
Candidates should have some knowledge of contemporary fashion designers. Visits to fashion shows and/or garment construction outlets are encouraged.
This all gives you a good idea of the sort of things to be included within your preparatory work. The preparatory work should all lead towards the final outcome, so I wouldn’t experiment with other related themes. I would focus on one and do it really well.
There are no set numbers of how many dresses (or outfits) to make as part of the preparatory work. Often you might just make parts of an outfit, or draw variations of the outfit, or make a small mock-up of it etc. I would make a few at full scale, however. Sometimes you might make one, photograph it, and then modify it further and photograph again. The outfit should be developed in the same way as the composition of artworks is developed throughout a Painting submission.
As for creating designs from songs – perhaps these could be part of your initial concepts / ideas, at the start of your project…before you select one to develop. Alternatively, different songs might influence different parts of a garment.
Yes, students must absolutely make all aspects of their work from scratch. Your school has to sign a form verifying that 100% of the work assessed is that of the students, so it is essential that the work is yours alone.
I hope that helps!
Thank You so much for replying,as well as your time and patience
It was definitely helpful and has opened my eyes to “who” and “why” I would design the garments for.The garments will be made by me from scratch, I have been attending pattern making and sewing class from the beginning of the year and working with a friend who is a professional fashion designer.
Is there a formal method for the school verifying that the work was done by myself?
Can I send the garments with the supporting work or are only photographs of the garments acceptable? Either one is not an issues, I just need to clarify.
Thank you once again for you time and advice.I am the first student in our school to be taking up A Level Art, and Fashion Design ,hence the doubts!Your blog and comments have been very helpful!
Hi Nomita,
When the work is packaged up and sent away to CIE, your school Principal and the Art teacher will sign a statement certifying the work submitted for assessment is the candidate’s own unaided work. I think from memory it is just something in the fine print on one the MS1 form that is filled in, immediately prior to sending the work away. So you don’t have to worry about this – your teachers will do it.
However, you have nothing to lose from taking photos of the work in progress, so it is obvious to the markers that you made it. This can be a good thing to do in your sketchbook, with notes analysing the work and making suggestions for improvement etc… Here is an example of a similar sort of thing done by a painting student who has photographed her semi-complete work and then drawn on top of the photo and analysed the work etc.
Are there more than ten students at your school sitting A2 Art & Design? Because if so, your work may not have to be sent away at all, as only ten students have their work sent away. If you are one of the ten (and CIE picks who has their work sent, after the marks are submitted) the syllabus says: where work is too fragile or bulky or otherwise unsuitable to be sent by post, a photographic record of the work must be sent for moderation purposes. So I guess it depends on the nature of your final work. If it is able to be folded up and sent flat, then postage seems permissible. Perhaps it is worth getting your teaching to clarify with CIE, as I am not experienced in this area? I would guess, however, that in most cases, photos would be the best option.
Thank you for your kind comments! (ps. feel free to vote for me in the Edublog awards! See link to the upper left)
hi amaria ,
im an a level art student from Pakistan.my topic for the third component is reflections and I’ve narrowed it down to water reflections ie: reflections of boats in a harbor and fishermen etc…. but previously i had made quite a few works of study depicting other forms of reflections such as reflections in spoons and window panes…would it be okay for me to include these paintings in the portfolio but then not go on to use them in the final painting….also how important are copy conversions and can u name a few artists whose work relate to my topic….also how many copy conversions should be added…. please do reply…..oh and your blog is an absolute lifesaver …
Hi Zahra,
Are you sitting CIE Art and Design? If so, then yes, your drawings of other types of reflections can form part of your initial investigations in your portfolio.
What do you mean by copy conversions? Do you mean copying artist works? Please clarify and I will provide more assistance.
In terms of artists, it really depends on your interests and strengths, but here are a selection that may help: Joseph Turner, Winslow Homer, John Twachtman, Sally Burton, Andrew Salgado (he doesn’t paint water, but you can imagine awesome reflection paintings in this style).
Get back to me with more info and I will endeavour to answer your other questions
hi,
…oh and yeah im doing cie a levels….
yeah i meant copying the artists work and then incorporating that style into my own work eg: copying Monet’s work and then incorporating his style of impressionism into my work…also im kind of (completely) confused about how to further develop the portfolio….should i separately study reflections of other things such as people and bridges and add them later on into the final piece of work because the boats by themselves are kind of plain and boring…can you please give me some ideas as to how i can make the portfolio interesting …thanks for the help
Hi again Zahra,
There is no rule about how many artists should be referenced, but I would suggest for AS about 2-4 and A2 3-10. If your work is starting to feel stagnant and a bit repetitive, this can be a good indication that it is time to bring in influence from a new artist. Don’t spend hours slavishly copying an artist’s work, however. Often just copying small portions of a work along with annotated diagrams of the composition is all that is needed.
With regards to how to develop the work, it really varies with each project, but I would establish quite early on what you intend to focus on in terms of subject matter, and then spend some time developing this. If you look at this A2 Painting project, for example, you will notice that in the first board of preparation the student establishes what their subject is (i.e. children eating junk food in a picnic scene). The remainder of the preparatory work takes this scene and develops in terms of techniques and composition, using different artists as inspiration. No ‘new’ subjects are brought in (although the children are drawn from different angles etc, of course).
In your case, therefore, I would gather together all of the different drawings and paintings you have done of reflections and quite quickly try and establish you are going to focus on. Put the less relevant ones into your sketchbook, and then try and link the remainder together to be as cohesive as possible. You mention you are finding your work boring -is this because your paintings are boring to look at, or because you are getting bored with the subject itself (or both)? If you are finding the topic itself boring, it might be because you don’t have any kind of connection to the ideas or messages that are explored within your work (read this post on A Level Art ideas for more clarity on this).
In terms of merging different images or scenes together (i.e. people + bridges + boats) I would only do this if there was some kind of purpose to it…i.e. if it helped convey a particular idea. Don’t merge things solely to make your drawing look more interesting. If your drawings are dull, however, you definitely need to do something about this!
Please let me know if you need more help.
Hi,I have to do a coursework this year, I have several theme ideas but I’m not sure what to choose-
Mythical beings(because i really like Greek/Egyptian Mythology and Mythical Creatures(werewolf,vampires, etc)
Love/Lovers/ A time to be together(something bout romance not sure ’bout it yet) xP
Using the style of this artist,Benjamin Zhang Bin -
link 1-http://www.kyozo.fr/?p=564
link 2- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6Rc8idptUM
or song yang – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fEQfF_JZl0
(because i like they way they use colors,it’s like they express the emotion)
War/A fight
The Concert (because of the different lighting effects)
Any advice please?
PS:I’m good at drawing human figures.
Hi Jeffrey,
Have you read this post about how to select a good A Level Art idea? It is likely to help you. My initial thoughts about your suggestions are:
* Mythical beings: only really feasible if you are able to create ‘real’ things to draw…i.e. dress people up as a mythical creature and then photograph them / use them to draw from… (this could be fun
* Love / Lovers: too vague for me to be able to comment meaningfully. My gut feeling is that artist work linked to would work for certain students only. A really talented student would be able to pull it off; a less able student might end up creating work that was very superficial or ‘cheesy’. But I can see why this work appeals. You need to really decide what the work would be portraying / communicating etc, if you wish to go ahead with this theme.
* Fights: could be good. Especially if it was more along the lines of the ‘ordinary’ (yet awful) fight such as the kinds that go on in families…as opposed to an over-dramatised fight between a gang or warriors or something.
* A concert could also be good.
Ultimately, I can’t decide which is best, because it depends what you are most passionate about. Read that link above for more clarity on this, and then please ask more questions if you still need more help. Thanks!
hello i’m currently doing my A-level art and my chosen topic is Abstract, can you give me ideas on how I would go about with this topic in terms of images i should look at, and how I would maximise my work to get a high grade.
Hi Ray,
Abstract is not a topic but rather a style of art: abstract art can be created about virtually any kind of theme. What you need to do is select the ideas that you wish to explore as until you have done this, it would be impossible to know how to proceed. Reading this article about A Level Art ideas should help you with this. Once you know what your topic is, you can begin looking at imagery to help you explore this. In many cases, I might add, high school students begin with representational work and then progress to abstract work. This can have several advantages as it a) allows students to demonstrate that they can accurately record shape and form (which tends to impress examiners) as well as ‘explains’ or ‘justifies’ the compositional decisions made in the final work.
If you need more help, ask some more questions once you have selected a theme or ideas to explore. Good luck!
Hello Amiria. I am a A-level student. I’ve started my coursework and it is on ballet. I have some problem for being more creative. Well I know that you cannot decide things for me but I would be very happy and thankful to you if you could suggest me some ideas. My teacher says that coursework on ballet are usually ‘boring’ because many students have done it as they were ballerinas or ex-ballerinas ( like me. )and their works were all similar. I want to be the ‘unique’ one. Specially using different media. I don’t know which one can go with ballet and which one will me inappropriate. Well, I hope you understand me, it’s a terrible mess in my head and I am stressed as we are going to start our final in a few days. Moreover, if you could suggest me some artist who worked on ballet or something related to ballet. Apart from Degas I don’t know anyone.
Thank you.
ps: your blog is just amazing. Thank you for sharing all these informations.
Thanks Sandra,
Your teacher is right that submissions on dancers or ballet are relatively common, so run the risk of being rather unexciting. In saying this, any topic has the potential of being wondrous if it means a lot to you and you approach it in an original and innovative way. Are you able to view actual ballerinas and photograph and draw them in person? This is essential to creating a great project.
Following the process outlined in the post above (especially with the different mediums to use initially) should help you a lot.
Some good artists for you might include: Simon Birch, Wang Tzu-Ting (his technique would be great for depicting the movement of dancers), or gestural drawings such as this one by Karolina.
Looking at the overlapping imagery used by this A Level Art student might also help (as this technique could be used to help create a sense of movement / dancing etc).
Hope that gives you some ideas! Good luck.
hi hope this isnt the wrong place to ask ,,,
but ,, could you please give me some tips and advice on how to be a good drawer ? my art teacher says i have fantastic drawing skills but she beleives theres always room for improvement , and you seem like a great art teacher (judging by your blog and students pieces) so i think you may give great tips ? (im currently doing gcses .. hope you can reply thank you
Hi Nika,
Thanks for this suggestion and your very kind comments – I am planning to write a blog post about drawing in a few weeks. If you sign up to this blog (top right) you will get emails whenever I write a new post, so you will be alerted the moment I have written it.
thanks for your opinion on the themes it helped to decide what i would like to do,it will be between the love or the concert as “love” i want to express something personal or something i would like it would be,the concert because i like music and lighting effect during a concert.I’ll ask for my teacher’s opinion between the too. Thank you so much for making this blog…
Hi Jeffrey,
Between those two I prefer the concert option – the lighting effects could be really awesome. But definitely discuss it with your teacher/ He/she will know you well and thus how to best advise you. Good luck!
hi amiria,
im currently in a web of crisis…..i have chosen the topic remnants of life ,as in still life arrangements of natural situations such as clothes taken off and left on the floor and shoes unlaced and messily arranged with crumpled socks…..the problem is im having a hard time finding relevant artists ,please kindly refer some that i can take inspiration from…..one inspiration i have taken is van gogh and his paintings of work man shoes ….. also im having artists block and i can’t think of any ideas as how to further develop the portfolio can u please suggest some situations like the ones i have given above (the shoes and clothes)that i can further study and relate to my topic…..im an A level art student…and the topic is for my 10 page portfolio….your blog is of immense help….thank you for creating such a helpful resource…
Thanks Zeb,
Here are my thoughts:
The basic imagery you intend to use (shoes/clothes taken off, messily arranged with crumpled socks etc) sounds excellent. I would focus on one person’s discarded clothes only (or perhaps two people’s i.e. the tangled clothing of two lovers, discarded on the floor) by the way, rather than a whole lot of different natural situations. If you attempt to merge a few different situations, it is likely to become unclear and your ideas will be harder to follow.
You should also work out exactly what your work is about. You could explore, for example, how the items that people wear become an extension of themselves, so that it is almost like someone has discarded their skin, by undressing. You could look at how in an image that is entirely absent of people, still contains reminders of them and suggests their presence.
When it comes to artists, remember that you don’t need to actually study an artist that is exploring the same theme as you – you can learn from their technique or composition, regardless of what they are painting. There are therefore many possibilities – it just depends on your interests and strengths. You could do bright and vibrant works like this, with the clothing rendered realistically but the background level flat tone. You could draw a sequence of overlapping images (like this) to illustrate the act of taking off the clothing or focus on the gaps left in between the clothing, like this (be careful about introducing the human form, however – I think you topic will be more than complex enough without introducing a figure). Feel free to peruse my Pinterest boards for more ideas.
Hello Amiria,well I was trying to find Alevels students portfolio as its time to end my work but still not satisfied with it so I found this page.Its good to see that people like you are helping students to get good grades.I would really appreciate if you help me as right now I don’t have anyone to discuss my issues and worries regarding portfolio
.Well firstly I would like to tell you that I don’t have any art background or base that is required for an A level student i.e I didn’t had arts as a subject in my O levels.However from a very young age I was appreciated for my art pieces and felt that arts would help me to define my self. Well when Alevels started our teacher told us to decide topic and work instead of guiding us with mediums and what is required by cie.
well i guess that was enough to explain you in what position i am right now :p
anyways at the start of alevels I decided to work on still life.Unintentially I chosen pictures or photographs which had drapery in them.I completed half of my protfolio in A1 but next year found out by my teacher that it should have a topic..which worried me a lot as now half of my work was done and nothing could be done on paintings so she tried to relate it to European still life with drapery.However 2 weeks back she told me that my most of still life paintings contain fruits in it so I should relate my work to Paul cezaane.I am fine with dis also as my work contains study of drapery and who ever has seen my work says that my strong point is drapery however I am not sure that whether my work will get get good grade
I am sending 2 of my studies of drapery and a photograph of my painting so that you know about my style….plz reply me as soon as possible as submission of protfolio to my school is next week and also plzzz guide me what should i write in the notes.
Waiting for your reply …. thanks
Hi Beenish,
Thanks for your question. I note that you mention your work was due next week, which due to my slow reply is probably this week? This site has suddenly got lots and lots of visitors (about a thousand a day) and it is taking me a very long time to answer all the questions, so I am very sorry – it looks as though I haven’t been able to answer your question in time. Please let me know if you still have time before your deadline. You are welcome to email some pictures to: art@amiria.co.nz and I will reply as quickly as I can. Many apologies – I hope you finished your work okay!
hi beenish here again…i am having difficulties while sending you pictures
is dere any other way to send you so that u can have a look..like on facebook or any other email address?
Hello amiria,
its okay
and yeah tomorrow is the deadline 
anyways i have mailed u my work so waiting for ur replyyyy :p
thanks
Hi Amiria!
Thanks for your helpful blogs!
May God bless you <3
Im going to have my AS ART AND DESIGN exam soon.. I have an inquiry about Fashion Design,,. Im going to do a coursework project.
I really dont know what to do exactly. Is it okay to do a protfoilo about Prom dresses/.? Should I design dresses from my own or should I draw some of the artist designers dresses?
No one can help me here because my teacher is good at multmedia, but I love desiging dresses and I dont know what to do exactly. Thank you so much for your time!
Hi Riyona,
Are you a CIE Art and Design student? Can you also please clarify whether this work is for the AS Art Exam or your Coursework (you mention both in your question)?
For a project relating to dresses, you are likely to begin with a Design Brief (if it is the exam, this will relate to a topic set in the exam paper; otherwise you will generate this yourself for your Coursework project, hopefully based on actual design need…i.e. a need for a prom dress that….[elaborate about what is required]). Then you would conduct research, analysing the dresses that others have designed, before leading into the design and development of your own work.
When is your project due? I will try and do a blog post about A Level Fashion Design soon as I am getting lots of questions about this. If you sign up to this blog (see the web page, top right) you will get an email alerting you whenever I write a new post.
Hope that helps!
Thank you so much for the informations <3
I meant about the coursework
I have another question please
What kind of colours should I use to colour the dresses? to show the fabrics :S
Theres a question in the past paper June 2011 I couldnt understand it
Q15) Design the costumes for two performers in a theatre production based on the theme Conflict and Harmony.
What do they mean by conflict and Harmony?
Surething ill signup!! Thanks alot for your help <3
Hi Riyona,
The colours just depend on your brief and theme and the ‘purpose’ of the dresses – i.e. who they are designed for and the purpose / intended use of the dresses.
The Art exam questions are written so that they are rather open-ended, meaning you can interpret them as you see fit. This is a very similar topic to the ‘harmony and discord’ one which I have given suggestions for on this blog post about the Art exam. These give you some suggestions as to how you might interpret harmony and discord (or conflict and harmony). You basically think of some type of theatre production that explores some aspect of conflict and harmony and then design the costumes for two of the characters in this play. Does this make sense? Please ask more questions if you are still unsure.
Thanks!
Thanks alot Ms.Amira!!
I have another question please. In the syllubus 2012 CIE ART AND DESIGN for the AS part compnent 1 which is the controlled test. It says:
Candidates are expected to:
• record, analyse and develop their ideas in two- and/or three-dimensions.
All I know in Fashion is to draw a figure template sketch and put the designed clothes in it.. I dont know what do they mean by 2 or 3 dimensions.
I might have understood it wrong, but my english isnt very good though
Thank you so much <3
Hi Riyona,
Two-dimensions refers to work that is ‘flat’, i.e. drawings or paintings on a piece of paper.
A sculpture, a dress or practising sewing different items together are examples of three-dimensional work (i.e. they are not ‘flat’).
Hope that makes sense!
Hi Amiria,
i have been reading the suggestions and replies ..
And i think you’ll be able to help me ><
heyy, im doing ballet for my art coursework, is this a good idea or not?
:L
Hi Megan,
It is impossible to answer this question without knowing you personally, as what is right for one person is not right for another.
Some things to consider are:
- Your personal connection to ballet (if this is something that is important to you / a big part of your life etc, this is ideal);
- Your observational drawing strength (human figures are renowned for revealing drawing weaknesses, so students who struggle to achieve realism in their works might find this topic harder – unless choosing a non-representational approach);
- The originality of the approach (ballet is a relatively common subject, so is best approached in an innovative and creative way).
I would chat to your own art teacher. He/she will be able to guide you better than I in this matter.
Hope that helps!
hello amiria, i just this is amazing blog …..thank you for making it its very helpful..i only have one question that i need help with …am doing art and design[edexcel gce] unendorsed…and i have start started my research on symbiosis of cell in human body ….but i find it very hard to find appropriate artists ….and my teacher doesn’t know any …do u have some ideas that you can suggest to me…so far i got jo berry, jean arp and Willi Baumeister but i do not think that their appropriate since their work do not link with my theme directly …and help will be very ueful to me. thank you
Hi Alex,
I don’t know much about endosymbiotic theory, but I am guessing you are looking at creating works inspired from scientific images of cell division etc? I had a quick google search to see if I could locate any artists to help you, but wasn’t able to source any that I would recommend studying, although you might be interested in some of the works by Alicia Hunsicker. As an side note, I have completed this painting inspired by scans of brain cells and also this textural, mixed media, sculptural painting of brain cells so I do think this is great topic (although it makes first-hand observation difficult).
Good luck!
Oh, maybe Johannah Silva?
hi amiria…thank so much for answering my question ..i like johannah silva’s work …ithink i will use her as my primary artist…and for the observation drawing …my teacher and i decided it will be best if i start by drawing my skins …and pores on my fave and hair…and the i will have to go to my science lab and ask theme to make me a sample and i will draw it under th microscope …thank so much
Oh yes, that is a great idea for first-hand observational drawing. Well done!
Hey, I’ve just been reading through all of your answers and I can’t believe how many you’ve done, its lovely. (By the way) So, one more couldn’t hurt? You could just scan through, I might ramble quite a lot- sorry- I’ll try not to.
I’m doing shadow and light for my coursework subject (In 2D Art at AS Level) and one of the things that I think I’m really,really bad at is narrowing down ideas ( not that my ideas are particularly good I just seem to have quite a few of them) Which ones should I throw far,far,far way? (metaphorically speaking or maybe not
)
So initially I thought I would look at “Night time” as a subject-I have photographs of my family asleep (I know it sounds weird-well it is weird) and then I thought I would venture into surrealism and dreams and that odd time between being awake and asleep. Shadows looking larger than they really are, moonlight…cheesy?
The opposite (sort of?) too that is sunset/rise. At a point it’s almost as if everything is half in light and half in shadow. At sunrise everything that was dark before is being illuminated, its a great time to take photographs/draw pictures. A lot of Salvidor Dali’s surrealistic paintings look like they are set at these times.
And then I thought I could look at Film Noir (noir being french for night and all that
)and old films, black and white images-how there different to coloured ones, when you think about it they give you a whole new set of eyes-we don’t see things in B&W we see them in colour- B&W emphasises shadow- when somebody says that something is black and white they mean that there is a sharp contrast.
bla, bla, bla…
Maybe could look into the cinema and projectors and stuff? Thought I could photograph my T.V in the dark- I could put words on it, by using a computer CD in the dvd player- I’ve tried it and it works but I’m just not sure what words I should use.
Then I thought shadow and light through water. Clarke Little’s work (I loves his pictures of waves coming down, they hold you in that moment forever and you can imagine what it would be like to be in cased in these glittering shining waves. I know it wouldn’t be nice in reality but that’s sort of what I end up thinking of as I look at them)Have some photographs of my own- of ripples in water (in the dark) (which would have to be drawn or painted or whatever from a photograph)I thought I could look at the artist Dorothea Tanning- and her kaleidoscope paintings- they look like waves but not of water, there also very shadowy and slightly surreal. You get the feeling of endless imagination or maybe its just me, again..
Umm, and also (I know,I know) how light amongst dark is magical somehow. Wherever you see images that are conveying magic of some kind light seems to be involved, especially in comparison to dark. So, took some long exposure shots across a motorway at sunset-which I will almost definitely use, I wish I could show them to you (I’m ridiculously proud of them.) I could look into lantern festivals and the mythology behind that. In china the story goes that there was once this large lean beautiful bird that graced the skies, it was the emperor in the sky’s favourite bird of all birds but when the villagers saw how lean and big and beautiful it was they shot it down. The emperor in the sky saw this and was very angry and declared that he would send his armies down to earth and burn the village. Weeks and weeks went by but the villagers did nothing but worry about what to do, so much so that they did nothing at all… it kind of goes on a bit after that. You don’t need to know the whole story. (If your still reading this- god bless you and thank you)
I then thought I would look at the painting An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump by Joseph Wright of Derby (1756)I can’t for the life of my think of a response to that though.
I also (this ends soon, I promise) thought Van Goghs star paintings would be worth a look. Maybe I could transfer this teqnuique into a modern day city at night? This also links in pretty well with an artist I researched from a Gallery that I went too with my college/school called Tom Hamerick, who paints these abstract shadowy paintings. They have likeable calming colours, like dark blue and pink and fresh green. His works in general have a very calming effect and I really like them- they remind me of childhood memories in the way that there painted and the colours used- that’s why there so likeable.( I think..)
I then thought I would research Halloween, mythology related to shadows- ancient beliefs about eclipses and shadows and perhaps art work related to this? Some people believe that there are such things as shadow people or that our shadows are separate from us- I’m sure there is a story or myth of somebody who loses there shadow…
So out of all of this, quite a lot of which is probably a bit bullshity (excuse my English). What (as an art teacher)do you think would work best?
I sort of got an A* at GCSE (I’m not trying to show off!) I really screwed up with my personal life, quit college last year and stopped doing Art for a year. I really, really screwed up and it made me feel horrible-deservedly. My point is; I’m finding it really hard to be motivated in the same way that I used to be about things. I used to think “I’m going to do this” Now I think “I’m a really horrible person what does it matter what I do.” I’ve sort of noticed that Artists in general (not that I am an “Artist”)haven’t always been the most cheerful of people and well, they still produced their work, didn’t they?
I’m sorry that this has been so long, and I don’t mind at all if you don’t answer.
Hi Becky,
Lol, that was an essay and a half
Here are my responses to your ideas:
1. Night time: an exploration of dreams / surrealism is pretty common and I would tend to steer clear of it because of this. You mentioned that you have images of your family sleeping however… this could actually be quite awesome. You could do a study exploring really ‘ordinary’ images… people pulling unflattering faces / slightly drooling etc. Images that are kind of unglamorous, but become awesome: human bodies with all their defences removed. The time between awake and asleep could form part of this.
2. Sunset / sunrise: not enough substance to the idea.
3. Film Noir / black and white images: same as above. Not enough substance to the idea.
4. Cinemas / projectors: old school projectors with rolls of film etc have visual potential. Photographing a TV with words could maybe work, but you would need to work out what your art would actually be about…i.e. what message to use. Also, this might be in danger of being a one-trick pony…
5. Light and shadow through water: I think this has a lot of potential! It also randomly makes me think of some kind of magical fantasy world (i.e. in the water)…
6. Motorways: this has potential too. Hmmm, yes I really like this. …you could look at Robert Ellis. This could end up in awesome, abstract paintings. There are lots of ideas that could link to this too…about humans and their endless movement / sprawling across the earth…
7. Lantern festivals. Another good option. Lol, yes, still reading
8. An Experiment on a Bird in the Air: would probably end up being too theoretical – something you’re not really connected to emotionally. I’d cull it.
9. Van Gogh: unfortunately his starry night paintings and such like have become so familiar they lose their aesthetic wow, in a way. I would avoid this.
A*s are awesome.
Don’t feel horrible if you think you screwed up your life. You didn’t. ‘Life’ is just a story. You can [re]tell it any way that you like. Humans spend far too much time regretting the past and worrying about the future. All there is is now. Go listen to Eckhart Tolle. He’ll fix you. (YouTube him). Note: he sounds crazy, but I’m pretty sure he’s worked out all that there is to know.
Oh, here’s my other wisdom: Everyone does the absolute best they can, at any given moment, with the information they have to hand. Forgive everyone. Even you.
(Ha, you thought I was an art teacher, but it turns out I am a therapist in disguise).
I am going to write a post on motivation soon, but I have a few others scheduled ahead of this, so I am not sure how long it will be before I get to it. In the mean time, just embrace joy. Think how many times you see famous people doing stupid things and they have hugely successful careers and lots of money. Why? Because the human brain is set to ‘not good enough’, no matter the situation. Human thinking is flawed, but the good thing is that all it takes is to realise this. In the realisation, the flaw is gone.
Now go make some art!
Oh, I forgot your ‘shadow people’ idea. This also sounds great!
Hi Ms.Amira!
should it be a whole animal costume or a dress with an insect/reptile pattern or tail that represents a specific animal?
I have been reading all the comments and its really great to know that you’re so ready to help everyone with some of the ideas!!
May I ask a question please
I received my AS CIE Art and Design Exam and it says I have to submit along with my final work two A2 sheets of my preparotary work. Should the preparotay work includes the same drawing which i will draw it in my final work ( which is the exam paper) about fashion. I could understand the question in the exam it says:
Based on insect, reptile or animal forms, design the costumes for two performers in a dance production entitled THE BESTIARY about acutual and imagined creatures.
I looked up the word Bestiary, I didnt get the point actually
Thank you so much for your time!
Hi Sara,
No, your preparatory work should NOT include the same drawing that you will complete as your final work. By this I mean that your preparation should not include the EXACT same drawing – but, of course, your preparation will include very similar artworks, that show how the journey of how you arrived at your final piece. Many students do in fact make the mistake of ‘practising’ their final exam work in the preparation, but the examiners often state in the Examiners Reports that this is not a good idea. If students do this, the final work is often not as good as the preparatory piece, due to boredom with repeating the same thing again. Even if you happened to do it well, twice, there would be absolutely no need – it is essentially a waste of time, as you show the examiner the same thing twice!
I looked up Bestiary and found this definition:
The key idea seems to be that it is a story about real and imaginary animals, with the animals being described in realistic, abstract and/or symbolic ways, linking to morals that particular animals might be meant to signify…
You might, for example, design a costume to illustrate a character who is meant to embody ‘lust’ (or whatever else you specify, choosing something that relates to morals in some way), using images / patterns / forms from real and imagined animals (you would then focus on animals that you think might help illustrate ‘lust’). Art exam topics are generally quite open, so that you can interpret them however you see fit. So think of two characters that might be involved in this dance production and design costumes for them. It should definitely be a whole body costume, but whether it is a dress or something different is up to you. Remember that it is a dance production, so a dress might be impractical. Maybe something more skin-tight? But you could explore a range of things, particularly at the conceptual stage. There are no rules!
Hope that helps!
Oh I see!
Does that mean for the first custome I should combine two insects together to give me an imaginary creature? for example butterfly combined with a Peacock dress?
I want to make sure about the CIE AS ART AND DESIGN coursework, I did a portfoilo of 20 dresses along with two A2 sized papers. For the external work I should do four A4 paper or two A2 papers as a preparatory work, is that correct?
Sorry I have been asking alot of questions. Im so confused
Thank you so much!!
I deeply appreciate your help
Hi Sara,
There is no ‘right’ answer for what you should do…
I would recommend, however, that you don’t limit yourself to simply merging two animals/insects, because I imagine you could create quite wondrous creatures that were crafted from a number of different animals… i.e. patterns from the skin of one creature, combined with claws of another, combined with bone structure of another etc…
Before you even get to the costume design, I would conduct research into the animals themselves and what they might represent…doing beautiful observational drawings and experimenting with their shapes and patterns and how these might become part of fabric or wearable art…
Actually, before you even do that, you should decide what you want your costumes to represent (the name of the character / what the character is meant to represent etc) so that you know which animals to select and explore…
With regard to quantity of prep work that is required for the AS Controlled Test, the syllabus says: The supporting work must be no more than two sheets (four sides) of paper, no larger than A1 or equivalent, on which a number of smaller works may be suitably attached. So you can submit a maximum of 4 sides of A1 or 8 sides of A2…or 16 sides of A4… Does that makes sense?
Thank you alot for the information!!!
I have finished my coursework for AS Art paper 2.
May I ask another question please?
The coursework is internally assessed right? for example if my teacher gave me 90/100 then when it is externally assessed the CIE center will moderate it.. my question is when they moderate it they may gave a lower mark below 90? or it all depeneds on my teacher’s marking?
Thank you so much!
Hi Sara,
‘Moderation’ simply means that the CIE examiners will look at a sample of the work from your school (or all of the work, if there are less than 10 students in your AS Art class) and check to ensure that the marking is correct. As teachers do not always know what the standard of student artwork is like at other schools from around the world (particularly if they have not taught CIE Art & Design very long) the examiners have the job of checking every teacher’s marking to ensure that they have not marked too easily or too harshly. The examiners will adjust the marks if necessary. Sometimes they move everyone in the class up, or down…or sometimes they move certain groups (i.e. those between certain percentages) up or down. It is relatively common. For this reason teachers are not actually meant to tell candidates the final marks that they have been given, as they are not final marks at all, until CIE has verified it.
But well done! Your teacher obviously thinks your work is excellent!
What do they mean by moderation? :S
I forgot to add* butterfly and a peacock dress ( actually its an insect with an animal) so that it would give me an imagined creatures for the topic THE BESTIARY
Thank youuuuuuuu
Hey!
I am going to be starting my final work in a few days time… I had one concern i wanted to ask u about – as my coursework has developed – the works, approaching the final one, are looking sort of repetitive but, as i’ve moved from one work to the next, i’ve created slight changes in the use of media and techniques used… but the compositional design is almost the same in last 5-6 works… is this ok??
My A2 coursework is almost coming to an end… finally!!
this post on development states that there should be slight changes in the works as they proceed, and i have implemented this in terms of media and technique, but the color scheme and compositional structure has stayed the same…. is this alright?
Hi Aria,
Ideally the composition should develop also, although with so little time left I think you are best not to make any radical changes and simply to concentrate on making what you have done as superb as possible.
Hey Amiria,
I am going to be doing the Edexcel IGCSE’s this year and I went through what was given above and found it really useful so thanks a lot! I was hoping you could tell me if the preparatory work I am submitting needs to have annotations that identify the inspirations, media used and the name of the artist who has been followed? The above given examples do not have any such annotations so I was wondering what I should do.
Thanking you in advance!
Hey there,
Unfortunately I am familiar with CIE IGCSE Art and Design rather than Edexcel IGCSE so I am unsure if this is a requirement for you, however I expect that it is. Our IGCSE students do annotate their work (see the notes on this IGCSE Art and Design sketchbook as an example). The work you see in this post above actually has a sketchbook to accompany it – which contains all of the annotation.
I would check with your teacher for clarity however!
hello amiria,
i wrote you a while ago but since then my CIE art and design coursework has changed completely and i was wondering if you could help me a bit to clear my head and see what u think. Okay so im doing a coursework which is “storytellling” and i chose to tell sort of my own story, meaning how the “world” has changed since i was little concentrating on the electronics…so this is ow far ive went:
ive done primary self portratis of myself, of electronic devices such as cables and headsets basically and of plants echa based on different artists…also i took dali’s ideafrom surrealism of making the background a place of my childhood so ive done a few sketches on a park where i always went when i was little..
in 3 weeks i have to give the coursework to my teacher so she can send it..so im kind of stressing with time since i have 20 a3 faces to complete..
anyay i was thinking of continuing by frawing more detaileed paintings of the park and then m final i thoung it could be:
the backgroungwould be the park and then the trees in the landscape as they get closer to the viewer changing the branchesinto the electronic devices and at the “foreground” (idont know if this is the word) the electronic devices eg.wires in the shape of my face… i dont know if you understood …i know its very complicated but what do yout think i should do? personally i think its a bit plain and i should do someting with the background dividing it in seasons or different colourss?
how could i show my development of ideas?? i know this is a very important matter in the coursework but i dont know how to order my sketchess.. thankyouu so much!
Hi Paula,
It is very hard to guide you without seeing the work you have done already. I have just recently started offering paid progress reports, which you may be interested in.
I am curious as to why you have 20 x A3 faces to complete? For example, you can work at different sizes…not all works have to be the same. Larger works can sometimes be faster than several smaller works. Also, remember the quantities given are maximums.
If you are an A2 student, remember you need to spend sufficient time on the final piece… Make sure you leave enough time to do a really great job with this.
Hi Amiria,
For my AS Exam, i chose the topic ‘Models’ and from this I decided to approach thia topic by looking at human from. I decided to involve another theme of depression so my primary drawings show me curled up with my hands covering my face in a corner. I changed the viewpoints and composition and alsdid some in pen and coloured pencils. Im having trouble trying to develop this idea- i was advised by my teacher to think of a reason why i might be depresses to make it more personal. Also is there any artists that looked this theme of depression?
Thank You
Hi Adam,
I think looking at artists would definitely be the way to move forward with this project. The suggestion from your teacher is also a good one, as the reason for depression is likely to guide your compositions. Remember that the artists you reference don’t need to relate to your ideas, they might simply be used to inspire your use of media or painting technique.
Here are some that spring to mind: this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this and this!
Hope that helps!
Hi Amiria
Firstly I would like to say thank you for posting such a helpful blog.
I am a student who is currently finishing my As level, I am answering the question of Memorabilia, and have chosen to use the theme of games to answer it (mainly how people interact with games such as chess and card games). I have recently received a target grade of a D for my artwork that I am currently working on, and I have less than a month to try and boost my grade higher.
Is there advise you could give to me on things I could do in general to improve my grade in such little time?
Thank you for your time.
Hi George,
It is difficult to guide you without seeing your artwork. I am offered paid Progress Reports which you might be interested in. These allow me to spend a couple of hours generating personal, individual recommendations and can give you the sort of guidance that isn’t possible via the public comments forum. Otherwise you are welcome to continue to seek more general feedback via the comments on this blog, but you will need to provide me with a few more specifics before I am able to offer any help!
Good luck!
Hey Amiria!
I am an CIE Art IGCSE student and i am taking my exams in a couple of weeks. For Paper 1 i have picked the theme “Playing” .. i used a dream as a starting point for it. I dreamt that i was holding some doll and that i was trying to peek into a peephole on a door.
Making it personal, i wanted my artwork to to show that someone who is too lost in their fantasy can’t tell apart reality.
I took photos of peepholes and drew the curvature of the lines. I also took blurred photos from somewhere very high up. That i felt was reality. I wanted to show that in reality , life can go very fast by emphasizing the “blur of lights”. I used Oil pastel for that however i don’t think that it was very successful.( i researched Gerhard Ritcher and used his technique) Do you recommend any other media i could use?
For the fantasy, i did a correlation between fantasy , dreaming and reality. I personally used to think that dreams were made up of little granules shapeshifting into form.. so i utilized watercolor ,salt and glitter to get that effect. It was not aesthetically pleasing nor did it “feel right”.
But then, I came Kandinsky’s paintings which i loved – i didn’t really look at the purpose of his painting , i just used the color scheme and the different usages of line. I found out that some of his abstract shapes resembled a guitar and a tennis racket. Can i use a reference to artists in this way?
Next that led me to thinking of “my favorite things”. I did observational drawings of a guitar, a tennis racket .
I then brainstormed why i liked to dream. I realize that it helps me to visualize success so i draw a medal. I also realized that i slept when i dreamt , i thought that having a place to rest would be something everyone would dream about : i drew a feather. Lastly , i felt that good dreams were slow and radiated a feeling of warmth and security ; that to me its my cup of hot chocolate.I sensed that the slow curls into the hot chocolate in contrast to the blur of lights could give some sort of contrast.
I then,using Kandinsky’s color scheme and i drawing of door ( for a wooden texture ) did small acrylic paintings combing all the items that i did observational drawings for. I used a sharp end to scratch the wooden pattern on to the door. I did 4 compositions and picked what i liked in each. They look abstract somewhat.
I also did observational drawings of my hand clutching some sort of evil looking doll indicating the evils of being to absorbed into your fantasies. I did quite a little bit in watercolor . However, i used graphite and mechanical pencil for nearly all my observational drawings.
Please keep in mind that i am not a very able drawer but i have tried my best.
1. I would like you to tell me whether my idea is good enough.
2. Also, where and what i need to work on.
i know that this is difficult as you can’t see my work . I can just tell u that if these sketchbooks where supermodels mine would be the decayed corpse. I feel very imitated by them as i never could reach those standards. However, i still set my goals very high and i want at least a A . The reason i took art was to give myself a challenge. My mom told me numerous times to drop it but i don’t listen , now im getting a panic attack. I have 25 exams to go over as i want to get very good results and a lot events that need planning and attending.
Sarah
P.S.: You are a phenomenal woman , i love how you answer each and every post sincerely!
God bless you!
Hi Sarah,
Your comment about super models and decaying corpses made me laugh out loud
Oil paint or acrylic paint (if working quickly) could work for a blur technique. Obviously with oil, you need to allow sufficient drying time, which can be a problem for CIE students who need to post work away.
With regard to your topic in general, I would say that dreams & fantasy is a more challenging area than most, primarily because it deals with that which isn’t real… I would try and ensure that even if you are recreating imagined scenes, that you recreate these and draw from actual items wherever possible.
If you have completed work which is of a lower standard (such as you mention with the water colour, salt and glitter work) then I would strongly consider not including it in your folio (glitter especially should be avoided in most instances, as it can be hard to create a quality, sincere piece in this medium). Cambridge advises that the preparatory material that is submitted should be selective…in other words, you should not include pieces that portray your skill in a bad light.
It is fine to use artist models in the way you have mentioned – i.e. being inspired by colour schemes and use of line.
With regard to the things that you have drawn…I would say that perhaps there seems to be rather a wide range of items that are not obviously linked – at least, the link doesn’t become clear until you explain it. This isn’t necessarily a problem, but there can be distinct advantages to practising drawing similar things than those which are starkly different. My main recommendation would be to ensure that your final works integrate many of these items into compositions that develop clearly towards your final work. I would make this process gradual, rather than leaping straight into works that look like Kandinsky’s.
Unfortunately it is virtually impossible for me to give you any specific advice, without me seeing your work. I do offer Progress Reports for CIE Art & Design students if you are interested in this, but this is a paid service, so I understand if you are unable to do this.
Best wishes with your project and thank you so much for your kind and lovely comments!
Hey Amiria! i wanted to ask if its possible to use 3/4 artist studies at cie igcse level. I liked kandinsky’s work yet i just saw that Hoffman’S fairytale maybe more relevant to my subject matter. How can i use abstract works to show that i did not copy them but rather incorporate them into my work?
I have chosen to use and the color scheme and the use of line. Is that enough?
Can you show me some artworks which are based/ look like “imagination” and are very colorful.
Thank you again!
btw ( i am doing the controlled test)
Hi Sarah,
It is normal for students to learn from a range of artists. 3 – 4 sounds perfectly fine for IGCSE. A good way to learn from abstract artists is to look at those who have abstracted existing forms…and then use these same strategies to abstract your own subject matter. For example, this abstract work is clearly derived from architectural form. Abstracts of this nature allow you to start with realistic form and then gradually progress to abtract. This allows you to meet the CIE requirement of drawing from observation, even though your final pieces are abstract. In other words, you shouldn’t just copy your artist, but use their same method of abstraction for your own subject matter.
Hope that helps!
hello amiria
i need help with my developing stage, am doing art A2 and my work is symbiosis of colour so for my exame i have two projects where one i will look at monochomes colour and the other is on abstactexpressionsm
project A[monochrome]
i looked at yneis klein and josef albers. so basically i started by doing monochorome of all 12 normal color you will find in a pallete then i choose to just experinmebt with red as it is my faveourite colour[this aslso likes with klein's work ] after a will i added albers’s to see interaction of red with other coulours.
for my observation work my teacher said i should take pictures of all the red this inn different shape, ligth and sourrounf and edit it and and analysis them.
for my final piece i was thinking of painting a esk,chair, pen,pencial, rubber, bottle of water i a shape a red that will represent me.basically this setting is meant to show a normal exame setting[i.e non-art exame-->science]
i need to get and A in this project but i feel like i will not sincve the in abig gap between 2d things i did on paper and the final piece but am not sure of what to put in the middle….i was thinking oto talikng the picture of the setting and photoshop edit them to the colour i want??? but am not sure …my exame finisj on the 30 of april so i need to solve this problem before then…please help.
for the othe project am doing 3 canvas-> 1} represent love[insipred by helen frankenthaler]and 2} callingrpgy insipred by cy twombly of love nad hate and 3} represent hate insipred by cy twoblmbly
in obsrvastion i have drawn a dice since i did not know what else to do and this shows how love and hate can be reduce in to a situation [with can be random that relies on chance]
in my work colours have lots of meaning mostly they mean love and hate and why what i wanted to asked is if you have any ides that i can develop this section as well ….thanking so much alex have a nice day
Hi Alex,
Thanks for you comment. Unfortunately it is very difficult for me to provide reliable feedback without seeing your work. My initial thoughts are as follows:
- The idea of an exam setting sounds promising;
- You don’t appear to have fully thought through the reasoning for making the exam setting red – at least, it wasn’t clear in your description (aside from it being your favourite colour);
- Photoshop editing is certainly a good way to test / trial / develop compositions, but I would do more than just manipulate colour;
- Your second project (three separate parts) sounds more problematic to me…I am not sure that an image of a dice will link to love/hate without an accompanying explanation…and more worryingly, the theme of love/hate sounds sounds like it might be hard to execute in a convincing manner, especially if it is based on colours / emotions without a specific subject matter to explore?
- The other thought I had is that the artist models you have mentioned for the second piece produce mainly abstract work, whereas you seem to be suggesting a recognisable object?
Sorry – it is hard to give specific advice without seeing your work!
Good luck!