Painting on Grounds: Inventive uses of media for Painting students (Part 2)

Andrew Young

It has always amazed me how few high school Art students use a ‘ground’ in their artwork. While grounds are common in contemporary art, many students continue to draw or paint solely on unprimed, undecorated surfaces (usually plain white paper). This approach can be wholly appropriate – and, indeed, sometimes wondrous – however, for [...]

2012 GCSE / IGCSE / A Level Art Exam Paper: Help, Ideas & Interpretation

Encounter with nature

The GCSE, IGCSE and A Level Art exam paper contain topics which must be used to stimulate ideas for a portfolio of artwork.

For some students, a set starting point makes life easier; for others, it throws up a mental block: a paralysing fear that they will not be able to produce anything original, [...]

How to make your Art Project exciting: Inventive uses of media for Painting Students (Part 1)

Mixed media textured drawing

Sometimes even highly able Painting students feel stuck in a rut. If your IGCSE or A Level Art Coursework project feels stagnant, repetitive, or downright boring, you may benefit from increased experimentation with media, techniques and processes. While it is important to remember that art-making mediums should be used in a way that supports your ideas, [...]

The Best Art Teacher Blogs & Websites: Seeking Inspiration for A Level Art Students

AS Art Coursework

I constantly trawl the internet looking for great high school art teacher blogs, websites or resources for IGCSE / A Level Art students. The majority of websites on this topic, however, contain unappealing artwork or have an emphasis on the pedagogy of art education, rather than upon practical advice for students and art teachers. High school [...]

Art Project Ideas

This is a concise blog post, aimed at helping art students generate ‘cool’ art ideas. What follows is a list of possible art project ideas that might be suitable for those studying GCSE, IGCSE or A-Level Art.

The ideas have been collated from students, teachers, artists, examination papers and, recently, from those kind enough [...]

Art A-Level ideas: a guide to subject matter selection

photography a level NCEA folio

Whether specialising in Painting, Graphic Design, Photography, textiles or Sculpture, A-Level Art and Design students must begin by selecting a topic for their AS or A2 Coursework submission (examination topics are broadly set by the examination paper). One of the most crucial decisions a senior art student has to make is what [...]