FINE ART GCSE AQA one YEAR COURSE

GCSE Fine Art is designed to build on the skills and knowledge you have gained at Key Stage 3. COURSE STRUCTURE: Personal Portfolio (coursework – Approx 45 hours controlled assessment) = 60% Externally Set Assignment (Exam -10hours) = 40% All work is marked by Art staff and then our marks are checked by an external examiner.

COURSEWORK: Remember each piece of coursework that you do and all the homework count toward the final grade. As soon as you start work at the beginning of the academic year you are picking up marks. You will be given separate themes to work from for coursework. You need to cover all the Assessment Objectives over the course. Preparation for all work should be done in sketchpads/work journals. Preparation is as important as the finished piece. You must work in two or more disciplines in coursework (painting and drawing, sculpture, printing etc).

EXAM: You will be given your exam paper so that you have approximately 20 hours of preparation time before the exam so that you can explore your ideas properly. Your teacher can help you during the preparation and homework will be set to help. The exam runs for 10 hours. At the end of the exam you will submit your preparation in a sketchpad/work journal. Preparation is as important as the finished piece. You must work in a discipline (materials) you have worked in already during coursework.

The Art studio is open 4 lunch times each week 12.40 – 1.00. Thursday 3.45 – 5.00 is for key stage 4 catch up.

WHAT HAPPENS ON THE COURSE?

YOU CAN FIND MORE COMPLETE EXAMPLES OF THESE PROJECTS FOLLOWING THIS LIST

You will begin with a ‘Foundation’ project (June and July)– drawing from a still life set up exploring a variety of different media including working on prepared papers, wax resist, pen and ink, sgraffito, drawing with bleach onto tissue paper, pencil, biro, collage

‘Inspirational Structures’ – visit to the National Railway Museum and Ripon Cathedral(September)

Mixed media project inspired by structures (either 2D or 3D)

Print project inspired by structures

10 hour mock exam

‘Up Close and Personal’ Finished piece completed in January under exam conditions

All coursework to be finished by the end of February

Externally set exam prep (20 hours) then the actual exam at the beginning of April ( 10 hours)

Don’t forget the Arts and Culture Bus which is a great way to get out and about with mates, see great stuff take photographs which can be really useful research for GCSE projects, usually on a Saturday)

FOR EACH PROJECT YOU WILL DEVELOP CRITICAL VOCABULARY AND WILL ANALYSE ART WORK BY OTHER PEOPLE RELATING IT CAREFULLY TO YOUR OWN – SEE ‘Mood, Form, Content, Process’ PROMPT SHEET.

Content, Form, Process and Mood A framework for discussing works of art Content – looking at the subject of the work

What is it? What is it about? What is happening?

What does the work represent?

Title – what does the artist call the work?

Does the title change the way we see the work?

Is it a realistic depiction?

Have any parts been exaggerated or distorted? If so, why?

What is the theme of the work?

What message does the work communicate? Landscape, view, journey, moment, memory Form – looking at the formal elements

What colours does the artist use? Why? How is the colour organized?

What kind of shapes can you find?

What kind of marks does the artist use?

What is the surface like?

What kinds of textures can you see?

How big is the work? Light, delicate, layered, strong, rough, dark, peaceful, dripped, Textured, scale Process- how the work has been developed and made

What materials and tools have been used?

What is the evidence for this?

Do sketchbooks provide any clues as to how the work developed?

How has the work been made? Painted, woven, printed, drawn, cast, stitched, layered, assimilated, Collage

Mood looking at the communication of moods and feelings

How does the work make you feel?

Why do you think you feel like this?

Does the colour, texture, form or theme of the work affect your mood? Quiet, contemplative, thoughtful, hopeful, peaceful, elated, joyful, celebratory, reflective

Context – taking a wider view

When was it made? Where was it made? Who made it?

Who was the work made for?

What do you know about the artist?

Does the work relate to the social or political history of the time?

How does the work relate to the works around it?

Can you link the work to other arts of the period, such as film, music of literature?

Does the work relate to other areas of knowledge such as science or geography? Ancient, abstract, modern, representational, archaeology, historical Copyright Drumcroon Art education Centre Wigan www. Drwmcroon.org.uk

START OF COURSE INFO FOR STUDENTS TO MAKE A GOOD START

Essential equipment – The Art department has basic equipment to buy including a range of sketch books. Students will also need to an A1 folder for larger work.

A set of graded pencils, a good rubber, pencil sharpener, pencil crayons. Also useful – a set of acrylic paints at home, water colour, gouache and own brushes , very useful for homework

An A1 (very large) folder or portfolio to keep all your work safe.

Remember all work is assessable from the very first lesson

Crucial you bring the right equipment including sketchbooks for each lesson

Homework once a week ( 2 hour minimum )

Course structure 60% coursework / 40% exam

DRAWING FOUNDATION START For this first project for your GCSE course you will develop a series of drawings using a variety of different materials. We will look at the artist Tom Wood and start by preparing papers to draw on. Try to make some papers in the style of Tom Wood.

Prepared Papers

Having a range of prepared papers to either work on or to use with collage can produce really exciting work. They can often enhance or even inspire a piece of work. The following are just suggestions to get you started but it’s always worth doing your own experiments.

1. Torn tissue paper, colour magazines or old library books. 2. Masking paper torn into thin strips with a thin wash of paint over the top. 3. Try brushing over tissue with a thin mixture of bleach ( do this outside with

rubber gloves on) 4. Use foil cat trays to emboss marks and patterns. 5. Coffee and tea stains or add small amounts of ink, gold paint etc. 6. Try trapping a variety of materials in between two layers of tissue, i.e.

feathers, string or small found objects. 7. Scrapper boards- Cover thick paper with a ‘scribble’ of chunky wax crayons

( the thicker the better) Use a thick mixture of washing up liquid, black ink and acrylic paint to paint over the wax crayons. Leave to dry then scratch marks in to the surface.

8. Marbling – In three separate small containers mix a small quantity of oil paint with a few drops of white spirit. In a container large enough to hold your paper add a few centimeters of water. Add a few drops of your mixed oil paint to the water then lay a piece of paper on the surface, lift it out and put on paper to dry.

9. Charcoal, conte crayons, wax crayons and lots of other materials can be used either separately or mixed and layered together.

10. Use textured papers, materials with different surface textures. 11. Wet the paper paint with watercolors so the colour spreads then cover with cling film, this creates some great effects and allows you to work on several pages.

EXPERIMENT, BE PREPARED TO TAKE RISKS AND HAVE FUN EXPERIMENTING.

STILL – LIFE USING OBSERVATIONAL DRAWING SKILLS

Artist Tom Wood

For this first project for your GCSE course you will develop a series of drawings using a variety of different materials. Including the following tasks:

Thumbnail sketches from the still life set up in the art studio. Explore surfaces, shape, spatial relationships between objects, volume of objects, line tone, colour, pattern, scale

Take one or two sections of the still life and explore these through the use of the following media: Pencil/pen and ink/wax resist/sgraffito/bleaching tissue paper/collage/photographs manipulated/pollyfilla scratched into

Make a larger more complete image combining these media – A3/A2

Make some homework studies of a variety of textures using available media (tea staining etc)

Artist Terry Setch

Extension work: Study the work of other artists who work from still-life, including Hanna Hoch and Antoni Tapies.

Inspirational Structures National Railway Museum and Ripon Cathedral

The aim of this day is to gather research in the form of drawings and photographs to enable you to make a piece of art work back at school using mixed media. York Railway Museum and Ripon Cathedral provided two inspiring places. This project aptly called ‘Inspirational Structures’ aims to focus both on the buildings, their contents and the contrasts between these places. Work straight into your sketchbooks gathering both visual and written information.

Make a series of drawings (minimum 5) taken from either the buildings or structures in the buildings

Take photographs and make notes Back at school you will (part one):

Develop a major piece of art work using a variety of mixed media that has been explored on the ‘foundation’ part of the course. You should use drawings, manipulated photos to help you.

Explore the work of Fernand Leger and the Vorticists

Artist Fernand leger

The Vorticists were a group of artists who were fascinated by all things modern

Evaluate your work as it progresses, revealing strengths and areas for development for your next project

Extension: Explore further the work of the vorticists, look for individual artists that interest you. Consider both 2D and 3D response to their work

Year 10 ‘Inspirational Structures’ inspired by Leger

INSPIRATIONAL STRUCTURES PRINT (part two)

Your task is to explore a range of printing techniques and then produce a final piece which shows a pattern inspired composition which links with mechanical objects.

2 pages of drawings from observation using mechanical objects

Photographs of mechanical objects/manipulated stuck in book and annotated

Take sections of images and develop a composition

Use a range of printing techniques including mono printing, pizza base, lino and collagraph

Mono print Lino Print Collagraph print

Research the work of printers appropriate to your work: Anne Desmet, Paolozzi, Heckel

EXTENSION: Develop your ideas further by using lettering fonts, type etc. Look at Russian posters to give you further inspiration

MAN AND MACHINES SCULPTURE PROJECT

This project will use the human head as the basis for a free standing clay sculpture and will show some connection or metamorphosis with man and machines. You will need to look at a range of different artists to help you develop your own sculptural piece by looking at ways artists have explored materials and made faces etc in clay and other sculptural materials. PREPARATION MUST INCLUDE ALL OF THE FOLLOWING TO MEET THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE EXAM BOARD:

A spider diagram ( 1 page)

Thumbnail sketches ( 1 page)

Contextual pages(2 pages)

3-4 pages of observational drawing (from heads and other objects you intend to use like machine parts)

5 studies of different artists work

Some small ‘maquettes’ (sculptural models) in clay to practice

Final design mock ups drawn (2 pages)

Colour studies for painting the head once fired IDEAS TO CONSIDER USING:

Machine Heads and impressed machine parts

Objects pressed into clay

‘Myself’ transformed through facial expression, distortion or change

Humanoid/aliens

Facial ornaments and markings

Armour over part of the head

Opening up the skull

Masks

Different cultures facial decoration (African/ Aboriginal?)

Rearranging facial features/multiples of features

Surreal transformations(eyes becoming clocks, cogs etc)

You may want to take digital images of faces and transform them as part of your preparation on the computer. PHOTOGRAPHS WILL BE TAKEN OF THE CLAY MODEL ONCE COMPLETED AND BEFORE FIRING AS A PERMANENT AND SAFE RECORD.

UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL

Your task is to produce a composition which shows both your image (face) and other things about you, including a favorite work of art. THIS IS WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO FOR THIS PROJECT:

Thumbnail drawings from your face using distorting mirrors/or normal

A series of black and white photos of yourself(which you could grid up to get a more accurate drawing) – these photos could be from unusual angles and with strong shadows across the face

Your face should cover about a third of the page/great detail and shading needed

Select one artist’s work to put in the background (or to show their influence)

Research at least three works of art by your artist. Your research should include several pages of drawings, colour studies and written notes about these works. A few paragraphs of biography about the artist – tracing the development of his/her work; an evaluation of the project, to include your reasons for using the artist you have chosen

AQA Fine Art - Introduction

Candidates should be introduced to a variety of experiences exploring a range of fine art media, techniques and processes, including both traditional and new technologies.

They should explore relevant images, artefacts and resources relating to a range of Fine Art, from the past and from recent times, including European and non-European examples which should be integral to the investigating and making process. Responses to these examples must be shown through practical and critical activities which demonstrate the candidates’ understanding of different styles, genres and traditions.

Candidates should be aware of the four assessment objectives to be evidenced in the context of the content and skills presented and of the importance of process as well as product.

Candidates should explore drawing for different purposes and needs.

Candidates may use sketchbooks/workbooks/journals to support their work where appropriate.

Areas of Study

Candidates are required to work in one or more area(s) of Fine Art, such as those listed below. They may explore overlapping areas and combinations of areas:

• Painting and drawing

• Mixed media, including collage and assemblage

• Sculpture

• Land art

• Installation

• Printmaking: relief, intaglio, screen processes and lithography

• Lens-based and/or light-based media and new media: film, television, animation, video and photography.

Some areas of study may also be relevant to other endorsements; within Fine Art, sculpture is usually work created in response to a personal idea, theme or intention. In Three-Dimensional Design, sculpture is usually work designed and created for purpose. Film, animation, video and photography methods within Fine Art are usually used to convey a personal response to an idea, theme or issue.

Candidates are required to integrate critical, practical and theoretical study in Fine Art that encourages direct engagement with original work and practice. Where direct engagement may not be possible, the expectation is that work should include appropriate and explicit critical study.

Candidates will be expected to demonstrate practical skills in the context of specific chosen areas of study or any combined areas of study.

Skills and Techniques

Candidates will be expected to demonstrate skills and techniques in the context of their chosen area(s) of study within Fine Art:

• making appropriate use of colour, line, tone, texture, shape and form

• using different approaches to recording images, such as, observation, analysis, expression and imagination

• showing in their work an understanding of the conventions of representational and abstract/non-representational imagery and genres

• investigating different ways of working, as appropriate to their chosen area(s) of study within Fine Art

• providing evidence of an understanding of spatial qualities, composition, rhythm, scale and structure

• providing evidence of the use of safe working practices.

Knowledge and Understanding

Candidates must show knowledge and understanding of:

• how ideas, feelings and meanings are conveyed in images, artefacts and products in their chosen area(s) of study within Fine Art

• a range of art, craft and design processes in two and/or three-dimensions and traditional and new media and technologies

• how images, artefacts and products relate to their social, historical, vocational and cultural contexts

• a variety of approaches, methods and intentions of contemporary and historical artists, craftspeople and designers from different cultures and their contribution to continuity and change in society in their chosen areas(s) of study within Fine Art

The assessment objectives detail those qualities which can be demonstrated by candidates in their work and measured for the purposes of assessment. They are equally weighted. They are not presented in any order of importance, neither is there any implied sequencing of activities. Candidates are free to develop their own routes through requirements, either singularly or in combination.

Candidates must evidence coverage of all of the assessment objectives in the Portfolio of Work and their response to the Externally Set Task.

Candidates must demonstrate their ability to:

AO1 Develop their ideas through investigations informed by contextual and other sources demonstrating analytical and cultural understanding

AO2 Refine their ideas through experimenting and selecting appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes

AO3 Record ideas, observations and insights relevant to their intentions in visual and/or other forms

AO4 Present a personal, informed and meaningful response demonstrating analytical and critical understanding, realising intentions and where appropriate, making connections between visual, written, oral or other elements.

Quality of Written Communication (QWC)

In GCSE specifications which require candidates to produce written material in English, candidates must:

• ensure that text is legible and that spelling, punctuation and grammar are accurate so that meaning is clear

• select and use a form and style of writing appropriate to purpose and to complex subject matter

• organise information clearly and coherently, using specialist vocabulary when appropriate.

Critical and Historical work (Artist’s Studies)

Here is a checklist for using other Artist’s work to help you develop your own ideas:

A brief biography can be useful, keep it relevant to the question

Name the Artist, title of work being studied, date and media

Write a short description of the work, describe what you can see even if you don’t understand what it is about. Ask yourself what is going on? How has the piece been made? What is the style (Cubist? Abstract? Realistic? Carefully drawn? Loosely painted?) Does the style help you understand the work?

What do you feel about the work – how does it appeal to you?

Why are you using this work and how does it relate to your own work?

Are there specific parts of this that you intend to explore in your own work?

What else do you like about this work?

Make a copy of parts of the work you are studying to try and understand how the piece has been made

Re-do some parts of the work using different materials or make pencil sketches (add notes to your sketches if it seems important )

All work on your chosen Artists must be in your own words, your own informed opinions will show how the Artists you study influence your ideas

Look for quotes by the Artist which explain why the Artist made the work

U tube often has interviews with more recent Artists

Use the internet to research images information, be specific in your research

Try and look at 4 different Artists if you can for each project to get a good range of Artists. Make sure they are relevant to your own work in some way!

Term Description

annotation Adding words, phrases and notes to your work, especially in your work journal, that explain your thoughts

Analysis Looking beyond the surface of something and making about what you find out.

context The setting or background for works of art, craft and design.

evidence Everything you do that is presented for assessment and that shows how you meet the assessment objectives.

evaluate Making judgments about artwork, your own as well as that of others.

To justify To explain your likes and dislikes by giving reasons.

modify Making choices and changing your work for the better

refine Improving the quality of your work, especially the final outcome.

review Looking back over your work and picking out the parts that worked well and the parts that didn’t.

Self-assessment Making judgments about the strengths and weaknesses of your own work.

Visual elements Line- outlines, sketches Tone-shading from dark to light Colour -everything that isn’t black and white Pattern-repeated shapes whether found in nature or man-made Texture-how surfaces look or actually feel Shape-regular or irregular Form-3D either in appearance or reality

Visual principles Harmony-making sure the elements you use work with each other Balance-not necessarily symmetrical, but always well matched Scale and proportion-the size of the work and of the elements in it Contrast-giving some elements more impact than others Rhythm and motion-the movement of the eye across and around the work Composition

Work journal Sketchbook that shows your working processes and the thinking behind them

Careers Using Art and Design(These are just a few ideas)

Advertising Careers Animator Architects Art Directors Art Historians Art Librarian Arts Managers Art Therapist Arts Administrator Broadcast Media Careers Cartoonist Comic Book Artist Commercial and Industrial Designers Commercial Artist Computer and ICT Careers Costume Designer Craft Artist Graphic Designers Entrepreneur - Start Your Own Business Exhibition Designer Fashion and Textile Design Fashion Designer Fashion Merchandising Fine Artists Footwear Designer Furniture Designer Glass Blowers Graphic Designers and Illustrators Illustrator Interactive Media Careers Interior Design Jewellery Makeup Artist Medical Illustrator Multimedia Artists Museum Curator Museum Officer Museum Technicians Ornamental Blacksmith Painters and Illustrators Painter and Sculptor Patternmakers Performing Arts Careers Photographic Retouchers Photography and Film Careers Picture Framer Print Finishing Artist Printing Careers Sculptors Set and Exhibit Designers Signmaker Stone Cutters and Carvers Storyboard Artist

Studio Art Tattoo Designer Theatre Exhibit Designers Toy Designer Web Designers and New Media

Some information for this handbook is taken from the National Curriculum for Art and Design, the AQA specification and from the Art Department at King James Knaresborough. We hope it is helpful to you and your parents/carers.