Doing A level art without GCSE?!

I chose Art as a GCSE option but because of various clashes with my other subjects, I got Textiles instead. At GCSE I did: French, History and Textiles on top of my compulsory subjects (including RE). Because I missed out at that stage and decided to try textiles, I missed art a lot and wanted to try it for a level. I don't need a portfolio as my textiles GCSE allows me to still qualify for art a level with a C pass.

I just want to hear everyone's opinion on art a level, especially if they didn't do GCSE or know people who didn't. I have been drawing for a long time now but I'm still not too confident. I'm willing to do a level because art might be something I do as in my career in the future. If there's anything that I should focus on that I missed at GCSE please let me know.

I just finished GCSEs and my results are next week so I start a levels in September.

I think the important thing would be that you need to enjoy it. I am sure many people are not confident however they enjoy it which makes them have fun and do it. I do not really thing you should force yours with some A levels which you firstly do not enjoy and secondly won't be useful for a career which you dream.

There are many ways to improve... read, research, go to art clubs and draw in general. A levels will be about learning so the processes will teach you hopefully.

Good luck with the results and your enrolment!

i'm going into a level art too!! tbh even tho i did gcse art i'm in a similar position to you with drawing: not the most confident. what i'm doing is planning to do artistic practises that really involve drawing, forcing myself to practise but being able to hide/edit mistakes out when putting the images through the final process.

as for catch up on gcse i'd say just look at fine art practises and make sure you are a bit confident. but a level, at least at my school (from what i've been told) is really open so you could probably re-interpret any textiles practises into your art. if you did any sort of printing that could be a good medium since it's quite drawing dependant? when i did textiles (only as a year gcse) we did a lot of texture studies, so i assume that could of happened in your course; you could use that skill with some like photo emulsion screen printing to make abstract art??

also maybe look on the web to see if there's an affordable drawing evening course near to you could do as an extra curricular activity. would give you practise without the pressure of school but you can use anything that goes well as extra work for your sketchbook.

though keep to mind that i have not done the a level yet so this may not be the 100% best n coolest advice.

Yes for textiles I did some screen printing, block printing and a lot of other decorative techniques so I think if I was to explore texture in art I might bring in some different fabric decorating techniques to create designs. I want to include some fashion somewhere in my art too but I need to work on my anatomical drawing. I can only really draw noses and eyes at the moment so I need to try a work on drawing full body images so I can do some fashion design.

I think at my sixth form there is a drawing and painting class that I could join as an art student to help develop my skills so I might think about joining that.

What sorts of art medium do you work with? I prefer watercolour paints, pencil, charcoal and fineliners but I am working on my use of pastels and I might try sculpture during the a level introductory period. The first 8 weeks or so of my a level are developing skills so I'm going to try things like sculpture and printing.

block printing looks really cool, i think that the next printing technique i want to try. i kinda work with whatever medium takes my fancy, though i'm very keen on printing atm and was my main medium at the end of gcse. printing forces me to work on my line drawing n stuff, but i can fix mistakes in the printing process. i'm also very interested in how i could utilise facilities in my school's tech department, like laser cutting, to create tools like stencils. i also want to start oil painting and using material like charcoal and graphite creatively in a-level.

the drawing and painting classes at your sixth form sound really good, and because they at school they will probably be really affordable!! also maybe (if your comfortable with it of course) look at life drawing classes in your area, they are good for anatomy. or just maybe sit in the park and do quick sketches of people.

the introductory period sounds like a great opportunity to try odd process like sculpture out, and seeing as your quite familiar with textural work that could lead to some really dynamic ceramics or something!! you could use printing methods to develop textures for your sculptures!! as for fashion/textiles you could maybe create felt sculptures? or document texture development for sculpture through embroidery? that sort of stuff could make your work really unique and diverse, which from what i've picked up is exactly what your meant to do at a-level.

just wondering but do you know what your theme is for your course work? if you have one of course (one of the colleges i applied to seemingly didn't).

Yeah I think eventhough I didn't do GCSE art, I might not have liked how limiting it is. With A level I am really looking forward to developing my own style and doing what I want to do. I'm not sure what the theme of my coursework is yet but we will probably be told once school starts. I will probably keep this thread open once I start Art A level just so I can help those who didn't do GCSE like me.