Art gcse

Hi
Is there anyone that done art GCSE/is doing it now? It would be appreciated if you told me a bit about your experience studying it, advice etc. This is just to help me get an insight of what it's like

Thank you

Hi there,
I just finished GCSE art and am now about to start a level art . GCSE art is really fun if you love art, you experiment with lots of different types of materials such as paint, pastel, etching, lino, charcoal etc. The format of the course is basically researching artists relates to a theme given at the beginning of the year, doing a bit of analysis of their work and small studies of it, then experimenting with their techniques in your own responses. You then finish the year by completing a final piece which showcases all of the skills you picked up. You do this once in year 10 then twice in year 11 as one is your exam which for me was 10 hours.

Art is quite a time-consuming subject. I spent every morning in art and many of my lunch times but tbh, I didn't mind because I love art ! There are times when you feel stressed because you think there is too much to do along with your other subjects, but with good time management you will be fine !

Here are a few tips:
ALWAYS complete your work on time ! One day you might tell yourself meh one drawing left - I'll get away with it. You might not get a detention but once you decide to not complete your work, you do it again and again until you have too much work too catch up on. There were people in my year who had only done 20% of the work and so for 2 months they stayed till like 6 to get as much as done as possible!

Use a variety of materials. If your whole book is work done in paint, you will lose easy marks.

Remember the importance of annotations. No matter how good you are at art, if your annotations aren't good enough you will never get higher than a b or a. You need to be really analytical and critical of your own work.

Finally, if your in the process of drawing something and you dont like it at that point, don't throw it! You will waste valuable time trying to achieve perfection, art gcse is not about perfection all the time- you need quantity AND sufficient quality.

If you have any questions about anything or more about my experience, ask!

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Hi,

Thank you for your comment

Yeah I would love if you could tell me a bit about the art work you produced as I'm not too confident on whether my art work is going to produce a high grade.

Also, do you think it's a subject with way too much workload as I am choosing Spanish, geography & triple science alongside art. Therefore I don't want it to be that I won't have enough to time to study/revise for each subject all because of art.

Thanks

Hi! I just finished GCSE art and managed to achieve an A* and took Spanish, Geography and triple science (Along side RE, PE and Further Maths) so, I can tell you as long as you're up for a busy school life and enjoy art it's a challenge (and a really good one). It's not as bad as you think it will be though, I had fun taking all of these subjects so good luck.

It was only towards the end of the year I had to cram my free time full of art but thats because I didnt't really do much throughout the year so, if you produce a lot of good quality work in class your free time shouldn't be crammed full of art;D

hey so i just finished gcse art and i got an a.
at the beginning of year 11, my work was c/d grade so don't worry if you don't feel like your work is good enough as you have a lot of time left! art is the most time-consuming and frustrating subject but also the most rewarding. i took art along with two languages and triple science and it all worked out okay in the end.
annotate the crap out of everything you do. talk about why/how you did something, link it to your research, and then how you will progress and how you could have improved that work. always try and apply your improvements as well, especially when planning your final piece.
presenting your sketchbook well will make you feel much better about it. just having some wrapping paper as the background will make it look like you put way more time in than you actually did. try looking at youtube for some examples of gcse sketchbooks and look at the ways work has been presented.
my artwork itself wasn't brilliant but i had clearly shown my ideas and how i had gotten to them, which is why i got an a. your ideas have to be very clear and well researched.

Hi, Thank you for your comment
Yeah I would love if you could tell me a bit about the art work you produced as I'm not too confident on whether my art work is going to produce a high grade. Also, do you think it's a subject with way too much workload as I am choosing Spanish, geography & triple science alongside art. Therefore I don't want it to be that I won't have enough to time to study/revise for each subject all because of art. Thanks

Hey

I am not best at drawing/painting and feel as though I am just average. I'm not exactly a person who draws as a hobby(well I used to but now i don't) anyways, I want to try and achieve an A for my end of year 11 GCSE grade . Does anyone think this will be possible for someone who is just average at art?
All the people I know who achieved A/A* produce these really good high quality pieces and I think I won't be able to.. Which worries me as I don't want to get lower than a B.

Just to add,I'm just really bad at drawing people; faces , facial features etc. I feel like I am better at drawing things linked with nature; flowers etc

Thanks

Hey

I am not best at drawing/painting and feel as though I am just average. I'm not exactly a person who draws as a hobby(well I used to but now i don't) anyways, I want to try and achieve an A for my end of year 11 GCSE grade . Does anyone think this will be possible for someone who is just average at art?
All the people I know who achieved A/A* produce these really good high quality pieces and I think I won't be able to.. Which worries me as I don't want to get lower than a B.

Just to add,I'm just really bad at drawing people; faces , facial features etc. I feel like I am better at drawing things linked with nature; flowers etc

Thanks

You're welcome!
Firstly I did 3 final pieces one on the theme natural forms, one on the them ordinary extraordinary and my exam was on past present future. They were between a2 and a1 and took a while to do but the exam one was 10 hours because that's all you get . My work is quite realistic - your work needs to show tonal graduation ( so your colours go from light to dark without looking obvious) and avoid heavy outlines as you loose marks for that! My fav final piece was my year 10 one because it was different - it doesn't necessarily have to be perfect but if your art tells some sort of story or has symbolism the more marks you get !

I did French history and triple science alongside art and truthfully, although at times I felt stressed because of work, I think on the whole it was fine ! You just need to make sure you spend a few lunch times in art when needed and don't mess around with others at the beginning because loads of people will not take art seriously. Work hard from the beginning with everything and by the end of year 11, you have a lot less stress ! Thankfully I got an a* in art so it was worth it!

Let me know if you have other questions- ask me anything lol

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Hey thanks for your reply
I was just wanting to know since you got an A (which I hope to achieve) in order to get a high grade do you have to be really really good at drawing as I am not extremely confident at drawing (especially when it comes to drawing people!)

Hey thanks for the info
So I'm aware of all the huge 10hr exams and stuff but I wanted to know over the year do you actually learn artistic skills / techniques in class which you can apply to your artwork? (As I don't know much! We barely learn anything in y7&y8 all we do is draw still life tbh )

Also do you get graded on just the final piece in y11 or do you get graded on your portfolio too? Thanks ~

It depends on how good your teacher is in terms of learning new skills. But when you research artists, the purpose is to get you to learn new skills. I learnt how to make different texture by different mark making techniques, I learnt how to use acrylic and layer it properly because I had never used it before and I learnt how to use print making equipment! Across the year with more use of these skills you improve them so you get better!

For edexcel which was my board your grade is 60 percent coursework which is 80 marks and the remaining 40 percent is your year 11 exam. For both sets of 80 marks the final 20 marks is for your final piece, the rest is mainly your sketchbook and a little of your final piece. Your sketchbook is more important than you final piece as is worth more and your coursework is worth more than the exam.


Anything else ?
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Hi, nope I have no more questions for the time being! Thanks for your time and good luck on A level Art!