Art A level advice please!

Hey, want to take Art (AQA) this upcoming September and I did it at GCSE level but everything was provided for you but A levels I don’t know what to or not to bring.

So what would you say are things you need for Art?
What kind of bag should you take? Tote? Bag?
How many sketchbooks would you need? etc.

Thanks!

Hey there,

I took A-Level Art and Design (Graphic Communication) under the AQA exam board so I can try answer this question.

My college's art department had everything we needed from cameras, drawing tablets and art supplies so there were days where I wouldn't even need to bring any supplies from home. The best thing to do would be to wait until your lessons begin because your teacher would give you guidance on what you would need for the course, you may need to provide your own sketchbooks for your projects or your own supplies if the art department doesn't have them.

Compared to GCSE, you will complete two projects:

Component 1 - Personal Investigation which includes a 1000-3000 word Personal Study essay which is analytical writing. Your project will focus on a theme that you pick (with guidance from your teacher) that you will explore in-depth with experimentation, research, analysis and ending with a final piece. This is worth 60% of your grade.

Component 2 - Externally Set Assignment which you get given a set of briefs from the exam board where you have to create a project relating to one of them. You get a preparatory period for research, gallery visits etc but you only get 15 hours for your final piece which would be conducted in class without any assistance from your teacher. This is worth 40% of your grade.

Majority of the first year was to help get everyone up to spec with the skills required for the course since my college didn't have GCSE Art as an entry requirement.

I had three different sketchbooks throughout the course, all A3 in size. One for the first year work, and one for each of the projects. When I did need to take them home to finish work, I had one of those A3 portfolio cases that I had bought from Amazon. Hope this is helpful!

Thank you, this is REALLY helpful and yes that makes with the preparation. Which portfolio case would you recommend from Amazon and would you have to carry it around school or keep it in the classroom?

I was planning to get a tote bag so that I wouldn’t have to carry extra bags and some art students have been recommending the Urban Outfitters Courdroy tote bag but just want a backpack or tote bag that can carry all my art supplies plus my other a level courses without having extras.

Can I ask what other a levels you did and how you balanced your time with Art or how organised your bag to not overwhelm yourself?

Hey, want to take Art (AQA) this upcoming September and I did it at GCSE level but everything was provided for you but A levels I don’t know what to or not to bring.

So what would you say are things you need for Art?
What kind of bag should you take? Tote? Bag?
How many sketchbooks would you need? etc.

Thanks!

Hi! I just finished A level art this year, personally I didn’t even know I was going to do art as I switched subjects on my first day, so I know how it can feel like you're unprepared. For starters I’d say you need just the basic supplies, pencils and acrylic paints are really all you’ll need. Most colleges will supply some art supplies, if not your lecturer should tell you early on what exactly you’ll need. I know I bought a lot of supplies with me every day that I rarely needed and never ended up using. For bags I’d say a backpack, that way you’ll be able to carry around books for your other courses, but I do know some of my friends who had a tote bag for all two years. Finally, you should need two sketchbooks for first year, one for the first and and the other for the second. I had a A4 ring bided boom which is really recommend so you can tie in reference images. Good luck in art! I’m sure you’ll really enjoy the course

Thank you so much!
About the sketchbooks, so I would need 4 in total during the 3 years? and which affordable but good ones would you recommend bc I used pink pig sketchbooks at GCSE but other brands might be better.

For bags, yes I’m considering backpacks because idk many good quality tote bags and do you mind me asking about your other A levels and how you balanced out time for all of them?

No problem! so i would definitely go for pink pig as my friend used them and found them really good, i would also just get one at the start as the amount you use could vary, for example I used three between the two years.

I also took psychology and criminology, which was really good because i had less exams at the end of my last year. the art exam is at the start of may while other subjects are usually june or july, so you shouldn’t have much of a time problem there. Otherwise, first year art is more learning then exam based, so i’d focus on revising other subjects a little more, once we started the actually marked portion i stayed through my free periods and after college to get everything done. hope this helps!!