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TSR Wiki > Study Help > Subjects and Revision > Revision Notes > Art > A Level Art Tips
Candidates will be expected to demonstrate a response to all of the
assessment objectives in each component of the examination. They
are equally weighted.
Candidates will be required to demonstrate their ability to:
AO1
Record observations, experiences and ideas in forms that are
appropriate to intentions:
- do a brainstorm - where you stem off sub-themes from your main theme - stem off words from each of these sub-themes + stem off another 3 words from each of those words - this creates a huge array of ideas for you to choose from
- do another brainstorm - you should have chosen 3-4 words from the previous brainstorm that interested you - write them here and explained by stemming off three words - and three words from those three words -#do a third "brainstorm" more like a set of intentions - where you have listed out your initial ideas on what you plan to do, plan plan plan!! - what photos do you need? what style? people? colour? movement? arrangement? subtle? dark? mood? audience interaction? etc -- do little sketches here to help explain your ideas to yourself and most importantly the examiner
- take photographs - take a huge variety - this will increase your possibilities on what to do next -
- analyse your photographs - this is where you have to be observative - choose specific photos that inspire you, stick them in your sketchbook and write down comments and thoughts. usually what i do is stick a photo and do a black and white version of it - don't know how relevant that is for you
- make sure you refer back to your intentions - check out what changed? what helped? what did you do differently? RECORD all this!
AO2
Analyse and evaluate images, objects and artefacts showing
understanding of context:
- okay this is when you have to be able to analyse what you have chosen, what does it represent? what do you want it to represent? - research into artists/ photographers who have used similar concepts - doesn't have to be "exactly" the same as your theme - could be something like: colours represented the mood you wanted etc
- make sure you stick in an image of the artists/photographers work in your sketchbook + comment + do your own version where you have identified a concept and hence experimented by using the technique - take the technique further to increase your understanding - eg pastel - pastel + paint, pastel + paint + wax - comment on what the results were like? were they useful? how would you improve on it? what will you do next?
AO3
Develop and explore ideas using media, processes and resources, reviewing, modifying and refining work as it progresses:
- this is when you have to experiment with what photos you have taken - this is where risk taking + challenging yourself is vital - take your work further - analyse what went wrong/well - take it further - add more media - develop + understand - look at artists - produce work - evaluate whether it flows --- make sure that the pieces that you produce have a good flow - or maybe you don't want it to? again dependant on your choice of theme as well as set of intentions
- always always always develop your techniques by experimenting - push yourself - you should experiment with ideas that you have learnt from artists/photographers - develop your "own" technique
AO4
Present a personal response, realising intentions and making informed connections with the work of others:
For this point i have pretty much summed it up in all the other points that i have made - but just to add on
- make sure you refer back to your intentions - clarify what has worked what didn't and what you rejected, improved on - and i would be very surprised if at the end of the project you stuck to the word that you chose initially.
- analyse all your work consistently - and find out what worked well for you, and perhaps mix and match techniques to create more interesting and aspiring work
- it is very important that you are always looking at your work and checking out that it flows well and that there is a continuity in it - as this is particularly important in Art
- make sure that your sketchbook has a good flow and no gaps - explain, analyse your work + comment + experiment + take risks and challenge yourself
- always looks at artists + photographers - this encourages you to develop your own techniques + encourages you to remain interested in your work + also shows the examiner that you are able to identify with artists and photographers - it also shows that you are able to analyse their work and be able to provide a suitable critique on how they have helped you, beit only for the atmospheric response for your pieces
Quality of Written Communication
There is no requirement in the Scheme of Assessment for Art and Design for candidates to produce written work as part of the Coursework or the Controlled Test. However, where candidates produce extended written material in English, they are expected to:
- present relevant information in a form that suits its purposes;
- ensure that text is legible and that spelling, punctuation and grammar are accurate, so that meaning is clear.
Quality of written communication will not be assessed in either component of this examination.
- Always always always make sure that your handwriting is legible! some people have a tendency to put backgrounds that are dark and then write in black - if the examiner can't read it - they won't bother even attempting
- make sure that your comments are clear-cut and to the point when needed - no need to waffle!
- don't go all analytical and start researching! don't get side-tracked! - just stick to how their work relates to yours!
If you want to get full marks you are looking at about 4 pages a week in your sketchbook, and a large piece a week (AT LEAST)
Another point: I did Art & Design GCSE and Fine Art A level - There may be certain aspects that I have missed out that's up to you to find out from your teacher or perhaps you know them.
Hopefully i haven't forgotten anything - if there is anything i will add on later - if you need help just ask
Comments
I did this for someone who was doing AQA, and coincidentally it helped out an OCR student as well, I did Edexcel, this should be of help to those candidates as well, but just let me know what course you are doing, and supply a specification for your board, and i will add on where necessary
Originally by wackysparkle on TSR forums.