A level Art, why the hate?

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Nothing wrong with A-Level Art, it is seen as a soft subject depending on your future carrer. For example if you become an Accountant it's worthless but if you decide to become an architect it's pretty strong. BUT NOT THE STRONGEST.

I know this thread has nothing to do with architecture but if you do become an architect I recommend doing Graphics as well as Art and Maths. Perfect combination to get you prepared and to guarantee if you want a future course you'll get it. You only need Maths GCSE at a good strong A or A* level though, D at AS Maths is all you really need if you want to do it, but you won't really need any Maths at A-Level at all. Physics might be better but again, not required at A-Level although beneficial at GCSE.

Reply 21

Graham 14

Original post by The Wild Youth

It really, truly annoys me when people put Art A level down as a micky mouse subject. I take Art, History and English literature at A2 and took Geography last year - art takes up the most amount of my time from those subjects. It's not simply about doing a couple paintings, a few sketches and getting the top grade out of it for that, it's about creating and developing a project over a number of months to form a personal response to a topic.

At A2 on the Edexcel exam board, 60% of the final grade is a personal study; a 3000 word essay that you submit along with photographs, sketch books, final pieces or even films - it's a hugely demanding piece of coursework. It's not an easy subject to take, it requires a level of constant dedication and commitment that you don't have to have in the other subjects i'm taking.

I think because it's not perceived to be particularly demanding or academic, it's often discounted as something to do as a soft subject, or for fun. Ironically it has the highest grade boundaries of any subject; at GCSE an A* is 97%, at A level an A* is 99%. Try getting that if you take art for fun. Those who get those kind of grades truly earn it through a huge amount of work and creative output.

Easy? Micky mouse? No :smile:

What are u planning to study at uni?

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Reply 22

The Wild Youth

Original post by Graham 14

What are u planning to study at uni?

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History, why?

Reply 23

NothingTraLaLa

Two of my "friends" do Maths at A Level and have repeatedly taken the mick out of me for doing A Level Art, to the point where I considered dropping it, feeling useless and believing that it is a really pointless subject. Okay, so I'll admit, it's never going to be as interlectually impressive as whatever the hell they learn in Maths. However, I couldn't given a flying two hoots about it anymore... because it turns out it's just a case of the green eyed monster as a result of me getting 100% in my Art GCSE. I can draw, they can't. That's why. It wasn't much better at GCSE, either - for some ludicous reason, they always seemed to assume I was the thick one of the group because ONE of the subjects out of the 9 I took was an Art subject. Ironically, I beat them all on results day. NEVER let anyone intimidate you over subject choices!!! They're either stuck up or jealous! Yes they might sound amazing doing A Levels in Maths, Further Maths, Physics, Chemistry etc etc and have better job prospects but it's not quite as satisfying as having people admire you for a talent! Sorry about the rant but honestly it's got me down for so long and I've had enough of it! :smile:

Reply 24

nanodesu512

My view is just miseducation for the general perception, or maybe art as a career choice has a really bad reputation?
After studying an entire A level of Maths and an AS level of art & design (not much experience, I know, but this is just my 2 cents), art took up just as much, if not more, time as the entire maths AS and A2 course did in a single year (and way more than my biology and Physics courses did).
On paper my art course could be seen as pretty straightforward and simple; experiment with media and analyse artists, use artists' styles in work, develop technique with media, document all this and create a conclusive work of art. However the ambiguity of the course structure and mark scheme is the bit I have difficulty with. As a more logical thinker, this presents much more of a challenge than simply finding the correct answer and fulfilling the mostly-predictable mark schemes for exams in Mathematics and Science subjects.
Whilst it is valid to see art as less useful for certain career paths, there isn't a huge amount of reasoning to rate art as an easy subject. It almost seems to follow the popular concept that there are no jobs in the art industry. competition may be higher, there may be waaay too many low-quality, yet qualified candidates for jobs or something else completely, but there is an industry for art, so how can there be no jobs?

tl;dr I think it's just incorrect, popular concepts and a huge misrepresentation of art as a career choice.

Reply 25

FlyingTeapot

I guess it's partly because our society considers academic knowledge to be the best or only kind of knowledge. But to get along in life you can't just know facts, you're going to need to be imaginative and observant and emotionally aware in every area of your life. Art's great for teaching that.

I did Art at A-level and the truth is that I think it's a useful supplement in the long run, even if you never 'do anything with it' in terms of a career. A lot of it is problem solving skills as you try to see how an artist did something technical and adapt it, and emotional skills as you try to understand why they did something. Those come in handy all the time in the real world.

Reply 26

grape monster

Nothing gets on my nerves quite like people who call art a soft subject. I'm repeating my art AS and god, it's just as much torture as last time. It's so easy to get burned out and you find yourself incapable of producing decent work. I did AS Maths. My teacher told me I should forget art and concentrate on maths because art is a pointless soft subject. My grades for both came out lower than I'd have liked...

I like to think I'm pretty good at drawing. I like having a talent for something, like a previous poster said , not everyone has.

But god, the last thing a level art is is soft. It may not be "appropriate" for certain degrees etc but it's definitely not a soft subject.

Reply 27

ysgytlaeth

I do English Lit & Lang, History, The Welsh Bacc and Art, I've applied to do law at Manchester uni and once I got the offer, they completely snubbed art and only asked for the Bacc, History and English :P
But then again...it's law so I can't really wonder why they ignored it. Still, it's an A Level, and a really tough one in my opinion regarding the workload!

Reply 28

battycatlady

Only reason art bothers me as a subject is because I wish it was something I was good at!

There's nothing more annoying than watching someone paint an amazing picture, then I'll try and it's just a mess :P

Reply 29

Ninde-Ava

I was praises at one of my interviews for doingart as it showed I had a wide skill set and was adaptable :smile:

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Reply 30

Tereza41

Perhaps it is because there are so many 'art teachers' giving art classes. A lot of bad art on exhibition which the masses might buy because of the subject. The masses dont realize just how much realy goes into making good art. People look at the art market (at least where I live) see just how flooded it is. A case of too many chiefs and not enough Indians I have seen people who can not draw or paint come for a six week art course. Their driving intention is to sell every painting the make in that six weeks. By the end of it they call themselves artists, The teacher holds an 'exhibition' of her students work. Family come to have something to eat and a glass of wine (yes, some people do attend exhibitions just for the food and wine) In support of the new artist, the family loyally buys one of the paintings. A sale is made, confirming a new artist on the market. And so it goes.Art is though of as a soft option, but it is not an easy option if one has to consider the market out there for artists. It is very disheartening. To study so hard at a subject one loves to find that there is no reward at the end of it. Put down your paint brush and get ready for your shift at the Pizza Hut.