The Student Room Group
Reply 1
What kind of expressive are you doing? Like are you doing portraiture, still life, fantasy and imagination etc?

What you suggested sounds really good for fantasy and imagination (or whatever that sections called haha) however in my art class we were told that unless you are doing the written fantasy section at the end of the year for your written exam you are as well aswell to keep it more simple for portraiture still life etc as they will be marked higher that way. But your idea sounds good though :smile:

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Reply 2
Original post by miz_sam
What kind of expressive are you doing? Like are you doing portraiture, still life, fantasy and imagination etc?

What you suggested sounds really good for fantasy and imagination (or whatever that sections called haha) however in my art class we were told that unless you are doing the written fantasy section at the end of the year for your written exam you are as well aswell to keep it more simple for portraiture still life etc as they will be marked higher that way. But your idea sounds good though :smile:

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Unfortunately we're doing portraiture but I don't want to go with a theme thats overdone or boring! But thank you
Reply 3
Original post by miz_sam
Yeah im doing still life (I have nowhere near enough skills for portraiture haha) but im unsure on what theme to do. I was maybe thinking of a mad hatters tea party theme with tea cups and those cards from alice in wonderland? Not sure what else to include though :/


tbh, im dreading portraiture as it seems really difficult but that sounds really interesting as a theme! When I did int 2 in 3rd and 4th year, i did breakfast and i got an A but it was pretty boring looking back! Wish i did a childhood theme or something funner!
Original post by KirstieMaccc
So, I really want to do something interesting for my art expressive unit and its theme. Thoughts on a Mytholgy theme ie, painting myself then adding blood around my mouth for a vampire, snakes as hair for medusa or some starfish in my hair for a mermaid? Thoughts?


Your idea sounds really good. I did art in S5 and portraiture also. My theme was Las Vegas and I did stuff with cards/poker chips/money etc, and I don't think my work was that good, but since the theme was a bit more unique/different I guess that boosted my grade. Like I said, your theme sounds more unique than others which is good - but I think you'd have to find more of a link between things towards the end. As in, which one would you choose to do for your final piece? :smile:
Reply 5
I like your idea but I have been told by my art teacher that the SQA prefer work that is more... realistic? I don't know. If you continue with this theme I'd say try not to make it too expressive- it's better to do that in advanced higher (if you take it). I can't believe you have to do portraiture- it can be pretty difficult for some people if they're not good with proportions and stuff. I chose to do self-portraiture this year and it was kind of a romantic/dreamy theme. A couple of people in my class did two people in their portraits. They told me it was kind of tiring doing two but that is another thing you could consider. A few people did their younger siblings/cousins and one did their baby sister. Perhaps just try thinking about different people, settings, moods you could do. I wasn't sure where my project was going and my teacher suggested I do one where I was doing things like brushing my teeth, making strange faces :tongue: so there's an idea if you want it to be more unusual.

PS: Sorry if this post flows a bit randomly- I was trying to recall advice from this year for you
Reply 6
However- I don't want to put you off of your idea! It does sound good! I just wanted to tell you what I knew :smile:
Reply 7
Original post by student1462
I like your idea but I have been told by my art teacher that the SQA prefer work that is more... realistic? I don't know. If you continue with this theme I'd say try not to make it too expressive- it's better to do that in advanced higher (if you take it). I can't believe you have to do portraiture- it can be pretty difficult for some people if they're not good with proportions and stuff. I chose to do self-portraiture this year and it was kind of a romantic/dreamy theme. A couple of people in my class did two people in their portraits. They told me it was kind of tiring doing two but that is another thing you could consider. A few people did their younger siblings/cousins and one did their baby sister. Perhaps just try thinking about different people, settings, moods you could do. I wasn't sure where my project was going and my teacher suggested I do one where I was doing things like brushing my teeth, making strange faces :tongue: so there's an idea if you want it to be more unusual.

PS: Sorry if this post flows a bit randomly- I was trying to recall advice from this year for you


It's okay, I'm really not too sure what to do! Well our teacher has started our class on portraiture to try and have a change from still life but if we really hated portraits or were terrible he'd let us do it again. Dreamy sounds like a really good theme though! I also thought of teenage stereotypes as well but then again I might just go for something simpler!
Reply 8
Original post by hollieeilloh
Your idea sounds really good. I did art in S5 and portraiture also. My theme was Las Vegas and I did stuff with cards/poker chips/money etc, and I don't think my work was that good, but since the theme was a bit more unique/different I guess that boosted my grade. Like I said, your theme sounds more unique than others which is good - but I think you'd have to find more of a link between things towards the end. As in, which one would you choose to do for your final piece? :smile:


Yeah, that's true! But Las Vegas sounds like a really cool theme, but i'm sure you're just being harsh about your art work!
Original post by KirstieMaccc
Yeah, that's true! But Las Vegas sounds like a really cool theme, but i'm sure you're just being harsh about your art work!


Haha, aw, that's sweet but believe me - I'm the least arty person to do higher ever. :redface:
It seems pretty crazy you have to do portraiture though! My teacher used to always say that it's worth spending time on the theme, as once you've cracked it, the actual art becomes a lot easier. :smile:
Reply 10
Original post by hollieeilloh
Haha, aw, that's sweet but believe me - I'm the least arty person to do higher ever. :redface:
It seems pretty crazy you have to do portraiture though! My teacher used to always say that it's worth spending time on the theme, as once you've cracked it, the actual art becomes a lot easier. :smile:


Well our teacher has started our class on portraiture to try and have a change from still life but if we really hated portraits or were terrible he'd let us do still life again. It's just so hard to think of one because it would be cool to be original!
Original post by KirstieMaccc
It's okay, I'm really not too sure what to do! Well our teacher has started our class on portraiture to try and have a change from still life but if we really hated portraits or were terrible he'd let us do it again. Dreamy sounds like a really good theme though! I also thought of teenage stereotypes as well but then again I might just go for something simpler!


Aw okay that's good. I really wasn't sure what my theme was at the start so I just drew a candle and some dreamy facial expressions and it kind of developed into this theme where I was missing someone I loved. You could try to express a certain emotion- like anger, content, regret, hope etc :smile: It's completely up to you.
Reply 12
I'm doing Advanced Higher Art this year and my teacher told us today that the SQA likes work which is simple but of high quality. Basically, they want us to create simple pieces of art (nothing too fancy like drawing cat features on human faces) which show how good we are techniques and skills wise :smile:
Reply 13
Does anyone have tips for the written paper when you talk about your own artists and designers? I seem to always run out of things to say about my 2 painters and 2 designers. For my expressive, I choose Stephen Conroy and Pablo Picasso, and for my design, I choose Frank Gehry and Antoni Gaudi.