How many hours outside the lesson is expected of art-based subject students?

OP

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by artful_lounger

However many is necessary for your work ;p

In general though, Visual Arts courses take a lot more time outside of scheduled hours than typical "academic" subjects.

Would you say 5 hours for each subject a week (not including graphics) is too much?

Reply 3

artful_lounger

21

Original post by CinnamonSmol

Would you say 5 hours for each subject a week (not including graphics) is too much?

I couldn't say really, I did IB so "free time" was not something I experienced until after year 13 exams xD

Reply 4

XLittleSparrowX

It differs from each course. My college have a thing that for every hour you have in lesson, you have an hour at home. I did fine art and found I did a lot of work at home. It can depend on the workload you have at the time.

Reply 5

Depends on your work speed really. Out of the 6-ish free periods I had in a week, maybe 2 or 3 were usually spent in the art room. I didn't really do any art at home as I didn't have the space or equipment, but I did do a lot of research and preparation for my project there.
For A level I think 5 hrs extra per week is pretty reasonable.

Reply 6

faloodeh

18

You cant plan it at all. Youll probably spend most of your time doing the work (fine art)

Reply 7

OP

Original post by aleksceramics

Depends on your work speed really. Out of the 6-ish free periods I had in a week, maybe 2 or 3 were usually spent in the art room. I didn't really do any art at home as I didn't have the space or equipment, but I did do a lot of research and preparation for my project there.
For A level I think 5 hrs extra per week is pretty reasonable.

thank you for your response :smile:

is 6 frees a week typical for most students or does it depend on the subjects you take?

Reply 8

Original post by CinnamonSmol

thank you for your response :smile:

is 6 frees a week typical for most students or does it depend on the subjects you take?

In AS, we had 4 subjects and about 1 or sometimes 2 frees a day, plus 2 hours of p.e so around 6 frees a week for me
in A2 with 3 subjects, I had 2-3 frees a day on average, so there were a lot more!

I think a standard day for me in A2 (excluding P.E day) would be something like

Psychology
Psychology
Art
History
Free

for us we usually didn't have a lesson in every subject in one day, it was more spread out

in A2 it was more like
Free
Free
Psychology
Art
Free

On a Wednesday I had one lesson in the morning and 4 free's!

it doesn't depend on the subject, it was the same for my friends :smile:

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 9

OP

Original post by aleksceramics

In AS, we had 4 subjects and about 1 or sometimes 2 frees a day, plus 2 hours of p.e so around 6 frees a week for me
in A2 with 3 subjects, I had 2-3 frees a day on average, so there were a lot more!

I think a standard day for me in A2 (excluding P.E day) would be something like

Psychology
Psychology
Art
History
Free

for us we usually didn't have a lesson in every subject in one day, it was more spread out

in A2 it was more like
Free
Free
Psychology
Art
Free

On a Wednesday I had one lesson in the morning and 4 free's!

it doesn't depend on the subject, it was the same for my friends :smile:

wow that sounds like so much free time on your hands.....now I understand why people say to use your frees wisely, it sounds so tempting to just chill with friends...

Reply 10

OP

Original post by aleksceramics

Psychology
Psychology
Art
History
Free

You did History? Do you have any tips for doing well in History too? Sorry I'm interrogating you :colondollar:

Reply 11

Original post by CinnamonSmol

wow that sounds like so much free time on your hands.....now I understand why people say to use your frees wisely, it sounds so tempting to just chill with friends...

Absolutely, its an incredible step up from GCSE because you really are expected to work for yourself and manage your own time wisely. The teachers give you the information but what you do with it is entirely up to you.
Out of all the free's I had in AS and A2, I'd say I worked in almost all of them. Me and my friends made an exception for 'Friday FunTime' where we all had one free together each week (which was rare) to relax :laugh:

I saw MANY people in my year in every free messing about with friends in the common room. Unsurprisingly the majority did get bad grades, and so got kicked out at the end of AS for not meeting the school's requirements.
Your frees are incredibly important. They're not really 'free', it should really be called a private study hour :P Honestly, get to the library, get your head down, and do your work. I cannot stress that enough!

Reply 12

Original post by CinnamonSmol

You did History? Do you have any tips for doing well in History too? Sorry I'm interrogating you :colondollar:

Unfortunately it was the subject I dropped! I did psychology, philosophy, and art in A2. I hated history, which was disappointing as I loved it in GCSE.
I don't really have any tips for that subject, but plenty for the 3 I did enjoy and do well in :wink:

Reply 13

doodle_333

19

A set amount of hours isn't really helpful, it's very easy to 'spend an hour in the art room' and not produce much and the same for other subjects - set targets like 'I want to finish these three sketches by the end of the week'. Also for many subjects the extra time will be focused around exams whereas for art the deadlines are at different times and you have to work more consistently. And some people just produce art at different rates. I had a friend who drew incredibly realistic pencil sketches but she spent 10 hours a week outside class drawing for her GCSEs and still had a portfolio 1/2 the size of the average person. On the other hand some people did very rough stylised drawings or abstract stuff and produced things relatively fast and didn't do much outside of class time. I would say I probably worked more like 6-7 hours on average for art A level but I enjoyed the subject and chose to spend a lot of time on it. Your teacher will be able to give you a good idea of the rate you need to be producing work at.

Reply 14

OP

Original post by doodle_333

A set amount of hours isn't really helpful, it's very easy to 'spend an hour in the art room' and not produce much and the same for other subjects - set targets like 'I want to finish these three sketches by the end of the week'. Also for many subjects the extra time will be focused around exams whereas for art the deadlines are at different times and you have to work more consistently. And some people just produce art at different rates. I had a friend who drew incredibly realistic pencil sketches but she spent 10 hours a week outside class drawing for her GCSEs and still had a portfolio 1/2 the size of the average person. On the other hand some people did very rough stylised drawings or abstract stuff and produced things relatively fast and didn't do much outside of class time. I would say I probably worked more like 6-7 hours on average for art A level but I enjoyed the subject and chose to spend a lot of time on it. Your teacher will be able to give you a good idea of the rate you need to be producing work at.

I see, thank you :smile:

do teachers/student see you as someone with 'less talent' if you produce more abstract/sketchy pieces?

Reply 15

doodle_333

19

Original post by CinnamonSmol

I see, thank you :smile:

do teachers/student see you as someone with 'less talent' if you produce more abstract/sketchy pieces?

all the teachers in my department preferred people who liked their 'area' best... but we had a pottery teacher, textiles teacher, fine art, absrtact art etc so people would seek help and advice for whoever has the most knowledge in their own area... I think most art teachers are perfectly able to appreciate different styles of art! TBH hyperrealist work can lack creativity and imagination

Reply 16

OP