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What's GCSE Art like?

Hi everyone, I'm new here :smile:

I'll be going by Tee on here, I don't really want to share my real name.

I'm going into year 10 and taking 9 GCSEs (English lit and language, maths, RS, Geography, Chemistry, Biology and Art. I'm aware it's going to be hard, but I really love all these subjects.

I've heard art is incredibly hard but have chosen to take it as I've loved it since I was really young and I want to improve.

Does anyone have any good advice for art? I just want to know beforehand what to expect (I have been told a bit from a teacher's point of view but not a student's!) and any tips anyone has.

Thanks,

Tee :smile:

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Original post by Tee34
Hi everyone, I'm new here :smile:

I'll be going by Tee on here, I don't really want to share my real name.

I'm going into year 10 and taking 9 GCSEs (English lit and language, maths, RS, Geography, Chemistry, Biology and Art. I'm aware it's going to be hard, but I really love all these subjects.

I've heard art is incredibly hard but have chosen to take it as I've loved it since I was really young and I want to improve.

Does anyone have any good advice for art? I just want to know beforehand what to expect (I have been told a bit from a teacher's point of view but not a student's!) and any tips anyone has.

Thanks,

Tee :smile:

Oh hell no, Art is genuinely gonna take over your life. Like on minute its easy as hell, next thing you know all your extra time attention and dedication gets shoved into one subject to barely get a grade 4.

Trust me, I took it, and my teachers were really strange on the criteria and whatnot, and I had to work really hard to get the grade I wanted, but because of art, I got a lower grade on my french than I'd like to have to be honest. Not to mention the pain that comes with it.
But if you genuinely like it, then I guess you should try it out :biggrin:
Reply 2
Original post by Tee34
Hi everyone, I'm new here :smile:

I'll be going by Tee on here, I don't really want to share my real name.

I'm going into year 10 and taking 9 GCSEs (English lit and language, maths, RS, Geography, Chemistry, Biology and Art. I'm aware it's going to be hard, but I really love all these subjects.

I've heard art is incredibly hard but have chosen to take it as I've loved it since I was really young and I want to improve.

Does anyone have any good advice for art? I just want to know beforehand what to expect (I have been told a bit from a teacher's point of view but not a student's!) and any tips anyone has.

Thanks,

Tee :smile:

I don’t take art but from experience everyone who takes it at gcse has complained a million times to me so if you enjoy it go for it but be prepared to do so much course work. People who were top last year are now getting like 5’s. My advice is stay on top of it.
difficult
Reply 4
Original post by Tee34
Hi everyone, I'm new here :smile:

I'll be going by Tee on here, I don't really want to share my real name.

I'm going into year 10 and taking 9 GCSEs (English lit and language, maths, RS, Geography, Chemistry, Biology and Art. I'm aware it's going to be hard, but I really love all these subjects.

I've heard art is incredibly hard but have chosen to take it as I've loved it since I was really young and I want to improve.

Does anyone have any good advice for art? I just want to know beforehand what to expect (I have been told a bit from a teacher's point of view but not a student's!) and any tips anyone has.

Thanks,

Tee :smile:

Hey, [just to let you know, I defo would recommend it if you love the subject. It's a lot of work, but if you truly love art, i think it's defo worth it. I'm going to do it in Alevel and I do not regret doing it for GCSE. Below I give some tips on how to get a good grade and do well) [I wrote quite a bit]

I just finished my GCSEs and lemme tell you I chose art and did enjoy it! Is it hard? Yes and no.

With art, you do need to dedicate a lot of time out of school and at home. Why? Because your art pieces and drawings will most likely not take one hour in class, unless you rush it or if it's something small.

What is important with GCSE art is the AOs. These are Assessment Objectives. These are things you have to do and are marked on. Each AO is marked out of 24.
GCSE Art.png
This and more info can be found on "GCSE AQA Fine Art Specification". This has information on the course and how it's marked, etc. (Quite useful)

So pretty much you are marked on these 4 things. As seen above and if you are slightly confused talk to your art teacher about it. :smile:

This links to why I don't think it's impossible. With art , as long as you achieve these 4 objectives in your art book, you will do great!

The first 3 Assessment objectives are pretty much based on your drawings, analysis and annotations (this is when you write about the drawing, it's deeper meaning, the colours you used, the materials you used, why you did it, how you drew it, what the colours could represent, etc) (Can i just mention, you can waffle on with art and honestly get a mark, e.g. saying.. "I decided to use the colours red and blue, to portray the large contrast between the emotion of anger, which is suggested by the red acrylic paint, and the emotion of sadness, which is portrayed by the blue watercolour. These colours show the chaos of emotions the girl in my piece is going through". I kid you not, my whole book has little things like that, but ofcourse make sure to also include stuff about, why you drew whatever, how you did it, materials you used, etc.
They are also based on Artist research (No. This is not saying what day or year the artist was born lol. This is about saying what their style is, what materials they use. The deeper meaning in their art work. What emotion they want to convey/you to feel etc.)

Something important is showing your though process.
What do you mean? Well GCSE Art is marked on two things.
GCSE Art.png
You do Your art book (coursework) and your final piece.

Everything you do in your book should lead to your final piece.

So throughout your book, using mindmaps, step by step (showing how you did a drawing or how you took a photo), development pages and final piece planning, will all show your development of ideas. This will literally show the person marking your book, your ideas, how your ideas have changed, what you plan on doing for your final piece.

This links to experimentation (This is very important). trying different medias, i.e. Graphite pencils, watercolour, coloured pencil, acrylic, oil paint, pastels. Different backgrounds. Different colours. Different materials, i.e. art paper, book pages, newspaper, cardboard, card, etc.
You could literally have a page where you draw your eyes or something with different materials, like graphite pencil, wastercolour and coloured pencil. then let's say you love using watercolour, you could write "I really enjoyed using watercolour in this experimentation of materials, i found it portayed the idea of freedom/flowing of water, blah blah, which links to my theme of......, and I think I will be using watercolour in my final piece."

^^I defo did that and that is not only experimentation, drawings (You need different drawings in your book ofcourse), annotation but also development of ideas.

Any way..
This is something I commented once on an art GCSE video once: [The art video link is https://youtu.be/5IA26SofAzI But don't get too stressed with the video :biggrin: I did not do as much as that and still went from a grade 5/6 to grade 9.


"To anyone who feels they won't do well, you don't need to do as much to get a grade 9. I'm expected an 8/9, and i didn't do as much like at all. Obviously doing work like this will guarantee an amazing grade however, art is about completing the 4 AO's efficiently . Things like, observational drawings, primary photos, ANALYSIS! She does mention analysis and it's VERY important. (Literally speaking about "deeper meanings", feelings that are conveyed, your opinion, what the work contains (tones/contrast (use artistic terms) and as she said, you can ramble on and that will get you marks). Write analysis for everything (as much as u can) (as my teacher says, literally speak to them like they are a baby, explain everything you did in a drawing or the artist did, etc).
Also mindmaps, plan, initial ideas, final plans, everything, shows your development and thought, DEFO include this. (Even a random Mindmap about anything). IF you wanna know more, search A01, AO2, AO3, AO4 IN ART. Oh yeah, also the use of materials and experimenting. (using acrylic, watercolor, pen, pencil, painting on different backgrounds, impasto, dry brushing (different techniques), oil paints. And of course your final piece (AO4), (if u r doing aqa art gcse, search online what you need to do to get high marks or do this for any board :smile:) Your final piece needs to LINK to your theme, everything you do in general needs to LINK. IF it doesn't you'll most likely lose marks. But any way, this is pretty much what i did, of course you can do what she did, but I could never, so don't think that you won't do well because she has a different method, which is great btw, but i'm not as talented :smile:"


Soo basically, You should include photoshoots (your own primary photos) also MAKE SURE EVERYTHING LINKS! Everything in your book needs to link to your theme. I don't know what theme you will get, but i got "IDENTITY", and we could choose a more specific theme within that. I picked "the relationship between animals and humans". Just make sure whatever you do, you write "This links to identity as this shows....." "Hence linking to my theme of......."

REMEMBER you can ALWAYS add more stuff in. You can always add like any more drawings or writing you forgot or whatever. My book is full of tags and flip flaps with drawings, photos, writing. You can attach some paper using string to the middle part of your book, make it look all cute and stuff. You can add envelopes, folded paper. For some pages I added a full page by sticking the edge of an A3 piece of paper onto a page in my book, literally giving me two extra pages of space to add stuff in.

Can i just mention, you don't even need to be AMAZING at art to do well.
My art teacher told me about this kid who got a GRADE 8 by just drawing or painting abstract shapes.
Art is about the AOs, write about your drawings, create mindmaps about anything !! (Literally if you are unsure about what colour to use, create a mindmap showing what colours you could use, what they mean, what materials you could use). Add in PRIMARY photos, secondary photos are okay, i used some cause of quarantine but that was an exception, I would recommend using your own photos because that's what makes your book PERSONAL.

Also i always loved to add flip flaps and stuff in my book to make my book personal, and also interactive and creative. You won't get marks for this but I probably got my marks for my extra writing and drawings. :smile:
Also backgrounds DO NOT MATTER. Everyone spends years on background but they actually aren't worth anything. Can't lie, I'm guilty as, I spent quite a bit doing cute backgrounds, but like don't sweat it. Defo use some watercolour or whatever to do a background but technically all they do is make the page look nice.

I actually just realised my backgrounds were nice and colourful but I don't think i spent that long on it to be fair. I did some drips down a page using watercolour, and i used card for a few pages too. Any way...

ONE IMPORTANT TIP, DO NOT COMPARE YOU TO ANYONE ELSE.
There's was a girl in my class, her art was outstanding. I and many other people compared ourselves to her work. But DON'T do what i did. Your art is your art, you will improve, so don't expect yourself to be as good as some 30 year old artist. You have time to improve and your style is unique and is yours. :biggrin:

I think that's all I can say. Oh wait. Defo watch YT videos. Again do not compare your self to them, unless ofcourse you feel more motivated but dont bring yourself down. I would always type GCSE Art Grade 9/A*, and watch to see other people's presentation, drawings, writing, etc.

You will most likely need to spend time out of school but if you enjoy it, you probs wont mind. I didn't mind it, but deadlines stressed me out A LOT, so did comparing my work to that girl i mentioned, and thinking my art was crap.
Deadlines, are stressful, so I would defo try and set a goal, but try and do art when you are in the mood. I'm that kind of person, that i can't do art if I'm not in the mood or else it will probably turn out crap and i'll get stressed and I'll want to give up and stuff. But if you are different, do it whenever you want lmao.


Important NOTE
I'm so dumb, i almost forgot to say.. AO4 is pretty much your exam/final piece.
GCSE ART AO4.jpg
Your final piece has to LINK with everything ! If not, then you will lose quite a few marks. Your final piece should usually reflect your artist's techniques, materials (You will have to research 2 or 3 / maybe more Idk, artists linking to your theme, i.e. I chose "animals and humans" as my theme and two of my artists were "Peony yip and patricia ariel". In my final piece, I used similar materials from both artists, and explained this in my "EVALUATION" [This was questions I had to answer after i finished my book and final piece, about my project and final piece :biggrin:]

I'd recommend using more than one material, use primary photos, make sure it links, and yeah.

Also, your teacher will most likely tell you what you need to do and the deadline.

P.S. If you want to do more than what your teacher told you, then do it. Sometimes my teacher told me not to waste time doing something, and I did it because I knew I could handle it/had time/ it was worth it because it made my book even stronger. Not saying don't listen to your teacher, but sometimes they might not think you will have time to do something, but maybe you know you can.
for example, if you want to do an extra page with random drawings, and your teacher is like "Nah that's a waste of time" but you wanna do it, then DO IT as long as you don't end up not having time to do something more important.

ALSOO... If you have a drawing which went horribly wrong, you can still stick it in, in your book! Write about why it failed, why you don't like it, why you chose to re-do it/change it. For example, "This was my first attempt at drawing a lion. I was happy at first with the outline, but I realised the proportions were not accurate compared to the photo and I chose to re-do this drawing, to create a more realistic and accurate outcome." You could even mention what you liked and what you dislike about it.

FINAL NOTE
Well I wish you all of luck! If anything feel free to ask any questions. As mentioned I am predicted a 9, but at the beginning of year 10, we did this workshop book and i got a high 5/low 6. So you can improve! Art GCSE is fun, if you enjoy art. I kid you not, there was around 25-30 people in my art class, and around 9 in the other, and only like 7 people want to do it for ALEVEL. A lot of people regretted picking art because they didn't realise that Yes it is hard work, as long as you don't give up. You need to do the AOs, try your best, find motivation. And dedicate time out of school. You DO NOT have to be the best at art, as long as you LINK everything with your theme, and include the AOs, you will get an AMAZING GRADE.
(edited 2 years ago)
Reply 5
Thank you so much for the amazing reply! It's definitely given me hope. I watched the video you linked when I first chose art and it really scared me - but I in no way picked art quickly, I was actually sure at one point a month or two before picking that I wasn't going to do it because it was too hard. I'm hoping that by the end of year 11 I'll be thinking the same way as you and won't regret taking it - it's something I've wanted to do for quite a while. My parents both used to be into art so I guess that's passed to me (in no way am I picking because of them - in fact they warned me quite a few times that it might be best not to and focus on other subjects instead, but now that I've picked they're very supportive of it). I didn't really understand the AO system before although I had heard of it, so thank you for explaining that to me - I will bear this all in mind!
Thank you again for spending time to reply, it's really helped. I know it'll be really hard some of the time - my teacher has reminded us quite a few times - but I am really looking forward to it.
Good luck for your A Level art by the way - and for your results!
-------------------------------
Thank you everyone else for replying too. I get very stressed in the moment so I'm sure it'll be difficult, but I'm still willing to take the step :biggrin:
It's different for each people. I have always loved arts since I was a kid and even got higher marks in Arts than any other subjects during my Year 7, 8 and 9 to the point that I decided to take it for my O'Levels and for some reason it didn't go as planned. I only got like 4 or 5 if I'm lucky and I dropped them in the end of Year 10 and I kid you not how relieved I felt. But I kind of regret that decision because now I'm not really into Arts liked I used to. I'm doing my A'Levels now though.
Reply 7
Original post by Tee34
Hi everyone, I'm new here :smile:

I'll be going by Tee on here, I don't really want to share my real name.

I'm going into year 10 and taking 9 GCSEs (English lit and language, maths, RS, Geography, Chemistry, Biology and Art. I'm aware it's going to be hard, but I really love all these subjects.

I've heard art is incredibly hard but have chosen to take it as I've loved it since I was really young and I want to improve.

Does anyone have any good advice for art? I just want to know beforehand what to expect (I have been told a bit from a teacher's point of view but not a student's!) and any tips anyone has.

Thanks,

Tee :smile:


I got a 9 and it’s the only gcse I cried over :smile: but dw you’ll be fine if you just stay organised and stick to due dates
Reply 8
Original post by 1-800-WAIFU
It's different for each people. I have always loved arts since I was a kid and even got higher marks in Arts than any other subjects during my Year 7, 8 and 9 to the point that I decided to take it for my O'Levels and for some reason it didn't go as planned. I only got like 4 or 5 if I'm lucky and I dropped them in the end of Year 10 and I kid you not how relieved I felt. But I kind of regret that decision because now I'm not really into Arts liked I used to. I'm doing my A'Levels now though.

I've heard of it happening that way before - and I hope it doesn't happen to me, but even if it does I guess there's not much I can do. I got an a* in my year 7 art exam, I didn't do one in year 8 because of covid and my year 9 art exam is tomorrow which I'm pretty nervous about. No doubt there will be times when I want to drop it but I'm going to give everything and not give up because I think I would feel as you do - probably a bit regretful.
Reply 9
Original post by Rinxx
I got a 9 and it’s the only gcse I cried over :smile: but dw you’ll be fine if you just stay organised and stick to due dates

Oh I'm sure I'll cry over it many times :wink: well done btw!

thank you!
im in yr 10 coming to the end and i took art gcse. at the beginning it seemed easy going over basic **** then obviously we started new things and everything became more serious. compared to what people told me about taking art gcse i think its quite easy. art doesnt take up all my spare time in fact it food and ict that takes up the most. its going to be different for everyone but i dont think its that hard. obviously its gonna take some more effort than other subjects but if yoy enjoy art like i do i dont see any problem in taking it. i know its different in each area but honestly even when im planning for my final piece i find it easy and chill so its really up to you but yh hope that kinda helped 😂
Reply 11
Original post by Tee34
Hi everyone, I'm new here :smile:

I'll be going by Tee on here, I don't really want to share my real name.

I'm going into year 10 and taking 9 GCSEs (English lit and language, maths, RS, Geography, Chemistry, Biology and Art. I'm aware it's going to be hard, but I really love all these subjects.

I've heard art is incredibly hard but have chosen to take it as I've loved it since I was really young and I want to improve.

Does anyone have any good advice for art? I just want to know beforehand what to expect (I have been told a bit from a teacher's point of view but not a student's!) and any tips anyone has.

Thanks,

Tee :smile:

Hiya I've just finished year 11 and did Art GCSE and am doing it for A Level to. I did the AQA exam board but i doubt there's too much difference over different courses.

I found the workload highly managable, especially as you'll find most of the work going into your sketchbook is classwork, so at home I only found myself doing analysis and presentation, which my teacher let me do during free time in lesson.

My teacher was amazing at helping my whole class out, so make sure you do all your teacher says and just keep up with tasks so that it's not too much pressure when it comes to submitting coursework, and don't push yourself more than you need to.

My only advice is don't stress about it, espeically if the work isn't perfect, because as long as its finished and presented your good, and most of the marks come from your analysis and artist studies anyways.

Hope this helps :smile:
Reply 12
Original post by Moonbeam06
im in yr 10 coming to the end and i took art gcse. at the beginning it seemed easy going over basic **** then obviously we started new things and everything became more serious. compared to what people told me about taking art gcse i think its quite easy. art doesnt take up all my spare time in fact it food and ict that takes up the most. its going to be different for everyone but i dont think its that hard. obviously its gonna take some more effort than other subjects but if yoy enjoy art like i do i dont see any problem in taking it. i know its different in each area but honestly even when im planning for my final piece i find it easy and chill so its really up to you but yh hope that kinda helped 😂

Okay, that's good to know! I do find art really relaxing even if I'm stressed about it but I guess it's different for everyone. I can't be sure what it's like until i get there I guess, so we'll see :biggrin:
Reply 13
Original post by sh.a
Hiya I've just finished year 11 and did Art GCSE and am doing it for A Level to. I did the AQA exam board but i doubt there's too much difference over different courses.

I found the workload highly managable, especially as you'll find most of the work going into your sketchbook is classwork, so at home I only found myself doing analysis and presentation, which my teacher let me do during free time in lesson.

My teacher was amazing at helping my whole class out, so make sure you do all your teacher says and just keep up with tasks so that it's not too much pressure when it comes to submitting coursework, and don't push yourself more than you need to.

My only advice is don't stress about it, espeically if the work isn't perfect, because as long as its finished and presented your good, and most of the marks come from your analysis and artist studies anyways.

Hope this helps :smile:

Thank you, that's really helpful!

I will bear that in mind - and as you say I won't push myself too much when it isn't necessary.

From what everyone's said I think the conclusion is that if you work hard it'll be fine - but not always easy. I guess it depends on your school too, but even though I can't be sure what to expect, I'll listen to my teacher and try my absolute best!
hi! i've also just picked art for gcse and have lots of friends who are already significantly into the course. from what i can tell i think it does take over your life to a certain extent, however it's definitely worth it if art is something you really love or would want to pursue as a career. i have only just started the course, but am already a bit behind because of the amount of work that is set every week. it's not too hard to keep up, however as a perfectionist, a single page takes me the same amount of time as it would take for my friends to do three! so i'd say my main advice would be to carry on even if something isn't going as planned/doesn't look how you would like it, because in the end a single bad page is like 1000th of your gcse and doesn't really matter in the end. in short: don't be a perfectionist :,))i hope this helped haha
Reply 15
Lol that's great advice thanks! I'm definitely a perfectionist too which is why I questioned if I should really do it for a long time - but maybe this will help me to get out of being such a perfectionist,m who knows? Good luck by the way! :smile:
Reply 16
im not going to lie to you - for the first like 6 months its just so much work oh my god. i was having full on like breakdowns everytime i went near my artbook because it caused me a lot of stress lol. but , if you manage to balance your time well and stay ontop of all the work then it gets easier to manage, whatever you do ... dont let yourself get behind because that is hell. just try your best and dont worry about it too much because at the end of the day , its art and it can be interpretive and as long as you put your outmost effort into it then its yours to enjoy. teachers can be really degrading and let you down but honestly if you like it , then thats all that matters :smile:
Reply 17
Thank you so much, that's really encouraging, I generally get really stressed when I don't need to so I definitely will but I'm going to try and stay on top of the work the majority of the time - otherwise I'll just let myself down and think I can't do it. I also base my views a lot of what other people's views are, but it's so true that it doesn't matter the teachers opinions unless you're pleased! Thanks again :smile:
Reply 18
Original post by Tee34
Thank you so much, that's really encouraging, I generally get really stressed when I don't need to so I definitely will but I'm going to try and stay on top of the work the majority of the time - otherwise I'll just let myself down and think I can't do it. I also base my views a lot of what other people's views are, but it's so true that it doesn't matter the teachers opinions unless you're pleased! Thanks again :smile:

Oh that's so true, I did the same thing, I would ask for my family's opinion or the teachers, but sometimes it would put me down more than anything. I kinda stopped asking people, and just did what I thought would be best and felt pleased with it myself. Also how's Art going then? :biggrin:
It really depends on your teacher and if you can draw and or do projects of your liking then its quite fun I guess but since GCSE Art is more about getting told to do this artist page on a certain artist and u may not always be able to pick its really on your teacher to make it fun and an enjoyable subject.

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