Art & Design: Fine Art
This course is a dynamic, hands-on and energetic introduction to the world of making art in all its guises. You don’t have to cut your ear off or grapple with a pickled shark to do this course, but you do need an insatiable visual appetite! You will need to be excited about art and wanting to create art, have a thirst for knowledge and keep vivid and lively sketchpads.
To get started
You will develop a series of art pieces exploring a range of media including oil painting, life drawing, printmaking and sculpture, as well as exploring themes of your own. This is an intensive, diagnostic course designed to teach you about the processes involved in making art works and as a foundation for future development in art and design. You will look at and respond to a variety of artists related to your own work and will be expected to research thoroughly at home. You will build on the acquisition of skills and develop your own distinct style and ideas based on themes developed by you. As well as practical coursework for the A Level you have to produce a ‘Personal Study’, which is a written/illustrated study about a theme closely related to artists’ work that will influence your own. This has a minimum of 1,000 words of continuous prose which will be illustrated. The theme would be the same as the practical work. Sixth formers have their own dedicated studio to work in during lessons and free periods. There are some costs involved in buying sketchpads and other equipment and life drawing. We sell a pack of equipment at the start of the course, including portfolios, sketchpads etc.
Exams and Assessment Information
EDEXCEL – 9FAO
A Level, 60% marks = Coursework (Personal Investigation).
40% = Exam (externally set assignment) with a 15 hour exam at the end of the course.
Art teachers examine all your work and this is externally moderated.
What Next?
This course complements the A Level in Photography. You can go on from here to do a one-year Foundation course where you focus on an area you could study at degree level (e.g. sculpture or stage design). The A Level also allows you to apply directly for a degree course and is important for degrees such as architecture, film making, advertising, illustration, fine art or stage design.
