Art

The course offers AS and A Level to anyone with a strong interest in visual expression and communication; form those who aspire to be a professional artist or designer to those who simply enjoy being creative and acquiring expressive skills.

The majority of students will be endorsed in Fine Art, which is an often misunderstood term. In simple terms it refers to anything you might find in an art gallery and can include work in all the following disciplines: painting, drawing, sculpture, mixed media, print making, photography, video installation or a combination of these.

Whilst we do not offer Graphics or Textiles as stand alone subjects, the broad based nature of Fine Art allows students to make work which encompasses these disciplines.

The emphasis is on individual programmes: students are encouraged to develop a personal artistic territory. We also place significant emphasis on an awareness of contemporary art practice and we support and encourage visits to local and national exhibitions. This is an ideal course for anyone hoping to work in a design or media based profession.

The course is delivered with an emphasis on teh individual tutorial.

There are two units each worth 50% of the marks: 

Unit 1 (20 weeks) Coursework unit

You will be given a choice of starting points or titles and will be expected to work to produce a  lively sketchpad containing drawings, ideas, notes, reproductions of relevant artists' work, your own photographs, experimentation with composition, technique and media.  Other source material can include: gallery visits, relevant cultural references e.g. novels, TV/films, news articles etc.

In addition to your sketch pad work you should produce several other pieces, which might be bigger in size and more sustained.

You will be expected to produce an end product (outcome), which can be a single work or a series. 

Unit 2 (controlled test) 8-10

Think of this as a shorter version of the coursework project. You will be given a choice of titles and be expected to work in the same way as you did for unit one. The ‘exam’ aspect is 5 hours in the studio (1 day) but in addition you should produce a finished piece in lesson time and in your own time.

Homework

Specific homework will be discussed on an individual basis and you will be expected to routinely invest a minimum of three hours per week in addition to lesson time, working on developments which have been discussed in lesson tutorials.