Art and design
Brilliant choice, congratulations.
But first of all, how does the course work?
Over the duration of the two years you will complete coursework as well as a practical exam (usually at the end). Pretty much everything that you produce in lessons counts!
The controlled assessment of student portfolios is internally set, marked and externally moderated contributing 60% of the marks.
This is separate coursework units set by your teacher.
The externally set assignment, which is externally set, internally marked and externally moderated contributes 40% of the marks.
You are given an externally set theme for which you have to prepare, culminating in a 10 hour practical exam spread over two days in your art room.
Now you know exactly what you're doing, here's some great revision sources, for each part of your course.
- Painting.
Chances are you'll do a lot of painting in your assessments and exam. Painting is a skill which looks easy enough but can be difficult to pull off, depending on what style you're going for. It's hard to describe painting in words, but here are a collection of videos which will allow you to improve your skill, from painting faces, to waves, to flowers.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/art/video/painting/ (Great for the basics, as well as faces and portraits)
http://www.ehow.com/video_5226067_paint-waves-acrylic.html (Great for waves and sea- landscapes)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntJGuUPFNXY (Great for painting with watercolours, wet into wet)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIB1Rddh2p8&feature=related (Great for clouds)
http://videolica.com/videos/f5WMFcMf5dg/how-to-paint-trees--preview- (great for treeeees (from 49 seconds onwards
)- Drawing and Sketching.
.To be honest, everything you NEED to know is on this one site. The rest is down to your own talents, and you know what they say, practice really does make perfect. Have a go! http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/art/video/drawing/
- Photography.
http://digitalphotography.tipcentral.net/ These are the best tips and hints for taking photos with digital/compact cameras.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/art/video/photography/ If you're not so great with SLRs then these are the basics.
http://www.photographytips.com/page.cfm/664 Once you've got the basics from both types of camera, this'll get you thinking about composition and professional techniques.
- Sculpture
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/art/video/sculpture/ From chicken wire to plaster casts. There's a lot 'a useful stuff on here.
http://pottery.about.com/od/understandclays/tp/claytypes.htm I know it's reading and it's boring, but if you're planning on using clay in your art then this is quite useful. Just think how smug you'll be when you remembered how to seal your clay model properly, and you already knew what temperature to store it at so that you could work on it the next lesson, and the guy next to you just left his out to dry up and crumble. Cruel, but funny.
- Painting.
Chances are you'll do a lot of painting in your assessments and exam. Painting is a skill which looks easy enough but can be difficult to pull off, depending on what style you're going for. It's hard to describe painting in words, but here are a collection of videos which will allow you to improve your skill, from painting faces, to waves, to flowers.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/art/video/painting/ (Great for the basics, as well as faces and portraits)
http://www.ehow.com/video_5226067_paint-waves-acrylic.html (Great for waves and sea- landscapes)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntJGuUPFNXY (Great for painting with watercolours, wet into wet)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIB1Rddh2p8&feature=related (Great for clouds)
http://videolica.com/videos/f5WMFcMf5dg/how-to-paint-trees--preview- (great for treeeees (from 49 seconds onwards
)- Drawing and Sketching.
.To be honest, everything you NEED to know is on this one site. The rest is down to your own talents, and you know what they say, practice really does make perfect. Have a go! http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/art/video/drawing/
- Photography.
http://digitalphotography.tipcentral.net/ These are the best tips and hints for taking photos with digital/compact cameras.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/art/video/photography/ If you're not so great with SLRs then these are the basics.
http://www.photographytips.com/page.cfm/664 Once you've got the basics from both types of camera, this'll get you thinking about composition and professional techniques.
- Sculpture
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/art/video/sculpture/ From chicken wire to plaster casts. There's a lot 'a useful stuff on here.
http://pottery.about.com/od/understandclays/tp/claytypes.htm I know it's reading and it's boring, but if you're planning on using clay in your art then this is quite useful. Just think how smug you'll be when you remembered how to seal your clay model properly, and you already knew what temperature to store it at so that you could work on it the next lesson, and the guy next to you just left his out to dry up and crumble. Cruel, but funny.
