Art AS and A Level

Course Code: S0714-S0715-S0706 Course Length: One year for AS and two years for a full A Level Full Description:

Art A Level will develop your ability to think and work as an artist. During the course, you will use a range of activities and processes to explore the use of visual language. Your work will be linked to your own personal themes and to the work of other artists and art movements.

You will learn to think and write analytically about your own work and that of other artists. Practical work begins with a structured course, in which drawing and painting are covered extensively using a range of materials such as inks, charcoal, watercolours, acrylics and oil paint. You will then move on to printmaking and explore dry point, collograph and relief techniques such as lino cuts. Basic sculptural methods using card and wire follow, and then a range of collage and mixed media techniques are explored. You will be able to use photography equipment and experiment with darkroom processes such as photograms, which can form a useful addition to more traditional techniques. As part of the course, you will visit galleries and exhibitions – locally and in London. These have included the Turner Prize exhibition, as well as shows featuring the work of Gauguin, Rauschenberg and Joseph Beuys. Each year there is also a visual arts trip abroad to a city renowned for its artistic heritage. Recent destinations have included Paris and New York. In Paris, students experienced an outstanding exhibition of women artists at the Pompidou Centre and also a magnificent collection of post-impressionist art at The Musée D’Orsay. The trip to New York included The Museum of Modern Art, The Metropolitan Museum, The Guggenheim Museum, The International Museum of Photography, The Rockefeller Center and visits to The Statue of Liberty, The Empire State Building, and Grand Central Station. Each June there is an annual Visual Arts Show, where Art, Photography and Textiles students show their best work in a gallery-style environment, which is open to the public.

To be successful on the course, you will need to have an interest in art and in the world around you and be able to work independently and with enthusiasm. You should also enjoy visiting galleries and exhibitions.

Assessment is through:

• A range of practical work including experiments contained in a work journal, finished pieces of coursework and a response to a theme set by the exam board.
• A written personal study investigating ideas in textiles.

An A Level in Art can lead to related courses at a college, art school or university, and then on to a very wide range of careers in art and design and other creative industries.

Art can be taken with any subjects, but students often choose to combine it with other visual disciplines such as Textiles, Photography, Media Studies or Film Studies.

Entry Requirements

• Five GCSEs at grades A*-C including English and Art, or a related subject, or a suitable portfolio of art work.

Please contact the Advice Shop for details of costs and start dates.

Please note that although the information given is believed to be correct at the time of publication, course information, costs where applicable and attendance details may change.