Mid A Level Art Revision
For the Mid-A Level Mock examination you will be expected to produce one complete piece of artwork that can be used within your Practical Portfolio submission. By this point in the course you should be beginning to respond to your first chosen artist’s work, having completed preliminary mind maps, mood boards, initial drawings and own photos. Therefore, you will produce your own piece of work that has clearly been inspired by the artist and shows visual understanding of their work. You will have 5 hours to do this. You must prepare in advance of the exam day. This is your opportunity to see what you can achieve in 5 hours without teacher support, you will have 15 hours for the final A Level exam.
Note: the piece you produce will be used as part of your Practical Portfolio.
Your piece should meet the following criteria:
- Develop skills and techniques that you feel confident with, as you will be in exam conditions and therefore will not receive any teacher help.
- Link to your chosen project theme.
- Be a suitable size, given you have 5 hours I suggest min. A4, larger if the study requires less complex detail.
- It must show what you are capable of, therefore, planning in advance of the day is essential.
To link to your chosen artist you should:
- Show a clear understanding of the techniques they use. Therefore, make sure you’ve worked out how they create their work before the exam.
- Be composed/designed from your own photographs (these will need to be printed out the correct size to work from and brought to the exam). You may grid them in advance of the exam if you wish.
- Conceptually link to the artist, your chosen theme and the learning displayed in your related study essay.
Prior to the examination I recommend you do the following:
- Practise the application of your chosen media and techniques.
- Make a plan of how you will use each of the five hours, make sure you leave enough time for drawing it out before you start to add shading/details.
- Decide what background you want to work on and prepare it in advance, especially if it needs priming.
- You can bring existing work and practise pieces into the mock to help to guide you through the process.
- Ensure that the rest of your practical portfolio and related study section is up to date. E.g. observational recordings, and mind maps.
On the day of the exam:
- You will have normal breaks.
- You will not be allowed access to the internet so you must bring all printed imagery you need with you.
- You will work under exam conditions in the art room.
- You need to bring any specialist materials you may need with you along with all you prep work and sketchbook.
Additional tips
Useful site for guidance and visual exemplars:
http://www.studentartguide.com (lots of A Level projects here!)
Exemplar A level projects on Moodle
https://www.artpedagogy.com/
https://artsandculture.google.com/
https://www.tate.org.uk/
https://www.moma.org/
https://www.instagram.com/isolationartschool/?hl=en (so good for tutorials!)
