By Layla-Rose Hildebrand
Every year, millions of students sit GCSE exams in subjects like maths, English, and science — but GCSE Art works differently. When you begin your GCSE courses, it can feel overwhelming, especially with the constant pressure of preparing for intense, condensed exams.
Many students worry: What if I revise for months and forget everything on the day?
This is one of the reasons why GCSE Art can be such a revitalising subject.
What happens on the GCSE Art course?
When you start your GCSE Art course, you are given a sketchbook — a space to express your knowledge and creativity over the next two years. Our class began with pages based on natural forms, experimenting with media such as pencil, coloured pencils, inks, and watercolours. This helped us build a solid foundation and understand the basics of art. In doing this when we progress through the year we will be able to express our ideas better as we have a grasp of the basics.
What topics do we explore?
From the beginning of the academic year we have done a range of topics. My favourite is colour studies because coloured pencils are one of my favourite mediums. I chose to study different types of fruits because there is such a vast variety of different textures and colours. Through studying this topic, it has deepened my understanding. We have also been able to take our own photos of fruit using the equipment in the art department. This has pushed our creativity showing a genuine interest in topics which are important to examiners.
What is it like in the art class?
Walking into the art class you are immediately hit by a warm and happy environment. I think that my whole class can agree that we feel supported by classmates and teachers. One of the best things about this is we are able to take inspiration from each other, and feedback to each other, in order to elevate our work.
What trips are there?
One of the ways the Art Department at St Augustine’s takes extra lengths in helping us progress as artists is trips. At the beginning of November a select number of students were given the opportunity to go to the British Museum. The British Museum houses a collection of over 2 million prints and drawings. While we were there we visited the sections on the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. We were able to draw some of the exhibits, imitating the style and technique as the sculptors themselves.