10th Grade Course Work

Colour
o

Foreground, middle-ground and background

Weeks 3 & 4:-

the second prep sheet, introduce colour

and start thinking about composition in
earnest. As you begin to explore
composition, ensure that you:

Interesting viewpoints perhaps looking down on

things, through things, or from a worms eye view

Perspective and scale you might wish to create

compositions that are focused on enlarged details and
parts of compositions, and/or scenes viewed from a
greater distance

The positioning, interaction and balancing of visual

elements, such as colour, shape, texture, space etc. If you
have a red item at the bottom of your artwork, for
example, you might balance this with a few smaller red
areas towards the top. Similarly, if you have a busy area of
an artwork, you might want to balance this with emptier
areas. (Note: exact symmetrical balancing of an artwork is
rarely successful). Analyse your own work carefully and
study the composition of artist works to learn successful
strategies

Sensations
In

Overlapping objects and including shadows to create

a sense of depth and space

Generate a range of different

ideas. Do not set up one arrangement and
then just draw it from a few different angles. Or, even worse,
dont produce one composition, and then apply colour using
several different mediums (this is a surprisingly common
approach which produces a repetitive body of work that bores
both you and the examiner). As noted in a recent Examiner
Report, weaker candidates have a tendency to explore only one
compositional idea or a very limited selection of images.
Instead, generate multiple arrangements of your chosen objects.
Move the items around and position them in different places,
testing different compositions to find ones that appear wellbalanced and cohesive. Avoid randomly placing items on a page
and leaving vast empty
areas of empty space.
Think critically about
the way you compose
your work and notice
how changes in
composition affect the
expression of ideas,
mood and meaning. To
ensure that you
produce successful
compositions,
consider:

Communicate ideas, meanings and emotion (think

about how colour selection and intensity, positioning of
items, expressions on faces, dramatic contrasts and other
components of your artwork communicate ideas to the
viewer). Note: when it comes to colour selection, it is
usually better to select a limited palette that supports the
ideas and themes expressed, rather than to use every
single colour.

speck of your energy should

be spent on producing quality
original artwork. A small
colour copy of an artists
work, correctly referenced
and credited, along with brief
bullet-points analysing
composition, technique and
ideas is all that is needed (if
any writing is deemed
necessary at all). It is the
integration of this learning
into your own practical work
that matters.

Learn from artists. Learning from artist models is the best and
easiest way to learn new techniques and compositional
approaches.
When selecting artwork to study, it is worth remembering that:

The artist does NOT need to use the same subject

matter, but the work must be relevant to your project. For
example, you might be inspired and learn from the way an
artist communicates ideas, approaches composition or
uses a technique. The June 2013 Examiner report
comments that low achieving candidates often included an
artist who did not inform their work but acted as a bolt
on addition in an attempt to satisfy the Assessment
Objectives. In other words, do not study an artist for the
sake of it; instead, the artist work must influence and
inform your own artwork.
Long-winded written analysis is not required. As is
mentioned earlier, annotation is not necessary. Every

Explore and experiment with a

wide range of mediums. Complete
4 8 works, selecting from the list
below:
1. Coloured pencil
2. Coloured pencil with black biro pen
3. Pastels on white paper or acrylic wash
4. Crayon over acrylic wash
5. Watercolour on water colour paper
6. Acrylic paint on an acrylic ground
7. Acrylic painting on a variety of textured surfaces such
as unstretched canvas or textured paper
8. Colour photographs
9. Any other coloured medium

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text

images form ISL IGCE students from 2015,

adapted fromhttp://www.studentartguide.com/