Art and Design

Course summary

At this level, you will start gaining a more profound understanding of the processes and techniques involved in the production of art. You will want to develop your flair for creativity and we will want to help you channel it by exposing you to new ideas. We will be pushing you beyond your comfort zone so that you can realise your full potential. Our approach is to support and encourage the development of analytical and expressive skills in appropriately structured projects. You will be encouraged to familiarise yourself with different materials and techniques: line and tone, colour, harmony and composition. We will introduce a range of two-dimensional media: everything from printmaking to painting and figure drawing. You will learn how to develop your ideas through sustained and focused investigations informed by contextual and other sources, demonstrating analytical and critical understanding. You will explore and select appropriate resources, media, materials, techniques and processes, and review and refine your ideas as your work develops. You will record your ideas, observations and insights relevant to your intentions, reflecting critically on your work and progress. As a student in the heart of London, you will have access to some of the world’s best museums, galleries and exhibitions. This will result in a personal and meaningful response which, where appropriate, makes connections between visual and other elements. In the second year, you will develop your skills and understanding to a higher standard. You will continue to be given close technical instruction and supervision, but you will be required to adopt a much more independent and student-led approach. You will be working on your investigation, which is the first of the two components of your final assessment. It has two parts. The first is a major, in-depth, practical, critical and theoretical investigative project or theme-based portfolio and outcomes. The second is an integrated and extended written piece of critical and contextual analysis (1,000 words minimum). An A level in Art, Craft and Design is an excellent basis on which to apply to study the subject further at an art college or university as, along with the skills, it will provide you with the portfolio you will need for your application. It is also very useful if you wish to work or study in areas relating to design, fashion and architecture. The course will develop your skills in drawing and visualisation and these have value far beyond courses such as those mentioned already. Engineering and medicine provide two excellent examples of where these skills are of great importance.