Art (Fine Art) A Level

The start of your A Level Fine Art course may seem like a long way away but it’s really important to keep practising the skills you’ve developed through studying for your GCSE. One of the most essential skills in Art is being able to convey meaning visually; being able to represent your ideas in a visual way.

Understanding the Formal Elements in Fine Art is crucial to being an effective artist. The Formal Elements form the basis of the language of art, and we use them to communicate to the viewer. The elements are line, colour, form, shape, value, texture and space.

Task 1: Research the Formal Elements in Art and Design to gain an understanding of what they are – write down a simple definition for each element: line, colour, form, shape, value, texture and space.

Task 2: Observe the world around you and using your phone take photographs that emphasise the formal elements. Recording the world around you, is an important aspect of the course and you need to be creative in your approach to photography! Try going close up, try using different angles and edit your photographs afterwards to effectively communicate each Formal Element. For this task you will need to have 7 or 8 final photographs

Task 3: Using your photographs as a reference, create A5 studies of each element- try to over emphasise the element you are communicating through that study. For example if you are studying the ‘value’ photograph, ensure you have a good range of tone from dark to light and good contrast in your study. 2 or 3 of the studies should be tonal drawing, however you can be creative with the others and explore media and technology that you enjoy using. This could be collage, painting, mixed media, watercolour, pastels or digital artwork. For this task you will need to have 7 or 8 final A5 studies.

Here are some Golden Rules of Drawing

• Don’t smudge your tone; allow the marks you make to be directional and visible to help convey form and texture.
• Don’t draw lots of small objects spaced out and floating all over the page. Look at what is surrounding your subject and remember to include this to anchor your drawing. Look at your work from a distance to check you have sufficient contrast.
• Drawing can be recording evidence quickly in the form of accurate sketching or it can be long visual investigation; make sure you have a variety of styles.
• Plot the image lightly before you add detail, tone and texture. Be aware of the light source and record the darkest shadows first, looking for the true blacks and working back through the tonal range. Avoid heavy outlines.
• You could also try drawing just in tone or dots or with a rubber on a tonal background.
• Think about the space you will fill before you start. Lightly plot the outer area of your subject ensuring you can capture it on the page, for example, when drawing a person you want to ensure their head does not go off the page, at the same time you do not want the drawing to be so small you cannot capture detail.
• Consider the material most appropriate to capture the characteristics of your drawing.
• If the subject is moving, several overlapping sketches may be the best option.
• Check your drawing by measuring and looking at negative space.
• Try varying the type of mark you make to create texture and tone. For example, hard shiny surfaces are rendered with more solid marks and sharp contrast between tones. An orange’s pitted surface may be represented with dots; soft textures may have less defined marks. Tone can be created by placing the marks closer together and using darker medium such as softer pencil. Directional marks can also help show form e.g. curved hatching can help show a curved form.
• The lines and shapes in an image can convey different messages. Regimented, repeated lines suggest order and random lines chaos. Straight lines and shapes are more aggressive than curved. Repeated lines and forms can create a sense of movement. Lines and shapes can be used to create direction, which can help show form e.g. curved hatching on a tube shape. Direction can also create mood – top to bottom being more negative than upward.
• Importance can be given to elements of the image depending on the scale of them in relation to other elements or their location in fore, middle or background. Children often make heads larger in proportion to the body and eyes to head in their drawings as they perceive these to be the most important parts. Classical sculpture often exaggerated muscles and physique, making the head smaller to create a sense of power.
• The way elements of a picture are composed can create different moods and atmospheres. A very busy composition may look hectic and energetic. Imagine a landscape where a lot of sky is visible compared to one with a high horizon line. Perspective can create a sense of space and emptiness, or full intense images without a visible horizon. Different viewpoints can affect the way a subject is perceived.