edexcel art a level essay

• ABOUT THE THRESHOLD CONCEPTS
• THRESHOLD CONCEPT #1
• THRESHOLD CONCEPT #2
• THRESHOLD CONCEPT #3
• THRESHOLD CONCEPT #4
• THRESHOLD CONCEPT #5
• THRESHOLD CONCEPT #6
• THRESHOLD CONCEPT #7
• THRESHOLD CONCEPT #8
• THRESHOLD CONCEPT #9
• THRESHOLD CONCEPTS: A CRITICAL POINT
• THRESHOLD CONCEPTS: KS3 PROGRAMME
• TC1: MAKING MARKS - ON SURFACES, IN SPACE
• TC2: EXPRESSIVE APPROACHES
• TC4 : EXPLORING (& ABUSING) ART HISTORIES - ADAPTED PLANS
• TC5: PLAYFUL, PURPOSEFUL, ABSURD
• TC6: MATERIAL MATTERS - INTUITION, TOUCH, SENSATION
• TC7: A SENSE OF PLACE
• TC8:VALUE & BALANCE; REPRESENTATION & ABSTRACTION
• TC9: Speaking Truth to Power - issue-based art
• COUCH TO ARTIST: A 9-STEP PROGRAMME
• COUCH TO ARTIST: TASK 1 MARKS; WORDS
• COUCH TO ARTIST: TASK 2 VIBRATIONS; SENSATIONS
• COUCH TO ARTIST: TASK 3 TAKING SHAPE
• COUCH TO ARTIST: TASK 4 PUBLIC INTERVENTIONS
• COUCH TO ARTIST: TASK 5 PLAY, TIME
• COUCH TO ARTIST: TASK 6 HEAD, HANDS, HEART
• COUCH TO ARTIST: TASK 7 ART, WORDS; MEANINGS, CONTEXTS
• COUCH TO ARTIST: TASK 8 VALUES & MEASURES
• RED NOSE DAY DOODLE
• INTRODUCTION
• PRIMARY: DADA WORKSHOP
• Superheroes! (And patterned pants)
• Ancient Greece: figures and forms
• Eek! A wolf ate my sketchbook
• Ancient Egypt: What a Relief!
• Shapes and (hi)stories
• Figures & Factories
• STUFF & NONSENSE
• THE GRID - METHOD AND MISCHIEF
• Noughts & Crosses - playing with art (hi)stories
• THE ART OF INSTRUCTION
• PREHISTORY NOW
• Self-Portraits (Pt.1) About Face
• Self-Portraits (Pt.2) More than just a pretty face
• Why study Art?
• Preparing for the Personal Study
• #abstractadvent
• Eye to Pencil
• ABOUT ABSTRACTION: HENRY WARD

WRITING ABOUT ART: PrepARING FOR THE PERSONAL STUDY

• To shed some light on what the Personal Study actually is (although the official line from Edexcel can be found  here  - other exam boards available).
• To provide students with practical advice for writing their essay - developing a theme, planning, structuring, writing a bibliography etc.
• Be no more than 3000 words (short and punchy is better than drawn out and draining).
• Focus on a specific artist/photographer or art movement (or alternatively, a concept or artifact).
• Be related to your own investigations and practical (course)work.
• Include supporting images - from your chosen focus, your own work, and relevant wider connections.
• Include a bibliography (see below).
• Be informative, insightful and provide a personal perspective.
• Be a well-presented labour of love; a pleasure for others to pick up and read.

• Liar! Jeff Wall, photography and truth
• Modernism, Abstraction and the work of Barbara Hepworth
• The Human Figure: Sizing up Euan Uglow

• Explain your interest in the subject and the connection that you have to this.
• Set out your intentions clearly.
• Provoke a desire to read on (for example, by using intriguing yet-to-be-answered questions).
• Reference relevant threshold concepts  - the big ideas (or transformative knowledge) significant to your focus.

• Revealing insights to specific artwork(s)   – descriptive writing incorporating lesser-known facts; wider contextual connections; personal insights - perhaps in relation to your own practical work and experiences. But don't dismiss how an artwork makes you feel or impacts upon your senses. ( Refer to Threshold Concept #6 ). Be sensitive to your intuition and honest in accounting this.
• Imaginative leaps and connections –  this might include linking an artwork or idea to another work or idea, or perhaps a significant moment in time. Connections might be made between styles, techniques or ideologies; moments of personal, historical or cultural significance can be linked with thoughtful insights or questions. ( Refer to Threshold Concept #7 ).
• Narrowing your focus   – when the possibilities seem endless, narrowing your focus might help. For example, if referencing a particular artwork, consider focusing on one of these 4 aspects:  TECHNICAL, VISUAL, CONTEXTUAL and CONCEPTUAL.  Do you want to provide technical insights (the type of materials used, the technical skills involved etc.), or perhaps a visual analysis is more fitting (of subject matter, composition etc.)? All essays should demonstrate contextual understanding, and reveal concepts and ideas, but this might not be necessary for every artwork referenced. ( Refer to Threshold Concept #3 ).
• Accompanying images/illustrations  – Your Personal Study should be accompanied with relevant images/illustrations, but there is no set way to do this. Most students opt to embed these alongside their writing for ease of reference. Alternatively, they might be included as an appendix - a page at the end of the essay. Either way, think carefully about the relevance, order, scale and placement of images, and reference them consistently within your text. You can do this in a couple of ways, e.g:
•   “ An example of this expressive technique can be seen in Figure 1."
• “ This technique was very expressive (Figure 1) and... ”
• Your initial reaction   – i n f ormed by instinct, intuition, emotional response, existing knowledge etc. This is appropriate when your initial reactions are justified e.g.  “I'm intrigued by this because…”; "when I first  encountered  the work I was taken by surprise because..."  But if what follows is  a basic and superficial understanding of wider contexts  then, well, that might just make your teacher cry. “I’m interested in Cubism because I like how Picasso’s artworks are made up of cube-like shapes”; or “Pop Art appeals because it uses bright colours and film stars” . Whether your teacher cries tears of despair or laughter will depend on your relationship with them, or perhaps their performance management targets. But they won't be tears of joy.   
• Based on a deeper understanding/complex grasp of wider contexts  – demonstrating a confident stance; justified, informed opinions​; an ability to make imaginative connections etc. Compare these improved examples to the previous tear-inducing responses: “I’m interested in Cubism, particularly how the concept of recording multiple viewpoints evolved through experimenting with - and challenging - traditional methods of depiction..."; “I’m interested in how Pop Art emerged as a response to Abstract Expressionism. It strikes me as a mischievous movement; an antidote to the  excessive chin-holding culture which pervaded galleries at that time …” 
• From an alternative perspective – demonstrating an awareness that art is not fixed in meaning but subject to interpretation; that the opinions of others can provide alternative perspectives 0r counter-balance an  argument etc. Placing yourself in someone else’s shoes can demonstrate a deeper awareness of the capacity of art to evoke various opinions and responses. For example, consider the perspective of a feminist, a modernist, or a post-modernist.  “Rothko may have set out to provoke a sense of claustrophobia with his Seagram Restaurant commission, but I can imagine a dining capitalist might have been less sensitive to the colour fields on the wall, and more preoccupied with the greenbacks in hand…”  ​

• Revisit the aims or investigative questions set out at the start. You do not need to have definitive answers though. Sensitive  and honest reflections, or even new, increasingly complex questions are fine.
• Summarise key thoughts that have arisen from your study.
• Offer reflective, personal opinions on your research, and how this has shaped - or will shape - your own practical work.
• Share thoughts on potential opportunities for future exploration, if given more time.
• Include a short reflection on the process of the study itself – the research and thinking skills that you've developed along the way.
• Author –  put the last name first.
• Title –  this should be underlined or in quotation marks.
• Publisher -  in a book this is usually located on one of the first few pages.
• Date –  the date/year the book/article was published.
• Photography Writing
• Photography Literacy
• A beginner’s bookshelf
• Andrew Graham-Dixon  History of British Art  (Although pretty much any book, article or TV series from AGD is a good bet.  The Art of Germany  being my absolute favourite).
• Mathew Collings  This is Modern Art
• The Penguin book of Art Writing
• Whitney Chadwick  - a range of titles available

A2 Art Personal Study: A Beautiful Illustrated Essay

Last Updated on April 2, 2023

This Personal Study was completed by Mary Faber , while studying A Level Art (CIE 9704) at ACG Strathallan College in 2004. A simple, yet elegant ‘book’ presentation, Mary’s Personal Study focuses upon the painting techniques, processes and compositions of New Zealand artist Russell Hollings , gaining an overall grade of 91%.

Mary began her study by completing an Outline Proposal Form . This was submitted to CIE for feedback at the end of April, once her A2 Coursework project was well underway. This meant Mary was able to clearly establish how her Personal Study might assist and link to her Coursework before she began. (It is no longer a requirement that the Personal Study relates to the Coursework project – although it can be advantageous if it does).

NOTE: Outline Proposal Forms are available through the CIE Teacher Support site , which is password protected (teachers have access to this) and can be submitted to the examiners electronically; alternatively, forms can be photocopied from the back of the 9704 syllabus booklet).

Within the Outline Proposal Form, Mary describes her intentions as:

To thoroughly analyse the painting processes and techniques of Russell Hollings, from initial preparation of a painting surface, through to final application of paint. I will discuss the effect of various marks and brushstrokes and how such a painting style conveys mood and meaning. Links will be made to well known international artists who use similar painting techniques. Finally I will discuss how these painting processes and techniques can be used in my own painting.

READ NEXT: How to make an artist website (and why you need one)

Presentation is a crucial aspect of the Personal Study and must be given considerable thought. Mary created a square ‘book’, bound along the left-hand edge with a black spiral bind. Pages are cut from lightweight A3 sheets of reddish-brown card. This colour was selected as it echoes the hues used throughout Russell Hollings’ paintings and thus visually links the presentation together.

Text has been printed onto high quality cream paper, which is also used as the backing mount for illustrations. This allows Mary to combine hand-crafted illustrations with computer generated text in a tidy, cohesive way.

A skilful, creative and articulate A Level Art student, Mary is now an exceptional typography designer .

If you would like more information about this topic, please read the Student Art Guide introduction to the A Level Art Personal Study .

Amiria has been an Art & Design teacher and a Curriculum Co-ordinator for seven years, responsible for the course design and assessment of student work in two high-achieving Auckland schools. She has a Bachelor of Architectural Studies, Bachelor of Architecture (First Class Honours) and a Graduate Diploma of Teaching. Amiria is a CIE Accredited Art & Design Coursework Assessor.

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Art and Design A-Level Past Papers

This section includes recent A-Level Art and Design past papers (AS and A2) from AQA, Edexcel, OCR and WJEC. If you are not sure which exam board you are studying check with your teacher. Past papers are a useful and productive way to prepare for your exams. You can download each of the exam board's papers by clicking the links below.

• AQA A-Level Art and Design Past Papers
• Edexcel A-Level Art and Design Past Papers
• OCR A-Level Art and Design Past Papers
• WJEC A-Level Art and Design Past Papers

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Graphics A2-Personal Study

Personal study - Unit 3:

Fashion illustration is not just visual, as is any other stylized illustration or art-form. When artists create or view art, they automatically give justifications about their work and also analyze other creations. When studying graphics, we as future artists have to learn how to create, understand and analyze works of art.

Patrick Boyer  is an Illustrator in fashion and has been in the business for several years, he enjoys creating web-design based illustrations and has won several awards for best graphic designer. I have chosen two images to analyze and differentiate them.

Image (a)  was designed in 2004 for web-design and illustrative magazines. This image is based on photographic images collaged together with illustrative designs that have been added later on Photoshop. The forms used in the image are all natural objects and animals, giving the sense of natural beauty to such a modern and developed piece of art.

The devices used in this design show through the female dominance in this image, and are of sexual and of desirable reference, mainly directed at the male audience, around the ages of 18-35+. The fact that the image is so recent and modern, it doesn’t really effect the way people view it.

The structure and composition of this image, including the colour and text used work really well with today’s society, which has flown far from nature therefore; this has made the image very successful in my opinion.

This is a preview of the whole essay

Image (b)  was designed in 2004 for an illustrative magazine. Patrick Boyer has been influenced by many other designers before him and real-life models that help him draw fashion positions and clothing. Boyer has definitely used photographs to create this design, most probably then manipulated on Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop to create the vector and colour.

Apart from the influence of photographs, this image is a purely illustrative design. Boyer has used block colours for the background (that also include gradients that can be found straight from the program, Photoshop) and facial features.

This is a very recent piece of art that a couple of years back could not been possible to design. Although this type of artwork is quite modern, people are know familiar to it and doesn’t really affect the audience’s way of viewing it.

You could say that Boyer’s pure illustrative skills have great similarities to Jason Brook’s work and therefore can be referenced back to him, although Boyer’s overall work is more detailed in both facial and bodily features.

I would definitely say that this design has been very successful, the wide range of colour and detail satisfy any viewer of illustrative knowledge.

The difference between image (a) and (b) is of course the fact that one is purely illustrative and the other holds characteristics of photography. Although both created by the same designer/illustrator, both of the images couldn’t be more different in concept and visual terms.

Jason Brooks  one of most famous fashion illustrators, is considered one of the most successful in his field of work, earning the most and distributing the most all around the world. I have chosen to analyze two images from his fashion and lifestyle galleries to differentiate them from one another.

The ‘Untitled’ and ‘Twisted Disco’, image (a) and (b) were designed in 2005 by Jason Brooks, for interior design and for C.D covers.  

I chose both these images because they had, although from the same illustrator, a very different feel and design concept.

In image (a) the figures are silhouetted to enhance the background and the overall mood of the design, where as in image (b) the figure is in the main focus of the eye and thus the background is darker to enhance the figure itself.

The moods of both images      (a) and (b) are very different, image (a) has a very calm, cool and collective look, where as image (b) is warm, energetic and suggests the title, “Twisted…”.

Image (a), even though it has been designed recently I can’t help view it as and older piece, maybe because it’s a sophistically calm design, all I can picture is this design appealing to an older audience around the ages of 20 – 50. Image (b) on the other hand would stand out to younger crowd of maybe 13 – 30 yr olds.

I do think that both images have been successful, the colour and composition suit their category; interior design and C.D design/fashion.

References to other artists are rare with Jason Brooks as he really began a whole new fashion illustration era, he created a very unique style that most artists use as influence themselves.

Document Details

• Word Count 783
• Page Count 3
• Level AS and A Level
• Subject Art & Design

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Edexcel A level English Literature : Model essay for Keats Example

Subject: English

Age range: 16+

Resource type: Other

Last updated

22 August 2022

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Essay title: Explore the ways art and beauty are presented in Ode to a Grecian Urn and one other poem

• Comparison of Ode to a Grecian Urn and O Brightstar

For the board Edexcel at A level This essay was given full marks by my teacher and I achieved an A* in my English A Level 2022.

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