Art – Fine Art

Key Contact:  Jamie Malone jam@gryphon.dorset.sch.uk

Fine Art at the Gryphon allows students to explore nature, art and personal creativity through careful observation and the development of skills in drawing, painting and making (clay and mixed media). Students investigate and build knowledge of historical and contemporary artists both visually and contextually, whilst increasing their clarity of presentation and composition, all of which leads to professional-looking portfolios of work at KS4 and KS5 should students choose a creative subject for GCSE or A Level. All of the exciting projects covered follow the practices of professionals in key vocations of Fine Art and each element of the curriculum builds skills, confidence and enjoyment, leading to unique experiences and outcomes. KS3 fulfils all of the practical skills and experiences for students to progress effectively to KS4 Fine Art. Year 9 can be considered as a foundation year to the GCSE in Fine Art.

Year 7

Half Terms 1, 2 & 3: Insects. Students study natural forms, revolving around insects and flowers. Students develop skills in: mark-making; ink and stick; observational drawing; composition and symmetry; tone and value; texture and geometric form; mixed-media; grid drawing; artist analysis and leading towards a carefully composed final piece (drawing from a photographed taxidermy insect in the artist style). Students look at traditional and contemporary artists such as: Ernst Haeckel (symmetry), Abi Diamond (texture and mark-making) and Sarah Simblet (refinement in drawing).

Half Terms 4, 5 & 6: Colour theory. Students study Impressionism, still life and the landscape. Students develop skills in: creating a colour wheel (the organisation of colour); understanding and application of Primary, Secondary, Tertiary Colours (colour theory for painting); studies on tints, tones and shades (light and dark to create 3d effect); gradient studies; colour schemes; artist studies; drawing still life objects in an Impressionist style (painting observations of hyper-realistic plastic fruit); paper craft (making art with scissors); landscape perspective and outdoor drawing. Students look at artists such as: Johannes Itten; Wassily Kandinski; Piet Mondrian; Henri Matisse; Claude Monet; Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Cezanne.

Year 8

Half Terms 1, 2 & 3: Pattern & Printmaking. Students study nature through: observational and printmaking techniques, developing skills in: line drawing; tonal drawing;  grid drawing; oil pastel monoprint; mark-making and pattern into foamboard/ink monoprint; gestural sketching; artist analysis (deeper thinking); lino-cut design and making; final piece lino-print.

Half Terms 4, 5 & 6: Enchanted Creatures. Students study: narrative surrounding a theme; observational drawing; decorative effects; character design; mixed media-3D Form and acrylic painting effects.  Students look at artists such as: Maurice Sendak; Mark Hearld; Sylvain Trabut; Julia Donaldson and Hayao Miyazaki.

Year 9

Half Terms 1, 2 & 3:  Students investigate ancient culture and international art, exploring: pattern; colour theory; typography; composition; observational drawing; artist studies and analysis; mixed-media presentation techniques; portrait studies and proportion of the face; creating clay tiles in the style of ancient glyphs and acrylic painting. Students look at artists such as: Frida Kahlo; Laura Barbosa; Diego Rivera; Alfonso Castillo Orta and Jose Guadalupe Posada.

Half Terms 4, 5 & 6:  Bones, Animals and Human Facial Features. Students create: charcoal studies of real animal bones using traditional methods; watercolour studies; anatomy studies of humans/animals and proportions of the face. Students look at artists such as: Sarah Simblet; Leonardo da Vinci; Durer and Harry Bunce.

Assessment

Students will complete 6 assessment tasks each year in KS3. These tasks will be in the form of a specific drawing task, extended writing (artist analysis) task or painting task. The Assessment headings are as follows:

Year 7

• Assessment 1: Literacy task
• Assessment 2: Drawing task
• Assessment 3: Drawing task
• Assessment 4: Painting task
• Assessment 5: Literacy task
• Assessment 6: Painting Task

Year 8:

• Assessment 1: Literacy task
• Assessment 2: Drawing task
• Assessment 3: Print-making task
• Assessment 4: Drawing task
• Assessment 5: Literacy task
• Assessment 6: Making Task

Year 9

• Assessment 1: Literacy task
• Assessment 2: Drawing task
• Assessment 3: Literacy task
• Assessment 4: Painting task
•  Assessment 5: Drawing task
• Assessment 6: Painting task

Homework

Students will be set one homework per half term (drawing or literacy tasks). All homework will be set via Teams.

Key Stage 4 Subject overview

Subject:  Art and Design: Fine Art
Key Contacts:  Michael Fenton-Wilkinson mfw@gryphon.dorset.sch.uk
Jamie Malone jam@gryphon.dorset.sch.uk  

Syllabus Information:  Students study AQA GCSE Art and Design: Fine Art

Fine Art at the Gryphon allows students to explore the genres of Fine Art whilst developing personal creativity through careful observation and the development of skills in recording, drawing, image-making, assemblage, painting and making (clay and mixed media). During the first project, students respond to the theme of Natural Forms (sub-topics of their own choice can be decided upon) and builds skills in the formal elements, through a variety of richly detailed workshops revolving around, line, make-making, texture, painting and drawing.

In the second project, students have the option to study Still Life, Architecture, Landscape, The Portrait, The Figure and all other genres of Fine Art. Students investigate and build knowledge of historical and contemporary artists both visually and contextually, whilst increasing their clarity of presentation and composition, all of which leads to professional-looking portfolios of work at KS4 and KS5 (A Level). The final piece is created during a 10 hour invigilated exam over two days.

Students finish on a third project which is an externally set exam; students are given a list of externally set themes to respond to in the form of a sketchbook and final piece (the final piece is created during a 10 hour invigilated exam over two days). All of the exciting projects covered, follow the practices of professionals in key vocations of Fine Art and each element of the curriculum builds skills, confidence and enjoyment, leading to unique experiences and outcomes. KS4 fulfils all the practical skills and experiences for students to progress effectively to KS5 Fine Art. Students are assessed on the four Assessment Objectives: AO1: Contextual Studies/Artist Studies/Ideas; AO2: Experimentation and development of technique; AO3 Drawing, recording, development of ideas; AO4 Final pieces, appreciations, original drawings/paintings/works from own photography.

The course mark-weighting is as follows: 60% Coursework (Natural Forms and Sustained Project) and 40% Externally Set Task (Final Exam Project)

Course Content

Year 10

Half Term 1-2: Natural Forms (introduction and formal element workshops)
Half Term 3-4: Natural Forms (formal element workshops)
Half Term 4-5: Natural Forms (artist studies)
Half Term 5-6: Natural Forms (final piece, process and evaluation) and introduction to Sustained Project

Year 11

Half Term 1: Sustained Project
Half Term 2: Sustained Project (concluding with 10hr Mock Examination final piece, process and evaluation)
Half Term 3: Externally Set Task
Half Term 4: Externally Set Task (concluding with 10hr Examination final piece)
Half Term 5: Revision (for other subjects, once course has concluded)

Assessment

Students will complete all sketchbook tasks as per the checklist/hand-in dates and related Fine Art outcomes for the 12 assessment tasks in Year 10 and 10 in Year 11. These tasks will be cohesive to the structure and flow of the sketchbook. The Assessment headings are as follows:

Year 10

• Natural Forms
• Natural Forms: Introduction
• Natural Forms: Recording and Observational Work
• Natural Forms: Formal Elements Workshops: Line
• Natural Forms: Formal Elements Workshops: Shape and Space
• Natural Forms: Formal Elements Workshops: Printmaking
• Natural Forms: Artist Study 1 and Appreciations.
• Natural Forms: Artist Study 2 and Appreciations.
• Natural Forms: Final Piece preparation and completion of previous work.
• Natural Forms: Final Piece, Process and Evaluation
• Sustained Investigation: Introduction, Recording and Observational work.
• Sustained Investigation: Recording and Observational work.
• Sustained Investigation: Artist Study 1 and Appreciations.

Year 11

• Sustained Investigation: Recording, Observational Work.
• Sustained Investigation: Artist Studies, Appreciations.
• Sustained Investigation: Final Piece Preparation
• Sustained Investigation: Mock Examination 10hrs (invigilated) Final Piece. Process and Evaluation
• Sustained Investigation: Process and Evaluation
• Externally Set Task:
• Externally Set Task: Introduction.
• Externally Set Task: Recording and Observational Work.
• Externally Set Task: Artist Studies.
• Externally Set Task: Appreciations and Responses.
• Externally Set Task: Examination 10hrs (invigilated) Final piece. Process and Evaluation.

Homework

Students will be set homework once per fortnight in conjunction with the Checklist/Hand-in-tasks. Homework tasks will include specific project related research, literacy and drawing, together with completion of classwork.

Useful information, links and resources

AQA | Art and Design | Subject content | Fine art
GCSE Art and Design – AQA – BBC Bitesize