a level art essay title examples

404 Not found

Art-based Artefact FULL Essay & Sketchbook Example

Jennifer Leigh | 28th September 2019

Many students are warned before taking on an EPQ, that artefact projects are substantially harder and score substantially lower than full essay projects. The key difficulty with artefact EPQs is making them research-based and the biggest task I had to overcome was insuring my artefact complimented my research, rather than the other way around. I was the only student in my year group to attempt an artefact EPQ and there was very little help as to the structure my EPQ should take.

During Sixth Form, I completed an art-based artefact EPQ on the significance of light and colour in Impressionist art. This EPQ followed obtaining full marks in my Art GCSE, so I chose to take a very similar process in creating my EPQ project and sketchbook.

In the end, I obtained 48/50 in my EPQ in June 2019 (AQA EPQ A* boundary = 45/50).

Looking for top EPQ tips? Check out my EPQ advice article here! This article features my EPQ essay and sketchbook in full that helped me achieve my A*. All the art below was submitted collectively as my artefact, with mini essays, artist studies and my final pieces being documented in an A3 sketchbook.

My EPQ essay (ft. photos of artefact)

Is use of light and colour the sole feature that defines the impressionist art era, or are there more significant motives behind the movement.

Impressionism can be described as “a style or movement in painting originating in France in the 1860s, characterised by a concern with depicting the visual impression of the movement, especially in terms of the shifting effect of light and colour”. Today, the Impressionists are some of the most popular artists whose artworks are readily seen by the public, namely due to the expressive use of colour and unique depictions of interesting compositions of light. However, this project aims to explore whether use of light and colour really is the defining feature of Impressionist art, or whether there are other reasons why this movement of art is so unique from other movements. Furthermore, I also explored whether some of the most famous “Impressionist” artists today can be defined as “true Impressionists”, based on their techniques and motives.

Initially, I researched Claude Monet, as he is frequented described by art historians as “epitomis[ing] most closely the values of Impressionism”1. Monet frequently used varied colour palettes in his paintings, such as in “The Cliff Walk at Pourville” (1882) and “Red Boats, Argenteuil” (1875), which helped create a powerful mood and atmosphere for the viewer. For example, in “Le Grand Canal” (1908), he primarily used more muted, cool colours to emphasise the bright morning, which focuses the viewer on the reflections and varied hues of the water. Studying the painting up close, one can see how the hints of pinks and yellows contrasts with the muted colours, creating a sense of calmness and tranquility. In series works such as his Haystacks, Monet painted many similar, simplistic scenes so that “nothing distracts the attention from his harmonies of colour and atmosphere”2. Taking a random selection of paintings from this collection, such as “Haystacks, Hazy Sunshine” (1891) and “Haystacks at the End of Summer, Morning” (1891), it is clear to the viewer that the real interest is in Monet’s manipulations of light through the medium of colour.

However, use of light and colour is not the only technique that Monet demonstrated that is considered typically Impressionist: Monet also frequently varied his style of brushstrokes, working very loosely and liberally in paintings such as in his Waterlilies series. This technique, combined with frequently working in plein air, led to many of Monet’s paintings creating a feel of a “moment in time” for the viewer. Indeed, many of the revolutionary techniques Monet demonstrated had the same key purpose: to create a sense of a moment or impression of a scene for the viewer, rather than a full, still representation of a period of time.

Considering Monet as a “true Impressionist”, I then began to compare his techniques and works to those of other artists during a similar period of art history. I initially researched Edgar Degas, who separated himself from most Impressionists by outwardly describing himself as a Realist, rather than an Impressionist, with a “lack of interest in plein-air painting, his abiding passion for the art of the great masters, and his experimentation in different media, including photography” 3 . However, it is clear by studying his works that Degas aimed to create an impression of a person’s life rather than Monet, who aimed to create an impression of a scene. One way that he demonstrated this was how Degas “began experimenting with off-centre compositions, and figures cut in half by the picture frame” 1 , which can be considered a way that Degas allowed the viewer to glimpse “an unexpected slice of Parisian life”. This is comparable to how Monet used sketchy strokes and varied colours in his paintings; both artists used these contrasting techniques to give the viewer an impression of the scene in front of them, whether it was a landscape or a group of people.

Some critics have argued that “Degas never allowed himself to be called an Impressionist, and, affirming the supremacy of drawing over colour, was often highly critical of his colleagues [the Impressionist artists he frequently exhibited with at the Salon des Refusés]” 4 yet, despite this, he did show very similar motifs to other Impressionists like Monet. Indeed, a majority of written sources on Degas were in books containing a wide range of other Impressionist artists, implying that many art historians do draw great similarities between Degas’ and other Impressionists’ work. Studying Degas’ sketches and paintings as a modern viewer, it is clear that the theme of capturing a moment for the viewer was a theme of Impressionism that Degas consistently demonstrated, along with other Impressionists.

Another artist prominent at the time of the Impressionists was Paul Cézanne, whom I also researched as part of my project. Like other Impressionists, Cézanne presented his work at the 1870 Salon de Réfuses, however he drifted away from the Impressionist movement and focused on creating more carefully structured compositions, with a unique crystal-life appearance. In paintings such as Tall Trees at the Jas de Bouffan (1883), Cézanne used “constructive” strokes, consisting of flat strokes of a consistent scale, shape and direction, “giving the picture an overall coherence … through slow methodical brushwork” 5 . Art historians can infer that rather than attempting to create atmospheric conditions, he sought to create spectrums of colour that more realistically replicated the conditions of the day.

Some critics argue that Cézanne was key to the Impressionist movement, while others, such as Hajo Düchting, claim “once the heyday of Impressionism dawned, Cézanne had already put both Paris and Impressionism far behind him” 6 . In this case, it is important to note that Düchting is writing with the purpose to persuade the reader that Cézanne was a truly unique and revolutionary artist of his time, so the author avoids crediting the origins of Cézanne’s style to any artist or movement, such as the Impressionists, throughout the book. Despite potential bias in his work, it is difficult to ignore Düchting’s argument that Cézanne was unlike the Impressionists; indeed, even sources specifically covering Impressionist artists describe Cézanne as relinquishing Impressionism, “insufficient for [his] purpose and inadequate to [his] aims” 4 .

Many of the sources I did study as part of my research gave a general overview of Impressionism, such as “Great Artists of the Western World: Impressionism”, considering how many artists of the same period of history used Impressionist techniques; this suggests that the authors may be biased in looking at Cézanne and Degas from a purely Impressionist viewpoint, rather than considering techniques which made both artists stand out from classic Impressionists like Monet. Despite this, visiting galleries and exhibitions such as “Drawn in Colour: Degas from the Burrell” (National Art Gallery) and “Corteau Impressionists: From Manet to Cézanne” (National Art Gallery) offered the opportunity for first hand research in seeing these artists’ work up close, supporting evidence from these texts regarding to what extent Degas and Cézanne really were “Impressionists”. The Corteau Impressionists exhibition at the National Art Gallery 5 featured a range of artists from a similar period of art history, such as Manet, Renoir and Seurat. However, the paintings themselves and their descriptions were clear evidence of how differently these artists worked; for example, Seurat was described as being “dissatisfied with Impressionists’ intuitive responses to light and colour” and thoroughly discarded their style of thinking, despite being exhibited as one of them in this exhibition, suggesting that not all those artists considered “Impressionists” by the public can truly be considered one by art historians. Generally, the Impressionist exhibitions proved more useful sources than the texts, which were prone to producing bias to make the artist seem more original in their techniques (and therefore less “typically Impressionist”), while seeing the paintings and annotations up close allowed for a more critical judgement of the methods used.

Using the research I had gathered from these three key artists, I began to develop an idea for a final piece which incorporated what I felt were the key features of Impressionism. I focused on a series of works, taking inspiration from how both Monet and Degas created multiple, similar paintings which showed subtle changes in composition and/or atmosphere. I chose to focus on landscapes, picking compositions from my garden in order to give me the change to work en plein air, trying to pick images which worked together in a series, yet also showed some compositional interest, taking inspiration from Degas. Eventually I chose a set of two compositions that complemented each other with similar viewpoints. Throughout the painting process, I focused on capturing all the colours reflected in the light of the scenes, while preserving the spontaneous, loose feel of the Impressionist artists, taking note of what I’d learnt in my research. This can particularly be reflected in the portrayal of the trees, where I used broad brushstrokes to capture the constant movement of the leaves. I also used subtle variations of colour to reflect the slight changes in light and impression for the viewer: while the first painting has a strong, warm tint to reflect the calm twilight, the second painting consists of slightly cooler tones to suggest the vibrant daytime. This was an ode to Monet’s many series works, containing multiple similar scenes with strong variations in light and atmosphere. Overall, these paintings reflected and supported what I’d learnt during my research regarding the techniques and aims of Monet and Degas.

In conclusion, there is clear evidence for colour being a key feature in Impressionist art, yet this cannot be prioritised over the real motive behind the artist’s work: the reason for “Impressionist” art being given its name is due to whether or not the aim of the piece is to suggest a moment in time, inflicting some sort of emotion or atmosphere for the viewer. Despite this, it is accurate to suggest that “the Impressionist group in France falls into several sections” 4 . Monet and Degas both shared the same intention to capture an impression of a scene, despite doing this through different techniques; in comparison, Cézanne shared similar technical qualities in his painting style to Monet, yet his overall aim leant towards capturing a representation of a longer period of time. In this way, it is clear Monet and Degas demonstrate their Impressionist qualities to a much greater extent than Cézanne, which can be noted in viewing their work. In this way, the significance of colour in Impressionism is limited to simply being a means through which artists, such as Monet, can create these atmospheric effects and feelings for the viewer.

• Anon. (1987). Great Artists of the Western World. London: Marshall Cavendish.
• Mannering. (1998). The Masterworks of Monet. Bristol: Parragon.
• Drawn in Colour: Degas from the Burrell. The National Gallery, London. (Exhibition February 2018)
• Francia, d. (1961). Movements in Modern Art: Impressionism. Vienna: Brüder Rosenbaum.
• Courtauld Impressionists: From Manet to Cézanne. The National Gallery, London. (Exhibition November 2018)
• Duchting. (1996). Cézanne. Taschen America Llc.
• Sagner-Duchting. (1992). Claude Monet. Taschen America Llc.
• Reyburn. (1997). The Art of the Impressionists. Grange Books Ltd.
• Gariff. (2008). World’s Most Influential Painters and the Artists They Inspired: Stories and Hidden Connections Between Great Works of Western Art.

© 2020 Jennifer Leigh. Based on website design GreatSEO .

Art Essay Examples

Art Essay Examples to Get You Inspired - Top 10 Samples

Published on: May 4, 2023

Last updated on: Jan 30, 2024

Share this article

Are you struggling to come up with ideas for your art essay? Or are you looking for examples to help guide you in the right direction? 

Look no further, as we have got you covered!

In this blog, we provide a range of art writing examples that cover different art forms, time periods, and themes. Whether you're interested in the classics or contemporary art, we have something for everyone. These examples offer insight into how to structure your essay, analyze art pieces, and write compelling arguments.

So, let's explore our collection of art essay examples and take the first step toward becoming a better art writer!

On This Page On This Page -->

Good Art Essay Examples

In the following section, we will examine a selection of art essay examples that are inspiring for various academic levels.

College Art Essay Examples

Let’s take a look at college art essay examples below:  

The Intersection of Art and Politics: An Analysis of Picasso's Guernica

The Role of Nature in American Art: A Comparative Study

University Art Essay Examples

University-level art essay assignments often differ in length and complexity. Here are two examples:

Gender and Identity in Contemporary Art: A Comparative Study

Art and Activism: The Role of Street Art in Political Movements

A Level Art Essay Examples

Below are some art paper examples A level. Check out: 

The Use Of Color In Wassily Kandinsky's Composition Viii

The Influence of African Art on Pablo Picasso's Les Demoiselles D'avignon

A Level Fine Art Essay Examples

If you're a student of fine arts, these A-level fine arts examples can serve as inspiration for your own work.

The Use Of Texture In Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night

Exploring Identity Through Portraiture: A Comparative Study

Art Essay Examples IELTS 

The Impact of Art on Mental Health

The Effects of Technology on Art And Creativity

Paper Due? Why Suffer? That's our Job!

AP Art Essay Examples

A Comparison of Neoclassical and Romantic Art

An Examination Of The Effects Of Globalization On Contemporary Art

Types of Art Essay with Examples

Art essays can be categorized into different types. Let's take a brief look at these types with examples:

Art Criticism Essay : A critical essay analyzing and evaluating an artwork, its elements, and its meaning.

The Persistence of Memory" by Salvador Dali: A Critical Analysis

Art History Essay: A comprehensive essay that examines the historical context, development, and significance of an artwork or art movement.

The Renaissance: A Rebirth of Artistic Expression

Exhibition Review: A review of an art exhibition that evaluates the quality and significance of the artwork on display.

A Review of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Exhibition

Contemporary Art Essay: An essay that explores and analyzes contemporary art and its cultural and social context.

The Intersection of Technology and Art in Contemporary Society

Modern Art Essay: An essay that examines modern art and its significance in the development of modernism.

Cubism and its Influence on Modern Art [insert pdf]

Art Theory Essay: An essay that analyzes and critiques various theories and approaches to art.

Feminist Art Theory: A Critical Analysis of its Impact on Contemporary Art [insert pdf]

Additional Art Essay Example

Let’s take a brief look at some added art essay samples:

Artwork Essay Example

Artist Essay Example

Advanced Higher Art Essay Example

Common Art Essay Prompts

Here are some common art essay topics that you may encounter during your coursework:

• Describe a piece of artwork that has inspired you.
• A comparative analysis of Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa and Michelangelo's David.
• Analyze the cultural significance of a particular art movement.
• Discuss the relationship between art and politics.
• Compare and contrast two works of art from different time periods or cultures.
• The representation of identity in art
• The Evolution of Artists' Paintings:
• From Traditional to Contemporary Art
• The representation of identity in Frida Kahlo's self-portraits.
• The significance of oil on canvas in the history of art.
• The significance of the Mona Lisa in the Italian Renaissance

Art Essay Topics IELTS

Here are some art essay topics for IELTS students. Take a look: 

• The value of art education.
• The role of museums in preserving art and culture.
• The impact of globalization on contemporary art.
• The influence of technology on art and artists.
• The significance of public art in urban environments.

Tips For Writing a Successful Art Essay

Here are some tips for writing a stand-out art essay:

• Develop a clear thesis statement that guides your essay: Your thesis statement should clearly and concisely state the main argument of your essay.
• Conduct thorough research and analysis of the artwork you are writing about : This includes examining the visual elements of the artwork, researching the artist, and considering the historical significance.
• Use formal and precise language to discuss the artwork: Avoid using colloquial language and instead focus on using formal language to describe the artwork.
• Include specific examples from the artwork to support your arguments: Use specific details from the artwork to back up your analysis.
• Avoid personal bias and subjective language: Your essay should be objective and avoid using personal opinions or subjective language.
• Consider the historical and cultural context of the artwork: Analyze the artwork in the context of the time period and cultural context in which they were created.
• Edit and proofread your essay carefully before submitting it: Ensure your essay is well-organized, coherent, and free of grammatical errors and typos.
• Use proper citation format when referencing sources: Follow the appropriate citation style guidelines and give credit to all sources used in your essay.
• Be concise and focused in your writing: Stick to your main thesis statement and avoid going off-topic or including irrelevant information.
• Read your essay aloud to ensure clarity and coherence: Reading your essay out loud can help you identify inconsistencies or any other mistakes.

The Bottom Line!

We hope that the art essay examples we've explored have provided you with inspiration for your own essay. Art offers endless possibilities for analysis, and your essay is a chance to showcase your unique opinions.

Use these examples as a guide to craft an essay that reflects your personality while demonstrating your knowledge of the subject.

Short on time? Let CollegeEssay.org help you! All you have to do is to ask our experts, " write college essay for me " and they'll help you secure top grades in college.

Don't wait, reach out to our art essay writing service.

Take the first step towards excellence in your art studies with our AI essay writer !

Cathy A. (Literature)

For more than five years now, Cathy has been one of our most hardworking authors on the platform. With a Masters degree in mass communication, she knows the ins and outs of professional writing. Clients often leave her glowing reviews for being an amazing writer who takes her work very seriously.

Paper Due? Why Suffer? That’s our Job!

Legal & Policies

• Privacy Policy
• Cookies Policy
• Terms of Use
• Refunds & Cancellations
• Our Writers
• Success Stories
• Our Guarantees
• Affiliate Program
• Referral Program
• AI Essay Writer

Disclaimer: All client orders are completed by our team of highly qualified human writers. The essays and papers provided by us are not to be used for submission but rather as learning models only.

Writing a Personal Study for A-Level Art and Design

Image Credit: Ricardo Viana

eParenting is supported by our readers. When you purchase through a link on this page, we may earn commission.

What Topic Should I Do My Study On?

• Compare and contrast the work of two painters. Choose two that have some similarities, maybe in subject matter or the time they lived in. Discuss the similarities and then the differences. You can focus on just one area of their work if they were prolific. E.g. Braque and Picasso, Hirst and Emin, Magritte and Dali.
• Discuss what has influenced an artist's work. The influence of African art on Picasso and the Cubists has been done rather a lot, so how about van Gogh and Japanese art, the influence of the pre-Raphaelites on surrealism, the influence of primitive art on sculptors such as Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth.
• How has one artist's work influenced many? Photographers like Henri Cartier-Bresson and Ansel Adams have influenced hundreds of other photographers.
• Of course you can think of any question to set yourself. Was Turner the first impressionist? Was Andy Warhol prophetic in his obsession with celebrity culture?

Making Your Personal Study Personal

Next the study should be PERSONAL. This means it should be about your response to the works of art. How does it make you feel? What story does it tell you? What do you conclude from looking at the picture, sculpture, or photograph?

Your study should be about your opinions and feelings. You can refer to other people's interpretations of a piece but you should always state this and never pass these opinions off as you own. Always write it in quotations and give the author's name.

A personal study is not just a biography of the artist. You will get few marks for simply re-writing a book on an artist's life. Biographical details should be brief and could be included as an appendix if you have too many words! Also, this is an art project, so make your study visual with lots of examples of artists works, diagrams and your visual responses to the works.

Image Credit: My Life Through A Lens

What Should My Personal Study Include?

You should of course always refer to the syllabus for your particular exam board, but here are a few suggestions of things to include in your study.

• Introduction . State the purpose of the study that is, the question that you are going to answer or the theme which you are going to explore.
• Make an analysis of at least two pictures by each artist in your study. Describe the picture, how it makes you feel, what it tells you. Is it relaxing or energetic, narrative or impressionistic?
• Visit galleries to view original works and write about your visit. How does it feel to view an original work compared with seeing a reproduction? Were the colours different? Was it bigger or smaller than you imagined? Exciting or disappointing?
• Conclusion . What is the answer to your question. What have you found out? Was it what you expected or were you surprised by it?
• Add a bibliography and list any other resources that you used, such as museums and galleries that you have visited or websites that you have used.

Recommended Books

These are two books that I found invaluable during my A-Level Art course.

The Story of Art - E.H. Gombrich A bestselling history of art book and quite rightly so. From prehistory to the present day, this book is so well written that you can read it for pleasure.

This book is an investment, because if you decide to continue studying art you will still be referring to it all the time.

Approaching Art and Design: A Guide for Students - Rod Taylor and Dorothy Taylor.

Sadly out of print but you may be able to find it secondhand or in your local library.

This is a book which gives an approach to studying A-Level art and shows you the standard required to succeed. It emphasises the importance of basic drawing skills, then shows how to develop drawings into a final piece of work. It does mainly focus on drawing and painting skills but is also relevant to 3D and Textiles.

Finally, best of luck with your A-Level art!

Updated 2nd March 2023

• 50 Free Revision Resources for GCSE, A-Level, SATs and 11+
• UK School Term and Holiday Dates
• Education Levels in the UK Explained

Recent Posts

Here's what's new on eParenting

• 2024's Most Exciting New Kids Movies
• Pregnancy & Baby Freebies For UK Mums
• The Most Accurate Ways To Find The Sex of Your Baby
• Shakespeare Day
• St. George's Day
• Cinco de Mayo
• Mother's Day (US)

Most Popular

• Things To In The Easter Holidays 2024
• Screen Time Rules and Reward Charts Printables
• UK Homeschooling Resources
• Kids & Family Movies In Cinemas
• Knitting (and Crocheting!) For Charity 2024

• International
• Schools directory
• Resources Jobs Schools directory News Search

A-Level Art Sample Essay

Subject: Art and design

Age range: 16+

Resource type: Unit of work

Last updated

13 August 2020

• Share through email
• Share through twitter
• Share through linkedin
• Share through facebook
• Share through pinterest

A* sample essay of A2/ A-Level Art Essay, which goes alongside coursework. This student focuses on the theme of sunlight and researches into historic and contemporary artists throughly. Exam board: AQA

Tes paid licence How can I reuse this?

Your rating is required to reflect your happiness.

It's good to leave some feedback.

Something went wrong, please try again later.

This resource hasn't been reviewed yet

To ensure quality for our reviews, only customers who have purchased this resource can review it

Report this resource to let us know if it violates our terms and conditions. Our customer service team will review your report and will be in touch.

Not quite what you were looking for? Search by keyword to find the right resource:

A-level: identities in art and architecture

Videos + essays, a-level: marc quinn, self.

This work is an example of provocation with a purpose.

A-level: A Buddha from Mathura

Divinity in stone, an early Buddha from Mathura.

A-level: Benin Plaques

How to impress your courtiers: a lesson from the Kingdom of Benin

A-Level: Rembrandt, The Jewish Bride

With its almost sculptural surface and dazzling range of textures, this painting once reduced van Gogh to tears.

A-Level: Sample set of works for Identities

These works explore questions of divinity, gender identity, ethnicity, and the urban environment.

A-Level: Looking east—how Japan inspired Monet, Van Gogh and other Western artists

A-level: liu chunhua, chairman mao en route to anyuan.

Promoting Mao as a revolutionary leader, this portrait melds Chinese landscape convention with socialist realism.

A-Level: Sacred space and symbolic form at Lakshmana Temple, Khajuraho (India)

Beautiful women and loving couples adorn this temple. Together, they symbolize fertility, growth, and divine union.

A-Level: Michel Tuffery, Pisupo Lua Afe (Corned Beef 2000)

Tuffery’s iconic “tinned bull” addresses contemporary concerns about ecological health and food sovereignty

A-Level: Shiva as Lord of the Dance (Nataraja)

Caught in a moment of his dance, this many-limbed figure embodies Hindu ideals of beauty and physical perfection

A-Level: Shirin Neshat, Rebellious Silence, Women of Allah series

Neshat’s series examines the complexities of women’s identities in the Middle East’s changing cultural landscape.

A-Level: Zaha Hadid, MAXXI National Museum of XXI Century Arts

Inheritor of an ancient concrete tradition, Hadid also refers to early 20th-century utopianism in her museum design.

Your donations help make art history free and accessible to everyone!

We've begun to update our look on video and essay pages!

Smarthistory's video and essay pages look a little different but still work the same way. We're in the process of updating our look in small ways to make Smarthistory's content easy to read and accessible on all devices. You can now also collapse the sidebar for focused watching and reading, then open it back up to navigate. We'll be making more improvements to the site over the next few months!

• TOP CATEGORIES
• AS and A Level
• University Degree
• International Baccalaureate
• Uncategorised
• 5 Star Essays
• Study Tools
• Study Guides
• Meet the Team
• Art & Design

                             Claude Monet

STRUCTURAL FRAME

• Artworks were solid and reflective →  Monet interested in reflections. Pushed him further. Eg.  water reflections
• Impressionism →  heavily influenced by Japanese art. Due to technology he found out about them. Looked at artifacts and loved it because it was different.
• Western art – Realism
• Reject the rectangular formation – used squares and circle canvas. →  Composition in a conventional way. Different to his time as everyone used rectangles.
• Created workshops/studios next to lake or piece if land he was painting.
• Purchases a whole lot of land (at least an acre) so he can create his own landscape to paint.

SUBJECTIVE FRAME

• Water Lillie’s: looks at paint and qualities of paint, moves, and atmosphere. Interested in how do we look and see things.
• Influenced by Japanese wood cut prints – flat layers sitting on top of each other →  new way of looking at art, of valuing it. →  Japanese valued their landscape (loved the colour) →  Monet was interested in landscape.
• Monet was influenced by the Japanese through their technique and subject matter (Japanese Gardens).
• Stops just looking at light and looks at atmosphere →  meditation & spiritual connections.

POST MODERN FRAME

• Impressionism: photo’s came out and questions the role of the artist →  documenting historical values (painting = one off, camera = many replicas).

→  Camera destabilizes the artist’s and what they’re meant to be. Use to be very representational.

→  People had certain speculations about how the movement worked ( eg.  horse’s legs all in the air when really 2 by 2).

→  Picasso’s predecessor was Cezanne – viewing the one object at different views at different times. Looks at colour & tone. Art isn’t about what you see (representation); it begins to be about the artist’s motives as well. →  Artists start painting for themselves rather than for the audience in Dutch Still Life.

• Western Art – Realism

CULTURAL FRAME

• Artists have social values because they could do the things ordinary people couldn’t. They were also wealthy.
• Gallery (Salon) – Authority in art. Tells you whether or not you made it as an artist. →  Funded and opened by the Government. Job was to entertain and provide. →  If you were selected then you made it. People will know who you are. Monet didn’t make it in and people laughed at his work – called it incomplete. The general public doesn’t like it.
• Salon refuse (the rejects of Salon): all impressionist art →  still not valued. No one bought it and general public didn’t like it (not pretty). →  Artworks were solid and reflective →  Monet interested in reflections. Pushed him further. Eg.  water reflections
• Western Art - Realism

ARTIST PRACTICE

• Painting →  historically →  you have to know the context of what the artwork means.
• Modernity (democracy – people did what they want): Things like the invention of steam, changes to the landscape, people’s way thinking about the world, country people can travel to city to be educated, jobs in the service industry. You didn’t have to stay poor anymore.
• Monet →  bourgeoisie
• Father was academic and wanted his son to be as well.
• Monet was wealthy: →  lived in France, Paris. Small community of impressionists. →  catch up at parties, café, Moulin rouge
• Western Art – Realism.

CONCEPTUAL FRAME: ARTIST

This is a preview of the whole essay

CONCEPTUAL FRAME: ARTWORK

• Artworks were solid and reflective →  Monet interested in reflections. Pushed him further. Eg. water reflections

MUSEE DE L’ORANGERIE (ARTWORK)

• Creates the artwork for specific places. Eg.  – dome gallery like an installation.
• Donates his work to the government.
• Stops just looking at light and looks at atmosphere →  meditation and spiritual connection.
• Sold his work to Americans →  they funded him →  success overseas but not nationally (sold them to bourgeoisie in America).

CONCEPTUAL FRAME: WORLD

CONCEPTUAL FRAME: AUDIENCE

• Salon refuse (the rejects of Salon): all impressionist art →  still not valued. No one bought it and general public didn’t like it (not pretty).

NIGHT CRIES

___________________________Tracey Moffatt

• Media – Film, colour (19 minutes)
• Setting – outback farm house
• Aboriginal woman nurses her dying white mother.
• Surreal in presentation and use of colour & props.
• Layout is both internal and external.
• Content deals with real and remembered time. Reflects on and makes use of memories.
• Colour changes with contexts. Eg  black and white segments = flashbacks
• No dialogue – images and sounds used to narrate story.
• Sound is heightened element due to lack of dialogue and used to link past, present and the fantasy worlds.
• Sound is important. It vividly links the issues/concepts of the film.
• Lack of dialogue relies on images to tell the story and the audience to experience the work on a personal interpretative level.
• Sounds are surreal and haunting.
• Only dialogue is the cry of the old woman from her sleep “Where are you?” The younger woman is lost in her own internal space.
• The work as whole impacts the audiences’ emotions, leaving them uncomfortable and on edge – highly emotionally charged.
• Sounds make the atmosphere; both internally and externally, feel empty – like the emptiness of the young woman’s life.
• Lack of emotional connection between the two characters.
• Younger woman’s indigenous roots appear foreign to her.
• Christian singer is unable to be heard – bad reception. The illusive struggle for peace and the emptiness of the messages to the younger woman.
• Heightened frustrations of the younger woman are obvious.
• The film leaves audience guessing as to the interpretation of the work. It raises questions rather than answering them.
• Heart wrenching in its impact on the audience’s emotions.
• Challenges audience’s expectations of film/story/plot. It is not clichéd – does not use typical American film formula.
• Title “Rural” links to Australia’s past and all the cultural connections contained within. Eg.  The country’s economy heavily reliant on agriculture and the ecology’s demise as a direct result.
• Obvious links to the 1950’s film “Jedda” where an Aboriginal girl is raised within a white context and the struggle she wrestles with as a direct result of her upbringing.
• The work itself is a film (not a traditional art medium) and the impact of the audience of this medium is far more elaborate and sophisticated in reference to emotion.
• The racial references inform the audiences of the artist’s subjective experiences as well as a generation’s experience by making sub minimal references to political issues of the black and white debate/related issues.
• The work reflects a loss of innocence, a sense of isolation and dysfunction.
• The memories of the younger woman share her struggles to escape her life’s situation, her lack of identity or relationship to her indigenous culture.
• In the beach scene we see her being strangled by seaweed come film – possibly symbolizing her memories constantly being returned and how technology is used to record history.
• Introduces the Post Modern concept of history being a subjective rather than objective record of events.
• Aboriginality – lack of connection.
• White Australia – its political persuasions, values and baggage.
• Religious beliefs – in particular Christianity.
• Deals with time and history.
• Symbolic use of Christian issues. →  Washing of feet (like Jesus wiping feet of disciples) →  “Onward Christian Soldiers” hymn. The impacts of Christianity on indigenous cultures but more specifically on the individual. →  The value of the individual – compassion
• Cultural icons – the squeaky farmhouse door. →  The corrugated iron outdoor toilet
• Lack of intimacy between the two characters – possibly reflects same in racial black and white relationships on political front.
• Emptiness of religion – broken promises of the Church.
• Empty life echoed in the setting.
• Guilt and condemnation for feeling of resentment to mother – issues of caring for the elderly →  burden.
• Deals with ideas on death →  Physical, spiritual, mental etc.
• Contemporary Australian film making
• Relates to Tracey Moffatt’s Aboriginal background.
• Personal experiences
• Semi Autobiographic
• Personal and interpretative.
• About her life, how these two people relate to each other.
• Explores emotions of frustration and loneliness.
• Mother and daughter relationship.
• Shows the loss of her brothers.
• Repetitive actions and movements.
• No answers to questions.
• Colour tones of purple, red.
• Setting – house, rural area.
• Artwork is confronting.
• Annoying sounds, repetitive creaking.
• Sounds intrude on the silence.
• Artificial setting – studio set.

CONCEPTUAL FRAME: WORLD  

• Racial history – Aboriginal vs. White Australia.
• Stolen generation – adopted into white family.
• Desert location – isolation, dryness.
• Christianity – singing songs
• Conflicts on culture – Jimmy Little.
• Washing of mother’s feet – like disciples washing Jesus’ feet.
• Assimilation policy.
• Issues of contemporary history.
• Does not fit into normal film genre.
• Leaves audience wondering.
• Movie is viewed on personal level.
• Personal experience on life Eg.  Bad childhood
• Read movie on different level.
• Creates more questions than answers.
• Sounds make audience think about answers.
• No dialogue makes it hard to understand story.
• Experienced individually.

_______________________________Bill Viola

• Architectural space = man made space + negative space in a building. →  Interested in filling space.
• Experiments with combining the effects of electronic sound with architectural space in order to combine the video’s properties with his own emotions and personal experiences. →  Explore show integral sound is to the perception of space.
• The submergence of water in several of Viola’s works →  linking to his personal experience when he was 10 and nearly drowned in a lake.
• Video artist
• He uses universal symbols used in beliefs →  water, fire and wind.
• Silhouette – alien like form →  scary
• Turns body into a landscape →  the human experience using the landscape to explore the human experience.
• Simplicity in the presentation but a very complex thinking process – deep meaning →  putting too much on the artwork restricts the meaning.
• Works very gradual: - distorting sense of space - you don’t realize how big things are until the end - manipulating, consumes the audience into his works then overwhelming them →  ( The Messenger )
• Works done in a loop – life and cycle.
• Water – cleanse →  is the person stuck in a better place?
• His works unfold the layers of human consciousness and self knowledge. - image starts revealing itself slowly - works the reverse of conscience →  reveals more deeper perspective - may trigger own memories because of its scale
• In his multimedia works he explores the phenomena of sense perception →   integrating a range of philosophies, both Western and Eastern.  
• His approach to life and his work has been greatly influenced by Eastern philosophy. →  Places humanity in the context of nature’s ongoing cycle and recognizes the whole as being represented in parts.
• His works are metaphors for birth, reincarnation, renewal, emergence of an individual and personal journey. →  Viewer is left to contemplate the meaning of life, as well as to dwell on the memories and fears.
• Concept of renewal, life etc is associated with the submergence of water in several of Viola’s works →  linking to his personal experience when he was 10 and nearly drowned in a lake. →  His memories of the experience are of mystery and peace below the surface.
• Works deals with life, with survival, with the will to live and also with death.
• Emotions and reactions
• Scared – dealing with the unknown →  appearing and disappearing like supernatural/abnormal →  looking for our reaction.
• Audience submerged in the artwork, like drowning →  reality you can hear a heartbeat →  plays with idea of Nasa.
• Work relies on the individual →  where we are in life (at that stage), their understanding of life and the world and how they interpret their work.
• Who am I? What is my purpose in life? →  Questioning ideas of what we accept as life for the individual with the different stages of life.
• Confrontational →  human figures, reality.
• Looking for universal truths in the world.
• Shared experiences of the landscape.
• As an audience you have no sense of space where the video is projected →  distorts sense of space.
• Being happy in their own misery →  What decision are people making? What idea should I be making?
• Turns body into a landscape.
• Like reinventing the human expressionism in Caravaggio’s works →  the greeting: Mary + Elizabeth. Last 3 colour works.
• Mediator of nature.

CULTURAL FRAME  

• He sees nature’s power as composed of interacting opposites (Chinese Yin and Yang) – light and dark, fire and water, spiritual and physical, life and death. →  The illusions created suggest a feeling of grandeur / hint of Romanticism (about human being small in comparison to Mother Nature).
• Uses innovative state of art electronic technology to investigate life and being itself.
• Influence by religion – he uses universal symbols used in beliefs →  water, fire and wind.
• Interested in the Earth and its elements and how we use Earthly elements in our beliefs.
• Universal – not limited to a certain culture.

ARTIST PRACTICE  

• Viola keeps a collection of notebooks in which he has recorded and developed his ideas and observations in.
• Auto bibliographical: fell off a boat in childhood →  repeated image of water.
• Influence by religion – he uses universal symbols used in beliefs →  water, fire.
• American Artist, New York.
• Constant use of resurrection – rebirth that can be revived.
• Not egotistical: not about him it’s about his surroundings.
• He sees nature’s power as composed of interacting opposites (Chinese Yin and Yang) – light and dark, fire and water, spiritual and physical, life and death.

THE MESSENGER (ARTWORK)

• Distorted image in dark atmosphere with little spotlight →  looks like its floating.
• Windy and strong gustily, whispery noises.
• Human figure (recognisable but distorted still)
• Image becomes clearer and body moves closer to focus →  a make head bopping up and down the surface of the water.
• Darkness consumes background and focus is centered yet smaller scale than the darkness which surrounds it.
• Slowly zooms into top half of body’s figure →  image distorts and face emerges from water still floating – eyes open, mouth open, a gasp of air? →  Music helps give a sense of relief is consumed and human flesh colour emerges.
• Music becomes soft and a little hollow and face floats on surface - sounds like heavy breathing being breathed under water.
• After two minutes body floats under water again. Colours turn blue, cyan, green and flesh colour disappears. →  life disappears. Eyes are closed.
• Body starts zooming out showing more of the whole body again.
• Bubbles emerge from under the water to surface →  drowning assumption?
• As body zooms away from focus, image distorts but area with face is filled with bubbles →  music becomes softer and almost silent.

Document Details

• Word Count 4328
• Page Count 11
• Level AS and A Level
• Subject Art & Design

Related Essays

Art Essay - Georges Braque.

Art Essay - Paul Cézanne.

Analysis of the essay "What is art? " by Clutton Brock

Art essay Thesis: what elements of Dada and Surrealism suggest the influen...

2012 GCSE / IGCSE / A Level Art Exam Paper: Help, Ideas & Interpretation

Last Updated on April 2, 2023

The GCSE, IGCSE and A Level Art exam paper contain topics which must be used to stimulate ideas for a portfolio of artwork.  For some students, a set starting point makes life easier; for others, it throws up a mental block: a paralysing fear that they will not be able to produce anything original, or – worse –that they will be forced to draw/paint/photograph/design/sculpt something that is horrendously boring and which doesn’t interests them at all.

What follows is a list of thoughts, ideas and responses to the 2012 GCSE and A Level Art exam topics from a range of different examination boards. They are intended to spur creative thought and to aid the brainstorming process.

It is worth remembering, before you begin, that no topic is inherently boring and that even the most mundane can result in beautiful work. What matters is not the thing or even the idea, but the way it is interpreted; the way you respond to it, what it means to you and whether it wriggles inside and kicks at your soul.

It is important to remember that the best art topics are those which:

• Are significant and important to your life in some way
• You know about or have first-hand experience of
• You have access to quality first-hand source material

It should also be noted that ideas on this list are provided as an aid to the brainstorming process. They may or may not be appropriate for you, depending on your circumstance. Selection and exploration of ideas should occur only in conjunction with advice from your teacher.

Some artist model ideas have been included with the lists below. For additional ideas, please look through our Pinterest Boards .

Encounters, Experiences and Meetings

A beautiful image from a Year 12 (Level 2) NCEA Printmaking folio (sourced from the NZQA website):

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

• The meeting between mother and child / adoption / birth;
• The clashing of those who despise each other;
• Friends in a bustling and crowded restaurant;
• SEX and other forbidden encounters in a teenage world;
• The shields we put up in our brains: the filter between ourselves and those we meet;
• The joining (or meeting) of two halves;
• Meetings between strangers…The million people we pass on a daily basis, but never connect with;
• Drunken encounters;
• Encounters with god;
• Online encounters and the changing social landscape of the world;
• The clashing of cultures;
• Meeting someone who has suffered a great loss;
• Shameful encounters / those you regret;
• A meeting room, filled with business people who go about their daily lives in a trance;
• A boisterous meeting between children;
• A birthday party;
• Meeting at a skateboard park;
• Reunion at an airport;
• Meeting for the last time;
• A life-changing moment;
• Focus on the senses (an event experienced through sight / audio etc);
• Something that made you cry;
• A deja vu experience;
• Remembering an experience a long time ago: the passing of time / generations;
• The meeting of truth and lies;
• The meeting of fiction and reality;
• Encountering animals: the interaction between human and animal kind and our influence upon them (for good or bad);
• Meeting your childhood self or yourself fifty years in the future;
• The meeting of land and sea;
• Physical meetings between two things: the boundaries and edges, perhaps at a cellular level (plunging into / stabbing / tearing apart);
• The meeting of theory and practicality;
• How our own biases, backgrounds and modify/influence every experience we have: the influence of the mind;
• Truly seeing yourself as you really are;
• Conception;
• The aftermath of a meeting that never happened;
• Meeting temptation: the battle of wills;
• The meeting of technology and nature;
• Ancient man meeting the modern world: the conflict between genes and the modern environment;
• Terrorist encounter (see image below).

More exceptional Year 12 (Level 2) NCEA Printmaking work, sourced from the NZQA website:

Combinations and Alliances

• A young child holding the hand of their mother;
• Bad influences (combinations of friends) and peer pressure;
• A family unit, in alliance against the world;
• The butterfly effect (how a combination of actions / behaviours leads from one thing to another until every tiny moment in a life is interwoven with all the moments that came before);
• Political alliances;
• How ‘good’ people can complete horrific acts when lead on by the wrong situation and the wrong company;
• Still life combinations: salt and pepper, sweet and sour, fish & chips, apple and cinnamon; peanut butter and jam; the literal combination of ingredients used to make a meal;
• Unpleasant combinations we would rather not be reminded of: chocolate and obesity; that cute lamb and the juicy steak;
• The legal binding (combination) of lovers: marriage / civil unions;
• Combination of genes: Darwin’s theory of evolution – how traits are passed on etc;
• A study of two people (or animals), or people who care about each other;
• A person and something that they use to embellish their identity (i.e. fast car, makeup, fashion accessories, label clothing, iPhones);
• You and the one thing that defines you;
• Mismatched couples;
• Unfortunate combinations: drugs and celebrities; childbirth and pain; cats and water; sugar and tooth decay;
• Discipline and being cruel to be kind;
• Combinations of exercises / sets / routines;
• Mixing of light (light streaming through coloured glass windows etc);
• Lock combinations;
• Combinations of numbers – gambling, addiction;
• An uneasy alliance: a dog about to break its chain;
• Things that depend on each other for survival: a plant growing in dirt trapped in a hole in the rocks; tiny creatures that live in on the fur / skin of others – ticks on cows / hair lice / germs;
• Vaccinations and the alliance of ‘good’ germs fighting against bad…
• Eco-systems – the interconnection of water / life etc;
• A trusted alliance: horse and rider; blind person and guide dog;
• Business networks that rely on one another;
• Uniting against a common enemy.
• Highly accurate, scientific records;
• The layering of time;
• Disintegration and memory;
• Bones: the structure of life – the architecture of a living form;
• Fish skeletons;
• Archaeology and the documenting of fossils;
• Unexpected items as fossils (i.e. a fossil of an iPod or other contemporary object – remnants of a modern existence);
• Dinosaurs / extinction.

Note: this topic lends itself perfectly to printmaking, rubbings and layered, mixed media works.

Society Today

• Modern diet / processed food;
• Digital technology and the impact it has on our lives;
• Soaring depression levels / the psychiatric torment of modern man;
• Soaring caesarean rates;
• Drugs and mind-numbing forms of escape;
• Slowing down;
• More, more, more: ever increasing consumption;
• The mechanised processes involved in the production of meat: pigs in tiny cages / battery hens / images from an abattoir;
• Disconnection from the whole: i.e. a factory worker who spends his/her whole life assembling one tiny part of a product, without having any input into the big picture: disillusionment with life purpose.

Inside / Outside

• Framing / windows;
• Blurring of the boundary between inside and out;
• Prisons / loss of freedom;
• Breaking in the exterior barrier of things i.e. injuries in flesh resulting in the spilling out of insides;
• Opening a can of preserved fruit;
• Pregnancy /birth;
• Shelter from the rain;
• The inconsistency between what is going on in the outside world and the inner turmoil of someone’s brain;
• The change in state as something moves from outside to inside the human body (i.e. food > energy);
• An environment that is devoid of ‘outside’ i.e. fluorescent lights / poor ventilation…lacking in plant life…unable to see nature outdoors…the dwindling human condition etc;
• Apocalyptic future: what will happen if humans destroy the outdoor conditions; or a wall is erected to keep an infected virus-ridden population ‘outside’;
• The peeling back of interesting things to expose what is underneath (inside)…i.e. banana skins, seedpods, envelopes.
• Vegetables or interesting fruit sliced through to expose the insides (things with lots of seed / pips / bumpy skin etc);
• Something opening to reveal something unexpected (i.e. inside a cardboard box);
• The Impossible Staircase: indoors blending into outdoors in an indeterminable fashion / a blurring of dimensions;
• Inside the human body: complex, organic form: the miracle of life (human anatomy drawings / x-rays;
• Inside an animal carcass;
• The human ‘outside’ – an exterior presented to those around us. The fixation we have on creating the best exterior possible: weight control/dieting; makeup; cosmetic surgery; latest fashions;
• Inside the earth: minerals / geology / the underworld;
• Sectional views through a landscape (i.e. showing a slice through the ground / inside the earth): mines / slips / erosion / quarries, with trucks and machinery taking soil and rocks away;
• The soul: inside / outside – leaving the body;
• Plays upon storage and scale, i.e. miniature ‘scaled down’ items inside other items, like large wild animals stored inside tiny jars;
• Castings of the insides of objects – things you don’t normally think about – that are then exposed for all to see;
• Walls / divisions / outsiders;
• Deterioration that has occurred to something as a result of being left outside (i.e. an ice sculpture that is left in the sun or a decayed, rusted, weathered structure showing the long term effects of the elements);
• Light streaming in a window from outside;
• Kids in a daycare facility looking longingly outside;
• Animals in a small enclosure: a sorry life in comparison to those wild and free outside;
• Looking outside from an unusual perspective, i.e. as if you are a mouse looking through a small crack into a room;
• Inside a bomb shelter;
• Inside is meant to equal haven / shelter: what if inside is not this at all: a crime scene / an inside that has been violated;
• In the palm of your hand;
• The contents of something spilling out;
• Shellfish or snails inside their shells.

Harmony and Discord

• Love and hate relationships / fighting between families and loved ones;
• The human mind, swinging from joy to misery and despair / schizophrenia / the meddling mind: our own worst enemy;
• A whole lot of similar things, with one different thing that clashes with the rest;
• Disturbing of the peace: a beautiful scene which is rudely interrupted (i.e. a hunter firing a bullet into a grazing herd of animals or someone pulling out a gun in a crowded shopping mall);
• Musical interpretations: jazz bands / instruments / broken instruments;
• Money: the root of good and evil;
• The broken family / divorce / merged families;
• The clashing of humans with the environment;
• Something beautiful and ugly;
• Meditation to escape the discord of modern day life;
• Prescribed medication (happy pills) to minimise the discord in life – but eliminates the harmony?
• A visual battle: a mess of clashing colours;
• Things in the wrong environment: placing objects unexpectedly in different locations to create discord (or at least alertness and aliveness) a scene of apparent harmony.

Changed Landscape

• Changing seasons;
• The impact of human waste / litter on the environment;
• Urban sprawl;
• Forests cut down to make way for new developments;
• The pattern of crops, farming and paddocks on the land.

Black holes / stars / solar systems / the big bang;

• Skateboarders or snowboarders;
• A drug induced high;
• Cloud formations / the science of rain;
• Flying in sleep;
• Views from an aeroplane window;

Patterns humans have made in the landscape – i.e. motorways / city grids;

• Hang-gliding / hot air balloons / free fallings / parachuting;
• Insects / birds flying;
• Wing structures;
• Aftermath of a plane crash;
• Superman / superheroes;
• Things blowing into the air (old newspapers / an open briefcase / seed pods / dandelion seeds);
• Falling off a high rise building;
• Paper aeroplanes;
• Giants / over-scaled items;
• A inner cityscape of high rise buildings – glimpses through windows to people living lives contained in tiny capsules in skyscrapers;
• Athletes / sports people leaping through air.

Possible Sky High artist models: Robert Ellis (above right),  Wayne Thiebaud (right) and  Joel Rea  and   Jim Darling (below).

An intricate still life that creates shadows which become an integral element of the composition;

• Translucent sculptures;
• Images containing only shadow (without the source object);
• Woven shadows;
• Overlapping shadows from multiple light sources;

Shadows that are not of the object shown;

• A dark alleyway or other location where the lighting conditions are dramatic;
• Photographs of paper sculptures: artificial manipulation of form to explore light and shadow;
• Skin colour;
• A monochromatic subject, with the emphasis on tone (light & shade) rather than colour;
• Sunhats and sunscreen / skin cancer;
• Buildings with visible shading screens built into the facade.

Image (right) sourced from Observando .

• Symbols in airports with crowds of people of multiple ethnicities (i.e. icons communicating without language);
• An absurd aspect of a pop star’s life;
• The worship of a pop star by an ordinary teen (posters peeling off a crowded bedroom wall etc);
• Religious icons – relevance in a modern world;
• Someone using icons to communicate;
• The lie of the icon: a pop star with a public image that is nothing like they really are;
• Sex symbols: the disparity between ‘real’ bodies and those portrayed in magazines…

Memorabilia

• An obsessed fan’s memorabilia collection relating to a particular famous person;
• Objects related to something negative that you don’t want to remember: i.e. a night out on the town (cigarette butts, empty beer bottles);
• Memorabilia related to a famous wedding (i.e. Prince Charlies and Diana);
• A collection of tacky plastic characters from a particular film, that lie forgotten and dusty in the bottom of a box;
• War memorabilia, interspersed with photographs.
• ‘Sleazy’ signs from a dodgy part of town…with litter / other traces of human life / dark alleyways underneath;
• A inner cityscape crowded with brightly lit signs – perhaps exploring things to do with the clutter of human life / overpopulation of space etc;
• An decrepit sign (on an entertainment park or tired motel, for example) with broken bulbs / peeling paint;
• Disassembling old neon signs and reassembling different signs together in tongue-and-cheek ways;
• Inspiration drawn from the Neon Boneyard – where old neon signs go to die;
• Focusing on the eye-catching aspect of neon colour to draw attention to unexpected subjects…
• Young children playing with toys;
• A family playing a card or board game;
• Playing in water – or at the beach, with a bucket and spade in the sand;
• Sports – competitive playing;
• ‘Playing the field’;
• Dress up games;
• A young child putting up make-up in the mirror (playing at the imitation of adults);
• Wendy houses;
• An early childhood education scene;
• Playing gone wrong: an injured child / fighting children etc…

Folding Structures

• Paper aeroplanes (see Christina Empedocles and Ali Page )
• Paper bags (see the painting below by Karen Appleton )
• Architectural models;
• Folding architectural structures;
• Beach chairs;

• A physical journey from a particular destination to another (i.e. the mundane drive between your home and school…seeing beauty in the ordinary etc; your first visit to see something that moved you);
• The transformational journey from old to new (old structure demolished for something new / old technology making way for new etc);
• A journey through time, such as a person aging / physical changes, or a record of memorable occasions in a life;
• Childhood to adulthood;
• Getting through an emotional circumstance, such as a loved one passing away or overcoming illness;
• Conception/pregnancy/birth;
• A miniature journey  (i.e. walking down your garden path – with viewpoint at your feet etc; brushing your teeth in the morning – the journey from arrival at the sink to bright white smile);
• Achieving a goal;
• An academic journey – through school etc (ambition / academic goals / failure / success / test papers / assignments / grades etc…as in the hurdles you need to get to university);
• On a bus or a plane or a train;
• Memorabilia related to a particular journey (i.e. an overseas trip);
• A still life made from tickets, maps, timetables;
• The journey of an animal (i.e. a bird or fish, swimming upstream);
• The journey of an insect walking a short distance over interesting surfaces;
• Terrorism and the journey you will never forget.

A family argument;

• Domesticated cat or other animal;
• Domestic chores – focus on a mundane ordinary task such as doing the dishes (see Sylvia Siddell and Jo Bradney );
• Housewives / the female role / feminism etc;
• Wild versus Domestic ;
• The ‘perfect’ home situation illusion and what bubbles below the surface…
• Domestic versus foreign / invading / other;
• Domestic goods = items made in your own country…a still life featuring country-specific items…

Deceptive facades, and the walls we put up to hide our true emotions;

• Decaying wall surfaces / peeling away;
• Reflective windows, mirroring a busy street or some other interesting scene (fragmented reflections);
• A decorative facade – old church walls etc;
• Old fashioned shop fronts / signage;
• Secrets hidden behind facades / the things nobody talks about;
• Sunshades / light streaming through facades / window openings;
• Masks / dress-ups;
• Abstraction of a building facade (see work above by Uwe Wittner ).

Digital Dreams

• The merging of reality and our ‘online’ lives;
• The fictional online persona (the person we craft in our Facebook profiles and so on);
• iPods / digital devices and brightly lit screens;
• Cyber dating / online love;
• Brain waves and digital imaging of human brains while dreaming.

Looking Through

• Windows / frames – from unexpected locations / unexpected angles or in places where the outside scene contrasts the inside scene;
• Transparent layers / glass / distortion / interesting views through things;
• Old overhead projector transparencies;
• Flicking through an old recipe book or photo album;
• Looking through small gaps between leaves in the foreground at a natural scene;
• Trains / tunnels;
• A child looking through cracks in a jetty at the water below;
• Invisibility, and the feeling you get when someone ‘looks through’ you – i.e. doesn’t notice you at all;
• Kids playing hide and seek, peeking out from a hiding place;
• Inappropriate snooping through someone else’s personal belongings…

An emotive NCEA folio by Lizzi :

People – Ordinary and/or Extraordinary

• People engaged in ordinary mindless actions, i.e. brushing teeth, doing one’s hair, eating breakfast;
• Scars / tattoos / deformities that are out of the ordinary;
• The vices of ordinary people (cigarette smoking, alcoholism, food addiction etc);
• Portraits of really ‘plain’ people – seeing the beauty in the ordinary;
• The facades / layers people build up around themselves to make themselves seem extraordinary – make-up, fashion accessories etc;
• A person of extraordinary importance in your life (your mother or grandmother etc);
• Ordinary people who have extraordinary roles (i.e. a firefighter);
• The extraordinary;
• Merging images of people with other objects to make fantastical creatures;
• A portrait of an ordinary stereotype: the gossip or the cheerleader etc;
• The desperate attempts or lengths someone will go to become extraordinary;
• Depictions of ordinary people, so that they look eerie and extraordinary, like the awesome artworks by Loretta Lux ;
• Sculptures of the ordinary, at extraordinary scales, like Ron Mueck (viewer discretion advised).

Old and New

• A grandmother or other elderly person holding a baby;
• Ancient artefacts, alongside modern instruments;
• Discarded outdated computers / technology, to make way for new (things that become rapidly obsolete);
• Fresh fruit alongside rotted and decaying produce;
• Plastic surgery: an attempt to make old into new;
• A decaying structure alongside a new, contemporary form;
• New posters overlaid onto an outdoor wall layered with old, peeling posters;
• An old architectural form demolished for something new / old technology making way for new etc).

Here and Now

• The impact of digital technology on modern lives;
• Advances in preventative health and medicine;
• The prevalence of natural disasters in recent times;
• The mechanics of an old clock;
• A topical issue, such as food addiction.

Arrival / Departure

• Train stations / Airports / Looking out windows at that which is left behind;
• Divorce / departure of a parent;
• Parents who leave their children;
• Recovering from a departure / coping mechanisms;
• First day at school (or some other place);
• Feet walking away;
• A decaying, decrepit building after the departure of the occupants;
• A look at building entrances and exits;
• Motorway exits;
• Maps / subway routes / directions for travellers…

Fruit, vegetables and gardening tools placed in a setting of your choice

• A freshly harvested outdoor setting;
• A farm-like scene with wooden crates / indoor wooden shed;
• Vegetables stored for animals;
• Vegetables hanging to dry, i.e. onions / garlic with tools leaning nearby;
• A kitchen scene ;
• A fruit and vege shop;
• A bustling marketplace;
• Preserving fruit – knives / chopped fruit / preserves in glass jars;
• Fruit, veges and tools in an unexpected location, i.e. hanging in plastic bags ;
• Abstract works derived from the patterns on the skin of fruit and vegetables or the interiors that have been sliced open with knifes;
• The brutal smashing of a watermelon or some other fruit or vegetable with a hammer;
• The hanging of decaying fruit and vegetables .

Time-Honoured

• Wedding traditions;
• Birthday celebrations;
• Religious rituals;
• Guy Fawkes;
• Christenings;
• Coming-of-age rituals;
• Graduation ceremonies.

This post is a work in progress. For more help with selecting a topic, you may like to read this blog post about what makes a good A Level Art idea .

You may also be interested in the article about the 2013 Art exam topics .

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.

JOIN OVER 21,000 PEOPLE WHO RECEIVE OUR FREE NEWSLETTER

You will be notified first when free resources are available: Art project ideas, teaching handouts, printable lesson plans, tips and advice from experienced teachers. What are you waiting for?

Email Address*

We send emails monthly. And don’t worry, we hate spam too! Unsubscribe at any time.