a level art personal statement

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PERSONAL STATEMENT EXAMPLE Art and Design

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Art and Design

Art has always been a form of expressive and elevating nature. Telling intricate stories through compositions and being able to denote messages through imagery has been a fundamentally meaningful aspect of my upbringing. Being half Dutch and immersing myself in the language has enriched my understanding of the world, whilst allowing me to see creativity across different nations, thus expanding my knowledge and curiosity for the subject.

My infatuation for art and design and therefore, drawing and illustrating has been prominent from a young age- seen through gaining East Anglia young artist 2010 and leading me to study A level art. This has been a process both creatively and personally developmental. I've allowed and encouraged myself to use the qualification and workshops as a platform for my own personal interpretations and ideas. This notion is intriguing as it has really urged me to think less like a standard student and more like a practising artist or designer; assisting me to adhere to briefs whilst thinking imaginatively. Taking this course will propel me to find new ways of communicating such as through print, visual arts and animation. Moreover, always drawing and creating in my sketch-books and finding inspiration everywhere has allowed me to start to develop my own unique style and therefore, I'm excited to experiment with new methods towards art in a focused and practise environment.

My inquisitiveness has taught me to question multiple facets across the broad spectrum of art and design. I take pride in teaching myself about adobe Photoshop and illustrator, allowing me to gain more of an insight into the technical aspects of art and digital strategies. Social connections in the industry are crucial, therefore setting up an art Instagram has encouraged me to share my work with fellow artists and peers. I have also gained valuable interpersonal abilities through volunteering in my local town and other activities around school, allowing me to express opinion and critique along with team-building skills- nurtured through bronze DofE.

Across my studies, I have always questioned 'how can I take this further?' and 'how will this benefit others around me?' meaning a range of interests alongside art have been significant for me. History has encouraged a love of analysing and evaluating, in addition to teaching me about diverse cultures and societies. I enjoy this, as enriching myself with a range of information both in and outside of the lesson is important in gaining perception into what we have and what we should appreciate. Translating art into other subjects has taught me that it doesn't necessarily have to lie at the end of a pen, but art is ever-present in a multitude of societal contexts. English language A-level has taught me multiple skills and opened many doors in terms of analytical abilities. Growing up, I was fascinated by Shirley Hughes books and illustrations and how she uses art and language together as a platform for storytelling. This curiosity has encouraged my own personal research into typography and how it can be used as a new way of relaying messages graphically. Maths AS level has helped likewise in using all kinds of techniques and approaches to solve a problem. This I think, is a valued skill that I can bring to degree level studies and flourishing into a successful artist.

My own imagination and passion have the ability to create original and innovative work to the highest standard. The desire to craft comes from within, and gaining a degree in an art and design-based subject will provide a valuable grounding in producing work on a personal but professional scale. These final steps will help me get to where I want to be as a creator, gaining and achieving knowledge along with expertise- so that I can make a personally significant impact on the world and therefore, live a dream that I've had ever since I could pick up a pencil.

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A-Level art Personal Study Essay Guide

Subject: Art and design

Age range: 16+

Resource type: Worksheet/Activity

Last updated

6 August 2022

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An overview of the personal study essay with links to helpful to university resources and a writing plan for first drafts.

The essay plan supports students to get their ideas organised and find suitable resources for their essay.

The overview focuses on the Edexcel spec, but can be used for any exam borad essay component.

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A-level Art and Design

7201, 7202, 7203, 7204, 7205, 7206

• Specification
• Planning resources
• Teaching resources
• Assessment resources
• Introduction

Specification at a glance

• 3.1 Summary of subject content
• 3.2 Overarching knowledge, understanding and skills
• 3.3 Art, craft and design
• 3.4 Fine art
• 3.5 Graphic communication
• 3.6 Textile design
• 3.7 Three-dimensional design
• 3.8 Photography
• Scheme of assessment
• Non-exam assessment administration
• General administration

Subject content

Students choose one of the titles below for study.

• 1 Art, craft and design
• 3 Graphic communication
• 4 Textile design
• 5 Three-dimensional design
• 6 Photography

Assessments

Component details

Component 1: personal investigation.

This is a practical investigation supported by written material.

Students are required to conduct a practical investigation, into an idea, issue, concept or theme, supported by written material. The focus of the investigation must be identified independently by the student and must lead to a finished outcome or a series of related finished outcomes.

The investigation should be a coherent, in-depth study that demonstrates the student’s ability to construct and develop a sustained line of reasoning from an initial starting point to a final realisation.

The investigation must show clear development from initial intentions to the final outcome or outcomes. It must include evidence of the student’s ability to research and develop ideas and relate their work in meaningful ways to relevant critical/contextual materials.

The investigation must be informed by an aspect of contemporary or past practice of artists, photographers, designers or craftspeople.

The written material must confirm understanding of creative decisions, providing evidence of all four assessment objectives by:

• clarifying the focus of the investigation
• demonstrating critical understanding of contextual and other sources
• substantiating decisions leading to the development and refinement of ideas
• recording ideas, observations and insights relevant to intentions by reflecting critically on practical work
• making meaningful connections between, visual, written and other elements.
• be a coherent and logically structured extended response of between 1000 and 3000 words of continuous prose.
• include specialist vocabulary appropriate to the subject matter
• include a bibliography that, identifies contextual references from sources such as: books, journals, websites, through studies of others’ work made during a residency, or on a site, museum or gallery visit
• be legible with accurate use of spelling, punctuation and grammar so that meaning is clear.

Students can present the written material as a single passage of continuous prose or as a series of shorter discrete, but linked, passages of continuous prose incorporated within the practical work.

There is no restriction on the scale of practical work produced. Students should carefully select, organise and present their work for their Personal investigation to ensure it is well structured and provides evidence that meets the requirements of all four assessment objectives.

The personal investigation will be assessed as a whole. Evidence of meeting the requirements of all four assessment objectives must be provided in both the practical and written material. Please refer to Assessing the Personal investigation of the specification for more information on how to assess the Personal investigation.

Students must identify and acknowledge sources which are not their own.

Component 2: Externally set assignment

Separate question papers will be provided for each title. Each question paper will consist of a choice of eight questions to be used as starting points. Students are required to select one . Students will be provided with exam papers on 1 February, or as soon as possible after that date.

Preparatory period – from 1 February

Following receipt of the paper students should consider the starting points and select one. Preparatory work should be presented in any suitable format, such as mounted sheets, design sheets, sketchbooks, workbooks, journals, models and maquettes.

Supervised time – 15 hours

Following the preparatory period, students must complete 15 hours of unaided, supervised time.

The first three hours of the supervised time must be consecutive.

In the 15 hours students must produce a finished outcome or a series of related finished outcomes, informed by their preparatory work.

Students must stop work on their preparatory work as soon as the first period of supervised time starts. Students may refer to their preparatory work in the supervised time, but it must not be added to or amended.

Preparatory work and the work produced during the supervised time must be kept secure in between sessions of supervised time.

The work produced during the supervised time must be clearly identified as such. Students must identify and acknowledge sources which are not their own. Annotation and/or notes should use appropriate specialist vocabulary and be legible with accurate use of language so that meaning is clear.

At the end of the 15 hours of supervised time all the work submitted for this component must be kept secure.

Preparatory work and the work produced during the 15 hours of supervised time will be assessed together, as a whole, against all four assessment objectives. Students will be assessed on their ability to work independently, working within the specified time constraints, and developing a personal and meaningful response.

There is no restriction on the scale of work produced. Students should carefully select, organise and present work to ensure that they provide evidence which meets the requirements of all four assessment objectives.

Students must not have access to the internet during the 15 hours of supervised time. Students are allowed access to web-based applications, eg Adobe Creative Cloud, but all other internet access must be disabled.

The guidelines set out in the JCQ document ‘Instructions for the conduct of examinations’ must be followed.

How to Select a Great A2 Art Personal Study Topic

Last Updated on April 2, 2023

This is the first in a series of articles aimed at helping A Level Art students with their Personal Study (a project which is required as part of CIE A2 Art & Design). This article outlines twelve guidelines for selecting a good topic. The recommendations are based on my own experience with the teaching of this component, discussions with examiners during CIE training days and the feedback given within Examiner Reports.

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

1.  The topic must relate to Art or Design

This sounds obvious and something that should not need saying, but, absurdly, it does. For some, inexplicable reason, students continue to submit projects that are completely unrelated to Art or Design. This is a quote from a recent CIE Examiner Report:

There were numerous inappropriate submissions which were not concerned with any aspect of Art and Design. These included such topics as ‘Giving up smoking’, ‘The biology of the senses’, ‘Growing tea on a plantation’, as well as aspects of tourism, green issues and political themes. 

2. The topic should be something that you are genuinely interested in

The ultimate purpose of your Personal Study is to teach you something: to help you develop as an artist and to strengthen your understanding of art-related issues. The most successful Personal Studies communicate ‘ a strong sense of involvement through personal enthusiasm and a commitment to sustain the investigation ’.

Simply speaking, when you are passionate about a topic, you are more likely to do well.

3. The focus of your Personal Study should be process and materials (the way an artist or group of artists use/s media) or subject or theme (the way an artist approaches a topic, usually with reference to composition and technique)

In other words, your Personal Study should involve the analysis of specific pieces of art; it should NOT be the life story of an artist or the documentation of a broad period of Art history (unless this somehow includes sufficient focus upon specific artworks).

4. A topic should provide you sufficient material to write about, while not being so vast that your project becomes all-encompassing, disjointed or surface-deep

In order to produce a high quality Personal Study, you need to have a clear, well-articulated focus. This gives you something to organise your project around and encourages you to write with coherence and structure (a lack direction is a common weakness in low achieving Personal Studies). Completing an entire project around the analysis of one or two artwork, for example, is limiting, while attempting to analyse Abstract Art in all of its entirety (without any connection to a specific artist) sets up an enormous, daunting task which cannot be given justice in the time given.

5. The study should be about someone else’s art (not your own)

This is an area where CIE Art & Design students are often confused. There is an incorrect belief that students are expected to submit a body of original creative work as part of the Personal Study, similar to that produced for the Coursework project (some students even go so far as submitting only original practical work or additional Coursework pieces for this component – often with no annotation or explanation – which does not satisfy the requirements of the Personal Study at all). While the Personal Study certainly can – and in the majority of cases should – include beautiful practical work completed by the student, the Personal Study is about analysing, studying and learning from other artists : it is NOT about producing original artwork on your own topic (more information about the images used in a Personal Study will be given in a subsequent article). This quote from CIE helps to clarify this:

The main aim of the Personal Study is to encourage candidates to focus on selected examples of existing works of art or design from established contemporary or historical practitioners, seen at first hand, by making critical judgements and personal evaluations.

Note that this article has been written for CIE A2 Art Personal Studies: Personal Studies required for other examination boards differ in some respects.

6. A link to your Coursework can be advantageous

Although it is not necessary for CIE Art & Design students to select a Personal Study topic which relates to their A2 Coursework project , the examiners comment that ‘ good practice might suggest that a link between the two is advisable ’. This is because a selecting a related topic allows you to acquire knowledge, skills and understanding that may help you to complete your Coursework to a higher standard. (Remember that if you refer to your Coursework project within your Personal Study you should include photos to help explain what you are saying. Each component is assessed individually and examiners do not have access to your Coursework project while they are assessing your Personal Study).

7. Choose a topic that allows you to view artwork first-hand

This is not a guideline: it is imperative. In my experience, the best CIE A2 Art Personal Studies are produced when students not only view artwork in the flesh (in a gallery or museum exhibition, for example), but are able to meet and interview the artist or designer and see their methods of working. This gives opportunity for the work to be understood in great detail (seeing true colours, textural surface qualities and the real scale of the piece) and encourages truly personal responses. It also means that students can take beautiful photographs of the artist or designer working in their studio and see all of the processes and various stages of completion. Examiners frequently report that lower grade Personal Studies ignore this requirement and depend more heavily on secondary sources: lifeless reproductions from books and the internet.

8. Contrasting and comparing the work of artists can be helpful

Studying the work of a mainstream or critically acclaimed artist alongside a local artist can be beneficial, especially if the local artist is less established. This gives you the best of both worlds (the enthusiasm and first-hand contact from a local artist, plus the insight that comes from studying historical, contemporary and/or international artists who work in another cultural context). You may, for example, choose to focus upon two artists who paint the same subject in a different way, or to discuss the influence of a famous artist upon a local painter. It should be noted that the examiners understand that many students will not be able to see all of the artworks they study in the flesh, so supporting first-hand study with those viewed in reproduction is absolutely acceptable.

9. Select a topic that is supported by quality reference material

While the Personal Study is centred around your own personal responses, drawing on the opinions of educated critics can provide insight and a depth of understanding: grounding, validating and/or challenging your own views. Before finalising upon a Personal Study topic for A2 Art, check to see if there are existing articles, books or online reviews about the artists in question. This also helps to verify that the artist you have selected has some standing in the art community and is thus likely to be an appropriate and valuable person to study. It should be noted, of course, that in many cases, the more well-known an artist is, the less time they have to accommodate visits from eager high school students; sometimes relatively unknown artists can be very skilled and have much to teach a high school Art student.

10. Word your title so that it captures the essence of your Personal Study and indicates a well-chosen focus

For example: ‘ The Portraiture of [artist name]: An Appreciation of Light and Colour ’ is more appropriate than ‘ Portraiture in Art ’. ‘ The use of Symbolism in Traditional and Contemporary Weaving ’ (an example given in the CIE 9704 Art & Design syllabus ) is more appropriate than ‘ The Art of Weaving ’. ‘ Landscapes of the Idurah Valley ’ (another example given in the syllabus) is more appropriate than ‘ Landscape Paintings ’. ‘ An Investigation into Gender Roles in Contemporary Art ’ is better than ‘ Contemporary Art ’. In the former examples, the title helps to clarify the focus of the study; the latter suggest an enormously broad study that would be difficult to complete well. Similarly, it is also beneficial to avoid overly simplistic titles that convey little information, such as ‘ [artist name] Personal Study ’ or ‘ Fish ’. Ideally, the examiner a clear idea about what your study is about (and be impressed) from the first moment they encounter your project.

11. Select your Personal Study topic near the start of the A2 Art Course

The Personal Study is a large and comprehensive project. It is impossible to complete in its entirety (and achieve a good grade) at the last minute. It can be good practise to start thinking about your topic selection at the conclusion of the AS Course. High achieving students often use the winter or summer break, seeking out artists who are available for interview locally. This leaves them in a strong position to start the A2 year (it can be wise to touch base with teachers prior to making contact with an artist, however, to avoid wasting anyone’s time). Regardless of whether the vacation period is utilised, it is essential that the Personal Study receives regular attention (ideally within scheduled class time as well as in homework sessions) so that students can plan, research and complete the project in a systematic, organised way.

12. Submit an Outline Proposal Form to CIE before you begin

While this is not a requirement, all students should be encouraged to do this. Any concern about the suitability of a topic can be overcome by making use of the Outline Proposal Forms (OPF). This is a free way of gaining invaluable feedback from the official CIE Senior Moderator before you begin. Blank forms are available on the password protected Teachers’ Support Site and can be submitted electronically to CIE for approval. It is important to note that the brief feedback given should be read with great care and always adhered to. This form should then be retained and submitted along with the finished Personal Study.

An example of the CIE Examiner Reports quoted in this article can be found on the publicly accessible Art & Design section of the CIE website. Further reports are available from the password protected Teachers’ Support Site.

The next article in this series discusses how to write a Personal Study . A subsequent post will focus on the images. You may also be interested in reading our overview of the CIE A2 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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