If anyone's child is considering Art GCSE, a word to the wise.....<bitter experience>

[cyb]

MAKE SURE your child keeps their art book up to date as the term progresses.

That means not only completeing the final pieces for each topic (which my D had done) but also all the research, photographs, reflections and investigations that led them to their final outcome (which my D has not done)

So this half term she has been working from 8.30am until 10pm to fill all the gaps in her bloody Art book

I am trying VERY hard not to say I TOLD YOU SO and I'm choking, frankly

She thinks she's going shopping in Camden market tomorrow

CHINNY RECKON

Daughter has very wisely decided to cancel tomorrows jaunt to CAMDEN

Which is a shame for the girl who organised it, becasue she is the only one who HAS finished her Art coursework

I just hope that all the universities who 20 years ago would have considered (probably rightly) Art a doss subject now realise that it requires some serious research, effort and ability. [shakes head, worrying about what sort of teenage years DS will face]

Actually from my experience all of these art / technical subjects involve a lot of course work.

Well that must have been fantastic for your son MrsAlfred. In my experience most ART GCSE students find it it be hard work.

roffling at chinny reckon

Three of my DC did Art at GCSE and all found it time consuming but also a pleasant contrast to other subjects. They all got A*, in fact one came top in the country (which I think only means tie top of the particular exam board). The demands aren't OTT, but not a brilliant idea to twin it with D&T for example or other coursework heavy subjects, unless you absolutely love them and can't bear to give any up.

I'm doing BA Fine Art and it's the same at uni, they pay more attention to sketchbooks than the finished piece and we have to show exhibition ticket stubs/flyers as well!

my DD has to do DT as her school is a technology college so when picking GCSE options decided not to go ahead with Art because of coursework combined with being in top set doing 3 seperate sciences 2 languages history english language and literature maths re we thought she would be heading for meltdown so despite having a talent in Art she decided to drop it. Think that was a wise decision.

Mollybroom - NO you've misunderstood, I was talking about drama (read my post again). We KNOW that art is a horribly big time-commitment.

A bit off subject but it is so refreshing to see some talk about art that doesn't label it a soft subject - I have a BA Fine Art degree and I can absolutely agree that it is not a lazy option, sketchbooks and contextualisation are just as important and sometimes more interesting than the final outcome. What I find fantastic is that all you parents here have taken the time to notice what your DC's are working on and towards and none of you have devalued art as a subject, well done!

I am really sorry MrsAlfred. I did think it was a rather insensitive post. Once again sorry.

MollyBroom - Don't worry. I've often misread things on here.

DD1 did Art GCSE and the bulk of her homework in yr 10 was flipping Art. She has 7 pink pigs full of tat reflection to show for, 5 of them completed in that first year. She is deeply resentful of the fact that despite working so bloody hard at it, Art was her only A. Now calls it Art Grrrrrr.

ds regretted doing art too - he got a d iirc
music is a tough subject too but he did better (more er natural ability)

Wow! Thirty yrs ago, I did Art A level as my extra, 4th - for fun - A level, although I couldn't fit art lessons into my timetable. It was therefore easily manageable without any teaching input or personal input except a couple of paintings/drawings in advance, I think, some painting/drawing on the day and a working knowledge of History of Art (which I just read about for pleasure in my own time).

It wasn't even counted as a 'real' subject and bore no relation to my degree course - but was just a bit of fun to do! Today's Art sounds light years away!!

Dd is just starting her final piece for art GCSE. I have the brief here "preparatory period- aproximately 20 hours. Sustained focus [ie exam conditions] 10 hours"

Nothing like that in any of her other subjects! Oh, except possibly Expressive Arts - another on to be regarded with suspicion on the Options list!

I would say Graphics is very similar. But then friends have also gone through agony with Textiles and Food Tech.

Deter them now, DS is doing Art A level. Which currently involves a sculpture in metal and scrap that will eventually be over a metre talllllll
Involving soldering.

I did both GCSE and A level art as "extras" with no lessons, it was bloody hard work.

I loved art though, and made up for the lack of actual lesson time by wagging off PE and any lessons with teachers I hated and skulking into the art rooms. My wonderful art teacher never questioned the frankly astonishing number of "free periods" I used to have. I also spent every lunchtime there. The art rooms were my haven.

The smell of paint still makes me feel warm and safe

IIRC I filled about five sketchbooks a year plus coursework, it was definitely the most time consuming subject I studied. I loved every minute but would never advise anyone to think of it as an "easy" option! In fact I think we had to be "allowed" to study it - fairly sure the HoD vetoed several students on the grounds that they had arsed about pre-GCSE.

cyb and others - thanks for this! DS also has to decide imminently and wantss art as his option - I had naively assumed it would be a doddle - thanks for the warning!!! I will not dissuade him, but at least can now know to nag keep reminding him to record/keep/photocopy everything along the way ( and I also lkike that chinny reckon )

Interesting thread. I quite enjoyed what I did of Art GCSE but I left school halfway through yr10. I really liked all the explaining and analysing. Plus it was nice to finally be able to explore my love of surrealism (I adored Dali) - yrs 7-9 I had been told it wasn't Proper Art

Anyway, DSD (dyslexic and really struggling at school) was wondering about choosing Art as something she really enjoys, but she is veering more towards Photography. She would certainly find the practical side easier. Does anyone know about that GCSE? What's it like in terms of amount of writing? Thanks (sorry for hijack cyb)

There is still a lot of work. All these subjects involve creating huge portfolios, with biographies of influential artists, a blooms analysis of influential pieces of art, and a lot of work to show idea development. Talk to the teachers for in depth advice.

Chatting to D last night it transpires she is doing Higher GCSE Art as her friend at a different school seems to have a much reduced work load

So maybe it depends on the school and the board they use

Made my DD (v keen on choosing GCSE art) read this thread so that she knows what she's in for. Thanks for all the advice -- v helpful.

Art GCSE and AS level consumed my DD's life, and our lounge, but she loved it. Like yellowstones's DD she too got a too candidate award but even then she felt there was more she could have done... With art, there's always more to do... It's hard to just stop and do some physics!