Art stress

[disappointed101]

My child year 10 is struggling so hard to get organised with his Art GCSE. I don’t know why he chose the option. He has a really hard time organising himself, shoves work into his blazer rather than in a folder for example, he seems to not know any techniques? He isn’t even passing at the moment. It is leading to a lot of arguments as I am getting so frustrated. He has not put the effort on, has lots of uncompleted work but simply cannot organise himself. I’m at my wits end and I’m sure he is fed up of my moaning. What could we do to help things? Drop it? Get a tutor?

GCSE art requires a lot of hard work. It’s one of those subjects where you can’t “wing it” as you need to produce a large portfolio of work. My dd has spent hours and hours on it. You really need to enjoy it and set aside good chunks of time at home.

Does he enjoy it? If so, you could support him by buying some art materials and help him to set aside time to work on his pieces. You can find lots of examples of GCSE art sketch books online to give you both an idea of what is expected.

Art GCSE is very hard and requires sustained effort over the whole course. My DS1 did GCSE and has just completed his A level. Of all his subjects it took up the most time.
Your DS needs to keep on top of it. My DD is in year 10 and started her Art late (as she switched from Spanish at Xmas) and has spent all her holidays working on it. Even without the catch up she would still need to dedicate time to it evey holiday.
They really need to enjoy it as he needs to just sit and do it. Make a plan. Break it into workable chunks? Ask the school to help there?

And as for techniques I am not sure there is much teaching of that tbh... DD taught herself to do water colour on you tube for instance. Does he have a style he likes? You can find how to videos on almost anything! I'd suggest that first over a tutor.

Agree with PP - large chunks of holidays have been spent on art!!

Dd is doing art GCSE, she is quite organised but is finding that it consumes a lot of time.
I am wondering if knowing water colour, acrylic techniques etc., would make it easier.

My dd is/was the same, she's in year 11 though so has just finished. In her case, she never/very rarely did any work at home, she also struggles to organise herself and needed things broken down into steps. Luckily, her teacher was very helpful and understanding, and starting in year 11, there was an afterschool club so she was able to get more work done there. She went from predicted grade 5 in year 10 to predicted 6 or 7, which she is happy with.
Is your son good at art when he actually does it? If so, he can probably manage to get a reasonable grade if you help him organise his work, print pictures off, etc. Ask the teacher if there are any lunchtime or afterschool clubs he can go to. But, if he doesn't enjoy art and doesn't want to take it further I wouldn't bother wasting too much time on it - just concentrate on filling the sketchbook in an attractive way with the minimum of work so lots of printouts and tracing if needed.

Thanks. I think he would enjoy it more if he felt more confident. He has some really nice pages but some look like a toddler has done it

I'm no expert but I think you are supposed to show progression in your portfolio. It's a work in progress.

My dd isn't particularly artistic but she had to spend a lot of her free time on art. So she drew a portrait one day and they eyes were a bit terrible so then she drew a page of just eyes and then wrote a load of notes about it all.

@disappointed101
My DD got a B for gcse in Art. Dreadful teaching. Well no teaching - just experimenting. That was the whole issue. No structure. No she didn’t spend that much time on it. Neither did the school value the subject. Gcse is lightweight compared to A level.

Changed school for 6th form and wanted to do A level Art and A level photography. I wasn’t expecting much in terms of results. However, these teachers taught. They gave DD confidence. She learnt how to put together a portfolio. To write about her work and her inspiration. To draw conclusions from experimenting. Her art was transformed.

I would say your DS has an uphill struggle. He needs a folder and he does need better organisation. Speak to the teacher about what would help but if he’s not being graded, I don’t think a tutor would help. He maybe should drop it.

DD with good teaching and a lot of work got an A for art snd A* for Photography. She listened to her teachers and did what they advised. But she was mature enough to do that. I’m not sure your DS is.

I was in the same position with my DD a few months ago and she’s doing really well now. It’s still a bit of a rollercoaster as with art some days you’re good then you do something less good and panic, lose confidence, have a few days off, struggle to get back into it..
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I can list out what we did but if he’s not planning to do art at A-level he’s much better off changing subjects. It’s a hell of a lot of work and requires you supplementing decent art materials and a private messy workspace at home for them to get into the creative mindset and put ideas together.

f you’re DS is willing to put at least an hour in every day at home and some extra over the holidays he should be able to catch up. How does he feel about it?

A lot of posters are saying it’s all about hard work. And volume of work. It’s not. It’s about nailing the curriculum and the organisation of it. What do you need to do to pass with a decent result? How good are you? Some DC really need a lot of organising. A good teacher makes them better and gives clear instructions about how to succeed. Working long hours but with poor outcomes is a waste of time. Doing what you need in the shortest amount of time is better I think.

I'm absolutely terrible at art but got a B as it ticked the boxes- it doesn't have to be perfect but needs to follow techniques, show progression and be relevant to your projects (or whatever they call them these days). As has been said it's not one you can really wing as you need a certain amount of work it's not just sitting an exam and hoping the one bit you know comes up. Has he had any feedback from his art teacher?

My daughter did gcse art and now doing A level and plans on doing Art Foundation afterwards. It's about ticking boxes. You don't have to be particularly creative, but you do have to meet whatever the criteria is.
My daughter hates creating to order and having to pick themes and then exhausting the subject.
His teachers need to help here. Can you set up a meeting and see where he's lacking and how his work can be supplemented at home?
In the end it's up to him, and if it's not a subject he plans on continuing it might be an idea to accept a lower grade and concentrate on other subjects more relevant to his future plans.