Art
Art Curriculum
Year 7
In Year 7, pupils explore a variety of disciplines and techniques over three projects.
In the ‘Identity’ project, pupils learn how to the use guidelines to help achieve the correct proportions in portrait drawing. Pupils also study work by a range of artists from different time periods and cultures to explore different ways in which identity can be portrayed through imagery and to help develop their own ideas and outcomes. Artists explored in this project include Vincent Van Gogh, Frida Kahlo and Tracey Emin.
In the ‘Mexican Day of the Dead’ project, pupils research the Day of the Dead festival and study artefacts and artworks from the Aztec culture and modern Mexico to design and construct their own 3-dimensional ceramic sugar skulls.
In the final project, ‘Healthy Eating Packaging’, pupils study existing packaging and how design changes to appeal to different age groups. Pupils then develop their own designs, exploring typography, composition and rendering techniques to create outcomes that will encourage young people to eat or drink healthier.
Year 8
In Year 8, pupils explore a variety of artists, disciplines and techniques over three projects.
In the ‘Objects and Viewpoints’ project, pupils study Cubist drawings and paintings alongside observational still life drawing and relief painting to develop their own group relief painting. Artists explored in this project include Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso.
In the Pop Art project, students explore the work of Andy Warhol, Claus Oldenburg and Coosje Van Bruggen, referencing popular imagery from contemporary culture and printmaking techniques to develop their own printed repeat patterns. In the latter half of the project pupils explore ceramics to create their own 3-dimensional sculptures of popular food which are then photographed as subjects of the pupils own digitally manipulated imagery.
In the final project, pupils explore the deign process involved in the planning and creation of an illustrated record cover and tour poster for a new band or solo artist.
Year 9
In Year 9, pupils explore a variety of artists, disciplines and techniques over three projects.
In the ‘Perspective’ project, pupils study a variety of different perspective drawing techniques in pencil, culminating in a large panoramic drawing of an imagined cityscape and layered architectural designs for the interior and exterior of a house. Artists explored in this project include Stephen Wiltshire and Stefan Bleekrode.
In the ‘Telling a Story’ project, pupils study narrative painting, illustration and photography from different time periods and cultures and create their own work telling the story of a historical or contemporary event of their own choice. Artists explored in this project include the narrative painters Fransisco de Goya, Pablo Picasso and illustrator Laura Freeman.
In the final project, pupils explore Photorealism and the work of photorealist artists, using the gridding technique from photographs to create hyper-realist portrait drawings. Artists explored in this project include Chuck Close, Mary Jane Ansell and Kei Meguro.
Year 10
Work at GCSE level is produced in sketchbooks, on large sheets of studies and experimental work and a series larger, more accomplished outcomes, with each project culminating in the planning, preparation and production of a final outcome that demonstrates the very best of their practical skills and creative ideas.
Between September and April of Year 10, students work on the first of their GCSE coursework projects on the theme of Natural Forms. During the beginning of the course students will explore a wide range of techniques through a series of observational studies of natural objects, introducing them to a variety of drawing and painting media, printmaking, mixed-media collage and digital photography. Students then develop their skills further through the study of artists including Paul Cezanne, Vincent Van Gogh, Karl Blossfeldt and Georgia O’Keeffe, developing the skills learned and explored towards a final outcome – to be produced in March/April.
In the 3rd term students begin the second of their GCSE coursework projects on the theme of Identity – initially exploring the portrait artists Chuck Close, Mary Jane Ansell or Kei Meguro. In the end of Year tests, taken in June of Year 10, students will create a large response to their chosen portrait artist (working from their own portrait photography) in exam conditions. At the end of Year 10, students individually consider the different aspects of Identity they would like to explore within their project and will select their own choice of artist to study.
Year 11
Between September and December of Year 11 our students will be working on their own choice of artists relating to their chosen subthemes – honing their practical skills and developing their work towards the project’s conclusion. This is a particularly exciting part of the course as students start developing and exploring their own ideas in separate and very different directions – the moment in which they truly become individual artists. In January, students will create the final piece to their Identity project in their 10-hour mock exam. The deadline for both coursework projects (Natural Forms and Identity) is the end of January.
From February onwards, students will be working on their Externally Set Assignment – otherwise known as ‘The Exam Project’. The exam paper for this project is supplied by the exam board – AQA – and will contain 7 possible titles from which students are required to select one. They will then work on this title in the same way as they worked on their coursework themes – creating observational studies of subject matter relating to their chosen theme, exploring a range of media and techniques and exploring up to 3 artists of their own choice to develop their ideas in the build up to their final piece – which will be created in their 10-hour GCSE Art exam in early May. The end of the 10-hour exam marks the end of the GCSE Art & Design course.
Year 12
In Year 12 our first-year A-Level students begin the course exploring a wide range of media and techniques – working on a series of large-scale studies and drawing-based activities as they begin thinking about and selecting the theme for their main coursework project. At A-Level our students are given the freedom to select their own choice of themes to explore and are encouraged to take their time to truly delve into ideas and techniques, with the aim of creating really ambitious artworks. Examples of the kinds of themes selected by our students in recent years include Nature, Structures, Metamorphosis, Human Form, Decay, Water, Viewpoints, Surroundings, Distortion and Time.
In their projects, students are encouraged to be creative and ambitious and to take their time to explore ideas as thoroughly as possible. Students are treated much more like practising artists – with lessons being more like tutorial based sessions in which students are given the freedom to explore unconventional techniques and processes to push the development of new ideas. Students also have an open access 6th Form Art Studio – a working Art studio just for our A-Level students within the department in which they can work in their non-contact periods. Work at A-Level is produced in sketchbooks, on large sheets of studies and experimental work and a series of larger, more accomplished outcomes. Students will study a minimum of 3 artists in the development of their coursework project with each artist explored culminating in the planning, preparation and production of large response outcomes that demonstrate the very best of their practical skills and creative ideas.
Year 13
At A-Level our students are given the freedom to select their own choice of themes to explore and are encouraged to take their time to truly delve into ideas and techniques, with the aim of creating really ambitious artworks. In Year 13 students will be continuing their coursework project from Year 12, based on a theme chosen in their first year of the A-Level course. In October, students will submit their coursework to the course tutors for their 3rd and final interim assessment to gain feedback on their progress and suggestions of ways to further improve and develop their work.
Between October and December our Year 13 our students will be working on a range of ideas and techniques as they develop their coursework project towards its conclusion - the final piece, which they create create in their 15-hour mock exam in January.
From February onwards, students will be working on their Externally Set Assignment – otherwise known as ‘The Exam Project’. The exam paper for this project is supplied by the exam board – AQA – and will contain 8 or 9 possible titles from which students are required to select one. They will then work on this title in the same way as they worked on their coursework theme – creating observational studies of subject matter relating to their chosen theme, exploring a range of media and techniques and exploring up to 3 artists of their own choice to develop their ideas in the build up to their final piece – which will be created in their 15-hour A-Level Art exam in early May. The end of the 15-hour exam marks the end of the A-Level Art & Design course.
Artists of the Term
Below is an interactive online exhibition of the work. This exhibition features some of the best work from Years 7, 8 and 9 from the first term at Manwood’s - selected by the Art teachers and our Year 12 Art prefects.
Please follow the link below to visit the exhibition. For the best experience, download the free Artsteps app on your phone, iPad or tablet in which you will also be able to experience the exhibition in VR mode.
https://www.artsteps.com/view/659e5aacd4b8245fac9da73e