How to get an A* in your Art A-Level #1 | creaternet

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Here is a walkthrough of my final A-Level exam project titled ‘Circles’. I finished my Art A-Level back in 2014, so I don’t know how much of the curriculum has changed since then. Nevertheless, I hope this video will be helpful to you in some way.
Just remember the annotations, artist research and incorporation of this research (the techniques you’ve learnt) are just as equally as important as the drawings themselves, so don’t forget to use your sketchbook.
If you have any questions about anything art related leave them down below and I’ll try and get back to you (whether you’re studying for your GCSE’s, A-Levels or even just thinking about taking it as an option).
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[@meganowen392]

I'm just starting my A levels tomorrow and my main concerns are definitly the transition from GCSE art to A level! This was hugely relieving and very helpful, although I achieved an A* in GCSE, this is a bit of an eye opener how much work next year will be. Thankyou so much for the advice xx

[@emma4736]

Megan Owen how have you found it? im really wavering on whether to do it

[@loveisfourwalls6377]

thank you so much! this video gave me more advice than my teachers ever will. i love your sketchbook too; clear and informed love love love!!!

[@jodeleighs]

Your book layout is stunning!! So neat, but still so full, and I love it!

[@patatalacrimosa6573]

It's amazing how much you feel the work put into this!

[@emmad3567]

This is one of my favorite videos on the internet, so relaxing to watch

[@emmakenyon1967]

It's gives me so much hope to see how neat an organised this is, it's so clear and simple to understand. Beautiful without all the fancy extra bits, and it still got an A*! Thank you so much for this video!

[@jadalee5329]

This is probably the most helpful video I've found, thanks for this

[@creaternet]

Aw thanks so much! I'm glad you've found it useful :D

[@alirose1470]

Ugh I just did my AS level and the theme was circles and spheres, I wish I'd seen this then cuz that brainstorming page at the start was goals

[@chenugent]

This single video was more helpful than anything my teacher has done throughout the entirety of my actual course

[@isobelvenka]

amazing - absolutely loved the a2 drawings of bike wheels!

[@Tiajade1107]

I'm in love with your hand writing 😍😍

[@myrkflinn4331]

2:20 Such a clean handwriting... i think that alone could ruin my work XDDD If I ever go to an artistic college

[@murphyslaw2356]

Wow🤯 mind blown by the neatness, the comprehensive way you went about exploring your subject and the volume of work you did. You explained it really well. Very helpful indeed! You got a well deserved top grade 😁👍

[@creaternet]

Thank you so much Tracey :)

[@felicityfullard6069]

Some things you did in A level art I did in gcse, wow, they look so good

[@Valentino016]

If your doing this for the first time, you absoulty need to add alot of practice drawings that are relevant to your theme . You need to choose a theme and then you need to add a background . If your research is also clear you will get alot of marks for it.

[@cmoney5000]

Can you show your GCSE sketchbook? Your book is beautiful btw!😍

[@bethshere]

Lol I'm in year 6 but you know got to be prepared 😉

[@np5388]

Star Girl a level art is 5 years away 😂😂😂

[@cephorahs4443]

Yes start practising now especially if u wanna do it for gcse really take advantage of ur art lessons so u can improve by the time ur GCSEs start

[@nivithaprabagaran2855]

I'm in year 8 now and I'm watching this😂

[@mcf4157]

Me in year 10 watching this knowing A level isn’t for two years

[@faith3109]

I'm yr eight rn

[@enchantedpineapple5267]

This video helped me soo much and I'm glad I know this just before I start year 10 thank you really helpful

[@beccalucy.animation]

I've just uploaded an example of a recent A* sketchbook if anyone is interested and doing the new curriculum. :)

[@osnapitzarianuh]

thank you for the video! which coursework is this?

[@kennethjoseph8360]

Thank you😍 now I know what to do

[@OnlineCollegeofArtandDesign]

Really helpful to our online study from home A Level students thanks:-)

[@akioowino8849]

Great video! Though I'm wondering, how did you find your artists of reference?

[@yoouamour]

Hello! I have a question about the A level exam What do we need to send out exactly? I'm a little confused because our teacher is not very precise I know we need to submit - personal investigation essay (how many words?) - sketchbook - do we send out final pieces as well? Thank you for your time!

[@agularofarrillcreach4369]

Hey, someone please help me 😭 for the AS coursework book, how many pages are recommended ?

[@mozmateus]

I really wouldve loved to do a level art! Your portfolio looks amazing. Id say im good at drawing but im not talented like you are :)

[@nabihakhanom9675]

Can you do textiles in a level art?

[@islabotty]

Just wondering is your proposal the same/similar as a statement of intent, and if so please tell me what you've included cause I'm stuck on mine😂

[@hk04]

Can you do this for you gcse sketchbook as well please?

[@spirit4808]

Hi, your video was super super helpful!! I was just wondering which exam board your Alevel was? Was it AQA or Edexcell??

[@jck01010101]

Hi - I need to buy a printer for home and my mum says that she will buy me a good one - do you have a printer at home and which one do you have? Thanks for your help Ella

[@elizabethmcnamara6548]

Do you reference your sources tho for your quick paintings? Do you just get secondary images from google? Please help!!!I'm so confused as to where to get references without literally copying everything. I don't want to be accused of plagiarism or art theft you know what people are like. I need help asap because my teacher won't help me. Because I don't want to just copy someone else work.

[@annaelouise3221]

How long did this take you?x

[@qqkry]

as of right now i have a pretty similar sketchbook 6 weeks in hopefully all goes well...

[@Anonymous-hj2ql]

wow for most of the a level books online, it seems to get an A* you either need to have loads of writing or loads of drawing

[@myrkflinn4331]

I think my biggest on starting this is... having a very, very bulky copy machine/scanner and printing machine O.O I think that's the biggest cost around aside from the classes themselves or the materials used. Like literally, we have a teacher and she's found, REALLY found of this type of working.

[@zef2893]

Awesome

[@hanas3905]

I’m legit watching this with less than 48 hrs till my exam and half a sketchbook 🙃

[@karen6098]

Hannah S how did it go? :)

[@hanas3905]

karen Well I managed to do my exam. Made a little book that looked like a postcard. Inside it had acetate portraits of my friends and an ink painting I did so hopefully I’ll get a decent grade. I’m not stressing to get my coursework finished

[@karen6098]

Hannah S nice work, hope you get a good grade

[@OnlineCollegeofArtandDesign]

amazing!

[@accesscoursesonline]

Really useful video thanks :-)

[@Nicole-lz6dg]

Did you use stencils for the titles or were they drawn? I really like your presentation throughout the sketchbook, very professional and detailed. It's great to see that your experimentation and ideas develop as the project progresses. Thanks for sharing!

[@creaternet]

Aww thanks so much! And all of the titles in this sketchbook were completely hand drawn :)

[@zalwangochristine5332]

The video is useful and of help

[@fairy_faye2734]

I'm doing GCSE at the moment and A level in September and I have a question I'm hoping you could answer. I tend to cross out alot while writing so when I anotate my work in my sketchbook I wrote my notes on a piece of paper first, draw some guidelines in pencil and then write it in pen. it takes the piss quite honestly, so you recommend anything I could do/ what did you do when it comes to writing in your book, did you have notes or just go for it?

[@creaternet]

I was exactly the same at A-Level; I used to type up exactly what I was going to write in my sketchbook on a computer and then hand write it in my sketchbook afterwards, which used to take forever and was totally unnecessary! But I was such a perfectionist that I didn't want any mistakes in my sketchbook. Some people are so lucky that they can just fluidly write a paragraph in their sketchbook and it makes perfect sense, I definitely was not one of those people! I think it's probably easier to just go for it and annotate your work straight in the sketchbook when you're writing shorter, more personal responses to either your own work or an artists work (as it's more informal and it's your own opinion, so it doesn't matter as much if it's not as well written) and then for the longer pieces of writing just write some quick notes beforehand of what you want to include and maybe some specific words/art terminology that you want to use. (That probably makes no sense haha) I hope this is in some way useful haha :D Good Luck with your GCSE's and future A-Levels!

[@maggiehodgkiss2874]

Just putting it out there, get a tipex mouse!! No drying time so you can write straight over it. Or, re write it on a peice of paper that matches the colour scheme of the page and stick it overtop, then you don't have to see the crossing out. It's been 9 months so you've probably figured out your own way now but it's time for final projects and stuff so thought I'd say anyway 😅😂

[@raphy3842]

I've just had my sixth form induction day and I've been set summer work for art! I have to complete a sketchbook on the theme of "Journey" but this is merely a project that we have to hand in to prove we're "familiar enough with the subject" to take on the course. However (we're on the AQA board) our teacher said that notes shouldn't be super long and this shouldn't be an investigative piece, more of a personal development. So I've been left very confused by what I'm supposed to do. Is the style of work in your sketchbook intended for later projects as a pose to the very first project you'll ever do for A Level? Do you still have your first a level sketchbook? Many thanks!

[@creaternet]

Hi, yes this was my final A2 exam sketchbook which is why there is so much writing and why it’s no neat. My very first AS sketchbook was no way near the standard of the sketchbook in this video, it was scruffier and I didn’t really write as many structured paragraphs, it consisted of more annotated work and sketches. One of my first projects was ‘A Sense of Place’ where we went on a trip around Cornwall (so kind of like your project of Journeys). I just made some quick sketches of landscapes and animals when I was in the mini bus (of my surroundings) and did some more slightly detailed drawings of plants/flowers/shells etc. I then just annotated some of these with a few words or a sentence so there was a meaning to why I drew them. I would just make sure you use some art terminology in your annotations to show that you understand the subject. Hope that helps, good luck!

[@inactiveluka]

How do you keep your writing straight. I always have issues writing straight since A3 is so big to me

[@creaternet]

I sometimes used to draw lines on the paper (using a pencil) to use as a guide and then after I had completed the writing I would rub off the lines :)

[@shahzad3986]

How do u make the background Plz tell us

[@creaternet]

I'm assuming you're asking about the background on the first page?? If so I literally just cut out a variety of circle shapes using tissue paper (different sizes and colours), stuck these onto the page so some of them overlap and then used some white paint (mixed with some water) to create a wash effect over the whole page (which also makes it easier to write on afterwards) :D

[@lucyhamilton5431]

I'm starting A level Art in a week and i'm really nervous about starting it and that I won't be very good! I ended up coming out of GCSE art with an A* but I'm worried I'm not going to be as good anymore as I've only done one pencil sketch in 2 months :( Any tips for this coming week to prepare me aha?

[@creaternet]

Hi Lucy!! You got an A* in GCSE, that shows you have some real talent! There's honestly no need to worry, I sometimes go months without drawing something now but when I do eventually pick up a pen or a paintbrush it just comes back naturally (it's like riding a bike) :) I'd say just relax, after all you chose art as an a-level because you enjoy it as a subject! :D

[@kloklo6925]

I swear I’ve seen your sketchbook in person. Maybe i’m going crazy but did you attend York College?

[@Clandfieldscorner]

do u get to pick your own topic? or is it picked for u?

[@creaternet]

So for our school we were given the topics for the coursework units by the teachers and then as the project progressed we could kind of give our project a sub topic name (for example one of our project titles was originally 'A Sense of Place', but towards the end of the project I went into 'Textures' within the landscape). Then for the exam unit we were actually given an exam paper from the exam board which listed about 10 different project titles, and we could literally choose whichever topic we liked. Some topics we were given for our A-Level exam unit were 'My Generation', 'Circles', 'Pointillism', 'Dash', 'Pouring', 'Figures in Windows', 'Urban Garden', Pick and Mix', 'Reading' and 'Backstage' :D

[@angelhcsn]

Was this sketchbook for the 1st year or 2nd year of a levels

[@creaternet]

Hiya, this was for my 2nd year of A-Levels :)

[@ianpereira1096]

Hi, I just wanted to ask you if the school is supposed to provide a sketchbook or should I just buy one?

[@nia.visualdiary]

Ian Pereira In my school we're meant to buy it ourselves

[@creaternet]

Ian Pereira We has to buy them ourselves too! We had the choice of buying any sketchbook we wanted or we could buy them for a small amount from our school 😊

[@alrightythen3483]

my teacher expects everyone's art to be perfect and it sucks lmao

[@lewisorange1]

Was this course work or exam ?

[@creaternet]

Exam work, but coursework projects are pretty much the same structure, other than your final piece is timed and in exam conditions :)

[@ilyalytvynenko3739]

Aight, I can't Drow, that's the conclusion

[@LiaSophie]

I love how you lay out the pages in your book, it's definitely given me some inspiration! I've just subbed and would love it if you could check out my channel! I've also done a video on one of my GCSE sketchbooks x

[@TheJellybabe16]

Hi thank you for sharing your wonderful Art work, just a little advice from a hard-of-hearing student, try a speak little slower on your videos, thank you, Great work!! x

[@Blue-jp9qo]

What exam board did u do

[@creaternet]

OCR :)

[@jellotheofficial3019]

Am I the only one here who has to do their work on A2 paper?