1.

AO4 - Present a personal, informed and meaningful response,

demonstrating analytical and critical understanding, realising
intentions and where appropriate, making connections between
visual, written, oral or other elements. .......................................... 1
A. How has the artist or style of art influenced your work?. ...................... 1
B. Have you made your own comments, thoughts, opinions and evaluations
about their art and your own work - the connections? ......................... 2
C. Annotate your sketchbook. .............................................................. 2
D. Is the work your own personal response? How will you present your art
work(s)? ....................................................................................... 3

AO4 - Present a personal, informed and

meaningful response, demonstrating
analytical and critical understanding,
realising intentions and where appropriate,
making connections between visual,
written, oral or other elements.
How has the artist or style of art influenced your work?.

• Within your final outcome or main work, how you go about making your work
should reflect the style, medium or content of your chosen artist which you
previously explored to gain marks for assessment objective 1 (AO1). For
example, you could create your own work using the same style which your artist
used for their work. Lets assume that the artist that you explored to gain marks
for assessment objective 1 (AO1) was Vincent Van Gogh. His style of painting is
quite distinctive and strong. He used thick, heavy brush strokes and deliberately
left the mark of his brushwork visible within his painting. Paint was applied
liberally to his work and colours were usually strong and bold. By recognising
this style of Vincent Van Gogh, in your own work a good way to gain marks for
this assessment objective 4 would be to follow and mimic the styles used by
Vincent Van Gogh within your own work. So that would be to use thick, heavy
brush strokes, using the paint in a liberal fashion and applying bold, strong
colours to your own work.
• However, before you begin your main item work or final outcome, ideally you
should produce a 'Prep' piece. A 'Prep' Piece is basically a practice of what you
intend to do, usually on a slightly smaller scale, and can sometimes be achieved
by using a full sketchbook page. Think of this 'Prep' piece as a final development
study, a place where you can refine and hone your style, technique and
methods. Consider the 'Prep' piece as an opportunity to explore colours and
tones and where you can experiment with composition. Producing a 'prep' piece
is extremely helpful as you can afford to make a few mistakes and errors without
fear of jeopardising or loosing out on any marks. A 'prep' piece would be a final
development piece of work which would contribute to marks that you can gain
for assessment objective 2 (AO2), as such there is no need to worry about this
work affecting any marks that you may gain for assessment objective 4 (AO4).
• It may be that the subject or content of the artists work, is what you decide to
use for your own work rather than the actual style, technique or method. For
example, suppose that your chosen artist was an Op-artist such as Bridget Riley.
The content of Bridget Riley's work was often associated with geometric shapes
and pattern, and contrasting colour schemes that help the shapes and pattern
 stand out. Therefore, your own work may be about patterns and shapes, but
created using your own composition or layout.
• The trick to gaining and securing marks for this assessment objective is to make
sure that within your work there is an obvious and clear link to the artist that
you studied for the previous assessment objective 1. In other words, when your
work is viewed a style, period of art or artist should be recognisable.

Have you made your own comments, thoughts, opinions and

evaluations about their art and your own work - the connections?

• Treat this section of assessment objective 4 almost like a check point. Ideally,
you will have covered this thoroughly during your work for assessment objective
1 (AO1). However, there is no harm in producing more evidence to ensure that
you pick up marks. To gain marks for this assessment objective 4 on this point,
double check that in your sketchbook development work for AO1, that you have
included some opinion, thoughts and comments about your chosen artist and
that you have provided a comparison or similarity to your own work or idea. If
you suspect that you could add a little more content to that part of your
development work then do so. Now that you are near the end of your project of
final outcome, you should have a much clearer idea about how your own work
'fits in' with your chosen artist and/ or their work.
• After you have checked that your previous work includes sufficient links and
connections, it would be a good idea to reinforce your links and connections
further. This would be ideally done in your sketchbook alongside or just after
your 'prep' piece. By reinforcing your connections and links in your sketchbook
along side your 'prep' work the link and connection that you have formed will be
very clear and obvious to any assessor looking through your work. Consider
producing samples and studies that illustrate your links and connections. For
example, going back to the previous suggestion of using Bridget Riley as a
chosen artist for your own work, you could create a few (2 -3) small samples or
sections of your final work that are made using the style and techniques of
Bridget Riley's art. This could also serve as a useful way to explore further
possible colour options that you may or may not then use in your final outcome.
• Alongside these work samples, ensure that you include some text or comments
that reinforces your art work. Provide explanations of how your chosen artists
style, method or technique has been adopted and re-worked into your own
project or idea. Even if it is obvious by looking at your work, add comments
anyway. Include why you chose to use the artists style or method for your own
work, how the style or method has developed into your own work, if you have
modified the style in anyway to suit your own work or project it is important that
you explain why you decided or needed to make the required changes.
• Include an evaluation or summary about your adopted methods or style. What
worked well, and what did not work as well as you had planned? In creating your
own work in the style or method of your chosen artist, have your learnt anything
new, such as a new skill, technique or method? Have you discovered what
materials or medium works well with your chosen style, or did you realise which
materials to avoid using due to the style or technique dictating which materials
are appropriate for your own work?

Annotate your sketchbook.

• Annotation should be clear and strong throughout all of your development work
and sketchbook tasks. Comments that you add to your work are really important
and can often help assessors understand your project, work or ideas in ways that
visual studies alone can not often provide. You do not need to write loads and
loads about each task or development, but you should aim to at least comment
 on each page in sketchbook. Doing this shows that you are actively 'reflecting'
on your work and project as it develops.
• Consider adding comments that explain what worked, and what did not work as
well as your had planned. Add an indication of how long you spent on any task or
development activity, perhaps explain how and what you will do next to develop
your project further. Include reasons for doing what you did, for example you
could explain the reasons for your choice of colour or style of line or shape. If
you have added a background or effect to a task or development study, explain
if you think the background or effect worked out for the best, if not what might
you change to improve the work further.
• A good way to encourage assessors looking through your sketchbook, to see that
you understand the assessment objectives or how your work is marked is to add
'tags' to your work or pages. For example next to or along side your art history
connections, research and links, add a tag or label called: AO1 for assessment
objective 1. Doing this will make it very clear to assessors that this is where you
hope to gain marks for assessment objective 1. Repeat the same tactic
throughout your sketchbook using tags or labels for all of the four assessment
objectives - AO1, AO2, AO3 and AO4.
• Try where ever possible to add a title or name to each and any task or
development study that you do in your sketchbook. Also add a date so that there
is a good record of when you did the work during the course.
• Treat each page in your sketchbook as though it is an individual item of art work,
think how you can present your work and sketchbook pages thoughtfully and in
ways that are interesting and personal.
• If you use or are given, any worksheet or document to use during a project
make sure that these are stuck securely into the back of your sketchbook. You
may accumulate many worksheets and hand-outs throughout the course, so
think how you can attach these to your sketchbook to make them accessible,
without taking up valuable sketchbook pages.
• Some sketchbooks can deteriorate over time. A good way to help protect your
sketchbook is to back or bind it. Adding some extra protection to your
sketchbook can also present an opportunity for your to personalise it so that it
can be quickly identified by you and others.

Is the work your own personal response? How will you present
your art work(s)?

• A key criteria for gaining higher marks for assessment objective 4, is your ability
to make your work original and unique. Original and unique work will gain you
more marks than work that has simply been copied. Where ever possible, and
for all projects that you work on throughout the course, you should aim to
ensure that your work is unique and unlike anything else.
• By the time that you get to the final outcome of a project, your work and idea
should have undergone a 'journey' of development as explained during
assessment objective 2. Your final outcome for a project is the last stage of this
'journey'. Ideally this is where everything comes together into one main final
item of work. As such to gain high marks for this assessment objective 4, you
should consider selecting the strongest aspects of your development work and
bring these strong aspects together in your final work. For example, during your
sketchbook development work identify the successful drawings, studies and
activities that you created. Use these successful aspects of work in your final
outcome. This could be a choice of colour, or a style or technique that worked
out well. Or, it could be a type of material or medium that was a success that
you then choose to use within your final work.
• Now is not the time to try out new methods or ideas, instead now is the time to
bring all of the good things from previous experimentation together so that you
can be sure that only the good and successful ingredients are used in your final
 work. Doing this will give your final work the best chance of success, and also
increase your final grade prospects.
• You should choose how your work will be presented with care and thought. For
example, how big or small that you choose to create your final work in may be
strong reason for your work being a success or failure. Often (but not always),
your final work should be of a large scale and size. Not only will this reinforce the
importance of your final work, but it will also demonstrate to any assessor that
you are confident and have the ability to be brave and work on a large scale.
However, you should consider the amount of time available for you to produce
your final item of work. If you choose to work on scale too big, you may run out
of time, and you should not rush your final item work, or fill in areas with
random colour, texture or content in efforts to make your work look complete.
Doing this will be obvious to any assessor, and will usually degrade any strong
features or aspects that your final work may include. Equally, though you should
refrain from working too small too. Working on a small scale could mean that
you can not produce all of what you intended to do due a lack of physical space
to work with or on.
• If your final outcome is likely to be a painting, consider obtaining a canvas for
your work. These are relatively cheap enough to buy from most high street
stores. A move that you will not regret when it comes round to your end of
course exhibition, as a canvas will provide a natural frame and border making
your work stand out from the exhibition wall and space. Using a canvas for your
final outcome as often as you can is also good experience and preparation for
your mock and final examinations too.
• Sometimes it may be appropriate for your final work to be created using more
than one canvas. For example, it could be a series of pieces of work done on
separate canvases, but when presented together, collate to make one work of
art.
• Another good way to help the overall presentation of your final work is to work
within a border or frame on your work. Leave approximately 2-3 centimeters
around the edge of your work area, and when you create your work, work up to
this border. This will leave a nice attractive border around your work.
• If you decide not to use a border on your work, instead mount your final work on
top of a larger sheet of coloured paper. This will make a nice formal border
around your work to help the presentation.
• When you have completed your final outcome for a project, ensure that you
write your name clearly on the back of your work, and then submit it for
assessment straight away so that you can get feedback about your work and
progress. When you get your work back from assessment, it is really important
that you store your work safely and carefully. It may be a while until your work
is needed for moderation, so make sure that you keep all of your work stored in
school, do not take your work home as this will increase the chance of it getting
damaged or lost. So, keep all of your coursework in school, and place it inside an
A1 folder. If you do not have an A1 folder, get one. Do not leave any coursework
inside a drawer and loose, as this will be prone to damage. Remember, that you
are responsible for your art work, you should know where all of your coursework
is, at all times. Sooner or later you will be required to hand in all of your
coursework for moderation and submission for your final grade. The exam board
sets the deadline for coursework submission and entry , not the school. When
that time arrives, you need to make sure that everything that you have created
throughout the course is handed in. This includes all sketchbooks, project work
and mock exam work. Your final exam project work will be marked separately.
• 60 percent of your final grade will be gained from your coursework. 40 percent
of your final grade will be gained from your final exam project.