← Visual Arts syllabus

EnglandVisual Arts

Working Across Media and Disciplines

6 dot points across 6 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How do you experiment purposefully across media and techniques, and what range should a portfolio show?

Experimenting with media and techniques: testing wet and dry media, mixed media and processes purposefully, and combining them to serve intentions.
An Edexcel A-Level Art and Design guide to experimenting with media and techniques. Explains the range of wet and dry media, mixed media and processes, how to experiment purposefully rather than randomly, how to combine media to serve intentions, and how this evidences AO2 across the disciplines.
12 min answer →

What does the fine art discipline cover, and what skills and processes does it demand?

Fine art disciplines: drawing, painting, sculpture, installation, mixed media and lens-based work, and the skills and processes each requires.
An Edexcel A-Level Art and Design guide to the fine art disciplines within Art, Craft and Design. Explains the breadth of fine art (drawing, painting, sculpture, installation, mixed media and lens-based work), the painting techniques and processes involved, and how fine art practice maps to the four assessment objectives.
12 min answer →

What does graphic communication cover, and how does designing to a brief differ from fine art?

Graphic communication and design: typography, illustration, branding, layout and image-making, and the brief-led design process from research to resolved outcome.
An Edexcel A-Level Art and Design guide to graphic communication. Explains the areas it covers (typography, illustration, branding, packaging, layout and image-making), the brief-led design process, how it differs from fine art, and how it maps to the four assessment objectives.
12 min answer →

What does photography as a discipline cover, and how do exposure, composition and editing become creative choices?

Photography and lens-based media: controlling exposure, composition and lighting, and developing images through darkroom, digital editing and photomontage.
An Edexcel A-Level Art and Design guide to photography and lens-based media. Explains how the exposure triangle (aperture, shutter speed, ISO), composition and lighting are creative controls, the genres of photography, and how images are developed through darkroom, digital editing and photomontage.
12 min answer →

What are the main printmaking processes, and what visual qualities does each produce?

Printmaking processes: relief, intaglio, planographic and screen printing, plus monoprinting, and the distinctive marks, editions and layering each allows.
An Edexcel A-Level Art and Design guide to printmaking processes. Explains the four families (relief, intaglio, planographic and stencil or screen printing) plus monoprinting, the distinctive marks and qualities of each, how editions and registration work, and how printmaking supports experimentation and layering.
12 min answer →

What do textile design and three-dimensional design cover, and what processes and materials define them?

Textiles and three-dimensional design: printed, dyed, constructed and embellished textiles, and ceramics, sculpture, product and architectural three-dimensional work, with their core processes.
An Edexcel A-Level Art and Design guide to textile design and three-dimensional design. Explains textile processes (printed, dyed, constructed and embellished) and three-dimensional processes (ceramics, sculpture, product, architectural and jewellery work, with modelling, carving, casting and construction), and how each maps to the assessment objectives.
12 min answer →