← Visual Arts syllabus

EnglandVisual Arts

Drawing and recording skills

4 dot points across 4 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How do you draw accurately from observation, and why is observational drawing the foundation skill of the course?

Observational drawing: drawing what you actually see rather than what you know, through measuring, sighting, looking ratios and slow looking, as the foundation of recording for AO3.
How to draw accurately from observation in OCR A-Level Art and Design: drawing what you see rather than what you know, using sighting, measuring, comparative proportion and slow looking, as the foundation skill that underpins AO3 recording.
13 min answer →

How do perspective and proportion create convincing space and accurate scale in a drawing?

Perspective and proportion: linear perspective (one, two and three point), the horizon line and vanishing points, foreshortening, and systems of proportion for the figure and objects.
How perspective and proportion create convincing space and scale in OCR A-Level Art and Design drawing: linear perspective with horizon line and vanishing points, foreshortening, and proportion systems for the figure and objects, as an AO3 recording skill.
13 min answer →

Why does OCR value first-hand recording from primary sources, and how do you gather and use it well?

Recording from primary sources: gathering first-hand material through observational studies, photography and notes, why primary sources outweigh secondary, and how to use them across a project.
Why OCR A-Level Art and Design values first-hand recording from primary sources, and how to gather and use it: observational studies, your own photography and notes, the difference from secondary sources, and continuous recording for AO3.
13 min answer →

How do you render tone in a drawing to make a form look three-dimensional and convincingly lit?

Rendering tone, form and light in drawing: shading techniques (hatching, blending, stippling), building a full value range, and making a form read as solid under a consistent light source.
How to render tone in drawing for OCR A-Level Art and Design: shading techniques, building a full value range, and modelling three-dimensional form under a consistent light source, as a core AO3 recording skill.
13 min answer →