Purpose and Aims of the Course
NATIONAL 4
“The National 4 Art and Design Course enables learners to plan, develop, produce and present creative art and design work, and to develop an understanding of the social and cultural influences on the works of artists and designers.”
National 4 – Mandatory Units
The Course consists of two mandatory Units and the Added Value Unit:
- Expressive Activity
- Design Activity
- Added Value Unit: Practical Activity
Expressive Activity Outcome 1 – The learner will:
- Describe the things that have influenced and inspired artists and their work by:
- Describing how artists have used art materials, techniques and/or technology in their
work - Identifying the things that have inspired and influenced artists and their work
- Expressing facts and personal opinions about the artists’ work.
Expressive Activity Outcome 2 – The learner will:
- Produce creative ideas for expressive art work by:
- Selecting suitable subject matter for an expressive art activity
- Using a variety of art materials, techniques and/or technology creatively to represent
the subject matter - Producing observational drawings and studies showing understanding of the subject
matter and the visual elements - Developing compositions and ideas for expressive art in 2D and/or 3D formats
- Using simple evaluation skills in the creative process when developing their expressive
art work
Design Activity Outcome 1 – The learner will:
- Describe the things that have inspired and influenced designers and their work by:
- Describing how designers use design materials, techniques and/or technology in their work
- Describing the things that have influenced these designers and the work they produce
- Expressing facts and personal opinions about the designers’ work
Design Activity Outcome 2 – The learner will:
- Produce creative design ideas and development work in response to a given design brief by:
- Identifying the main design opportunities, issues and constraints in the brief
- Producing relevant investigative studies and market research in response to the brief
- Using design materials, techniques and/or technology in creative ways
- Using simple evaluation skills in the creative process when developing their creative design ideas
NATIONAL 5
“The National 5 Art and Design Course enables learners to plan, develop, produce and present creative art and design work, and to develop their critical understanding of a range of art and design practice. The Course also enables learners to understand the impact of external factors on artists and designers and their works.”
National 5 – Mandatory Units
Learners must complete two mandatory units and the course assessment:
- Expressive Activity
- Design Activity
- Course assessment: The Course assessment covers the added value of the Course.
Expressive Activity Outcome 1 – The learner will:
- Analyse the factors influencing artists and art practice by:
- Describing how artists use a range of art materials, techniques and/or technology in their work
- Describing the impact of artists’ creative choices on the artists’ work
- Analysing the impact of social and cultural influences on selected artists and their practice
Expressive Activity Outcome 2 – The learner will:
- Produce creative development ideas for expressive art work by:
- Selecting suitable subject matter for an expressive activity
- Producing analytical drawings, studies and investigative research to represent specific features of the subjects
- Using a selection of art materials, techniques and/or technology expressively
- Developing selected visual elements and refining compositional ideas creatively in 2D and/or 3D formats
- Using problem solving and evaluation skills when developing ideas for expressive art work
Design Activity Outcome 1 – The learner will:
- Analyse the factors influencing designers and design practice by:
- Describing how designers use design materials, techniques and/or technology in
their work - Describing the impact of the designers’ creative choices and design decisions
- Analysing the impact of social and cultural influences on designers and their work
Design Activity Outcome 2 – The learner will:
- Produce creative design ideas and development work for a design brief by
- Identifying the design opportunities, issues and constraints in the brief
- Producing a variety of relevant investigative and market research in response to
the design brief - Using a variety of materials, techniques and/or technology for creative effect
- Developing and refining experimental design ideas, taking account of the design
brief requirements - Using design-based problem solving, planning and evaluation skills in the
creative process
Popular design outcomes which have been chosen in previous years have been paper constructed jewellery and body adornment, fashion and textile design and 3D lighting design.
Expressive themes which have been popular with students in the past have been portraiture (with varying narratives) and food based still life compositions.
Students carry out significant critical Art and Design studies, in preparation for sitting a written exam. Please go to the SQA website by clicking HERE for National 4 information and HERE for National 5 information, to gather an overview of what the exam involves and view exemplars of past papers.
Students undertake this critical research and written work using the online software programme Google Classroom. This enables students to be able to log on to any computer or device and access their work online (from home or school) in order to carry out classwork and homework whenever required. This removes the need for paper copies of assignments, all work can be carried out, marked and logged without printing.
For further inspiration, please find the Aberdeen Grammar School Art Department Pinterest link here.