Purpose and Aims of the Course
“The Higher Art and Design Course enables learners to communicate personal thoughts, feelings and ideas through the creative use of art and design materials, techniques and/or technology. Learners analyse a range of art and design practice and critically reflect on the impact of external factors on artists, designers and their work. They plan, develop, produce and present creative art and design work, develop personal creativity, and use problem solving, critical thinking and reflective practice skills.”
Higher Mandatory Units
The Course consists of two mandatory Units, and the Course assessment.
- Expressive Activity
- Design Activity and
- 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 - Analysing the impact of the artists’ creative choices in a range of 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:
- Negotiating suitable stimuli for the expressive art activity
- Producing analytical drawings, studies and investigative research to
represent specific qualities of the subjects - Using a selection of art materials, techniques and/or technology for creative
effect and expressive impact - Developing selected visual elements and refining compositional ideas
purposefully and creatively in 2D and/or 3D formats - Using complex problem solving and evaluation skills when planning and
refining development 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 a range of materials, techniques and/or
technology in their work - Analysing the impact of designers’ creative choices in a range of designers’
work - Analysing the impact of social and cultural influences on selected designers
and their design practice
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 in-depth investigative and market research in
response to the design brief - Using a variety of materials, techniques and/or technology experimentally
for creative effect - Developing and progressively refining experimental design ideas taking
account of the design area requirements and opportunities - Using complex design-based problem solving and evaluation skills when
planning and refining their design ideas
Popular design outcomes which have been chosen in previous years have been paper constructed jewellery and body adornment, fashion and textile design, 3D lighting design and architecture.
Expressive themes which have been popular with students in the past have been portraiture (with varying narratives) food based still life compositions and the urban environment.
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 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 see the Aberdeen Grammar School Art Department Pinterest link here.