A Level Art, Craft and Design CCEA

Development of practical, technical, and creative skills

Developing Practical Skills

• Progressively enhance your practical abilities while working in various two- and three-dimensional forms in both traditional and new media.
• Gain proficiency in drawing, especially life or observational drawing. It forms the foundation of artistic skills and helps improve your understanding of form, proportion, light and shadow.
• Work on techniques related to colour theory, painting, and composition. Understand how to apply texture, atmospheric perspective, balance and harmony in your work.
• Experiment with different materials and mixed media techniques. This can include textiles, ceramics, printmaking or digital art – each offers unique tactile and visual experiences.

Developing Technical Skills

• Accustom yourself to using industry-standard software like Photoshop or Illustrator if your focus is on digital art. Being well-versed in these tools can greatly expand your creative capabilities.
• Have a working knowledge of photography, often used for visual documentation, reference gathering or as an art form in itself. Learn about composition, framing, focus, light and post-processing.
• Familiarise with the essential principles of sculpture if you're working in three-dimensional art. This includes various methods such as casting, carving or modelling and understanding of materials like clay, stone, metal or glass.
• Deepen understanding of printmaking techniques, which can include relief, intaglio, lithography and screen-printing.

Developing Creative Skills

• Cultivate the ability to generate unique concepts and themes for your work. This involves brainstorming, research, sketching preliminary ideas, and refining them into a cohesive concept for your artwork.
• Develop your own unique artistic style, voice or personal visual language. This can manifest in the subjects you choose, the techniques you favour or the way you use colours and forms.
• Cultivate the necessary critical and analytical skills to review and improve your own work. Also, learn to use constructive critique of others to further enrich your own artwork.
• Learn to adapt and improvise, experiment fearlessly, and embrace failures or unexpected results as an integral part of the creative process. Try new techniques, push the boundaries of your chosen media, and tread outside your comfort zone.