How to get a 7 in Art

[r a i n b o w stardust]

Art is a very wishy-washy subject. For most subjects, it is pretty self-explanatory on how to get a perfect 7. But I always hear that people very rarely get a 7 in art. So share your tips and let's try our best to get through such a wearisome subject. Here are my tips:

for the studio work:

- make it as attractive as you can. you want the first impression to be a good one.

- make use of a variety of materials- be open minded/inventive. who says you must stick to paper all the time?

- the title really aids the viewer in figuring out the theme. having said that, don't make your theme so obvious that it just clicks when you look at the art. it should be thought provoking

- it does matter how neatly you present your peice

for the IWB:

- have an equal amount of writing and drawing

- you must be critical- for ex. of artists and their work (related in some way to your own theme/art) and use art vocabulary too

- show self development

- use other sources too. look at articles, books, sites, other artists' works, art exhibitions, etc.

I've only been through a month and half of IB art so I don't have much help to provide at this point and my advice might not be great so please do add on.

Edited October 17, 2009 by r a i n b o w stardust

[elmar]

I am considering taking Art HL next year and this will, if not already, be a big help. Thanks!

[sqzee]

What you mention is definately important. I haven't thought about the using different materials, so that's a good point

I got a 16 for my IBW and 16 for my Studio Work this term and each of those is just 1 point away from a 7! And I really want that 7, but I am not sure what more to do.

Btw if you're thinking of Art HL. DO IT. ITS FUN. The IBW is hard, but honestly its fun.

[elmar]

What you mention is definately important. I haven't thought about the using different materials, so that's a good point

I got a 16 for my IBW and 16 for my Studio Work this term and each of those is just 1 point away from a 7! And I really want that 7, but I am not sure what more to do.

Btw if you're thinking of Art HL. DO IT. ITS FUN. The IBW is hard, but honestly its fun.

Do you have any suggestions, based on how you did? I'd love to hear them.

And I'm eager, it sounds exciting!

[Clt]

this was helpful, i would really reccomend reflecting and experimenting alot in your workbook, lets face it your IWB can make or break your score. Pieces are just as important but if they are thought provoking and can be backed up it shows how much oyu cared and how much effort was put forth. Also its quality not quantity as well. You make sure you do what you do as best as you can do it.

[Junior M]

Hey..

i'm doing my Art with a focus on Architecture,

is this a good theme?

[r a i n b o w stardust]

Hey..

i'm doing my Art with a focus on Architecture,

is this a good theme?

Anything could work as a theme but it's important that you are able to find personal inspiration for it so that you can connect your ideas personally. Also you should try to incorporate cultural issues into the peices you do. Might be a bit tricky to come up with ideas but you could do something related to technology or media, etc. and have architecture as a common thread in your pieces.

Go for it- as long as you feel you can cover all criteria =)

EDIT-

"this was helpful, i would really reccomend reflecting and experimenting alot in your workbook, lets face it your IWB can make or break your score. Pieces are just as important but if they are thought provoking and can be backed up it shows how much oyu cared and how much effort was put forth. Also its quality not quantity as well. You make sure you do what you do as best as you can do it"

I totally agree with the first bit there but I heard that it's best to have the max number of peices over quality. My sources are probably not reliable though

Edited February 9, 2010 by r a i n b o w stardust

[Amber]

How do they grade you for art, lol.

[elmar]

How do they grade you for art, lol.

When you go into IB Visual Art, you choose one of several options. You can either choose an emphasis on your artwork or on your Research Workbook, which is basically a notebook of your investigations, critiques, and learning. Depending on which you do, at least one will be judged by the judge(s) who will come to your school and assess it.

I'm planning on doing SL Option B, which is more of a focus on the Research Workbook and entails more critical thinking rather than artistic. If you're not the best at visual arts or prefer research, you'd go for Option B. However, if you're more into the artwork than the investigation, you'd choose Option A.

It really isn't just an easy class you can get an immediate 7 in. There's a plethora of requirements for assessments, both Internal and External. There's usually a lot of work piled on that you have to spread throughout the year, similar to all the other IB subjects.

[smilies]

I'd say the first leap you must take [especially if you did GCSE art or equivalent] is to get right out of your comfort zone. From day one. Try anything and everything new, as long as it fits in with your chosen theme. I found GCSE art gave me the skills to paint pretty pictures [got an A* in that], and I carried that on into IB art - big mistake. I spoke to an examiner in my first year who'd come to examine the artist in the year above me; she said that it really doesn't matter how well you can paint or draw, they don't care about that [but sometimes it does help], but how you get your ideas across. You could have the most beautiful painting in the world, the most realistic or the most effective use of colour, but if it doesn't make the examiner think, or doesn't get an idea across in an interesting way, then it's not valuable to your portfolio. For most of the 2 years my termly marks were about a 3 or 4 - then I changed direction completely, and the examiner seemed to like my progression. I got a 6 in the end, one point away from a 7.

[lishnaa]

In my school the teachers have picked what option we all have to do, but from what I've noticed

there is a lot of emphasis on a balance between journal work and studio work.

My grades have started to pick up since I've become more personal and experiment a lot more.

Definately agreeing with that you need to not always work with paper.

You can use pretty much anything.

One thing I'd definately recommend is that one of your final pieces should be something you've spent A LOT

of time on so when the examiner walks in he/she is baffled by brilliance much like what rainbowstardust has mentioned.

goodluck to everyone with their art pieces & examinations!

[FutureIB]

Although I am not doing IB Art, but I just love <3<3 the pieces produced by the Art students in the Annual Art Exhibition, and I just love all the mystery and the trying-to-figure-out the message the artist wanted to convey part of examining an art piece. Our school has been an IB school since 2001 and only 1 girl ever got a 7 last year. It is so hard

[sarainthesky__]

To really really get the marks with IB is to be totally honest (don't just list out your pros, but your cons as well this shows that you are aware of what is wrong ) and make sure your art works have a very clear concept behind it.

[paige011]

I'm jumping into to IB Visual arts HL this year pretty confident that I'll get a six, but I REALLY want a seven. My theme is kinda weird, it's supposed to be reflective of the IB journey, and I titled my theme TOK, for simple purposes. Some of my pieces, are, well, sloppy, to say the least, but I'm going for more of a IWB focus, anyway. Now, my drawing/sketching skills are definitely not up to par with a 2nd year student, but my research and reflections are pretty on the nose. How would you suggest I go about my IWB to where I make use of my skills, without leaving out the "art" aspect?

[helenpark]

Just produce as much works as you can.. 20 works for HL and 15 for SL.. be confident in what you do and produce as innovative and creative works as possible.. dont forget to work on your investigation art book.. make it as attractive as possible.. well presented pages are crucial..

[coca cola]

Art is a very wishy-washy subject. For most subjects, it is pretty self-explanatory on how to get a perfect 7. But I always hear that people very rarely get a 7 in art. So share your tips and let's try our best to get through such a wearisome subject. Here are my tips:

for the studio work:

- make it as attractive as you can. you want the first impression to be a good one.

- make use of a variety of materials- be open minded/inventive. who says you must stick to paper all the time?

- the title really aids the viewer in figuring out the theme. having said that, don't make your theme so obvious that it just clicks when you look at the art. it should be thought provoking

- it does matter how neatly you present your peice

for the IWB:

- have an equal amount of writing and drawing

- you must be critical- for ex. of artists and their work (related in some way to your own theme/art) and use art vocabulary too

- show self development

- use other sources too. look at articles, books, sites, other artists' works, art exhibitions, etc.

I've only been through a month and half of IB art so I don't have much help to provide at this point and my advice might not be great so please do add on.

Hey guys! I am finishing my course on visual arts this year..my exam is on may 2011. It is really a hard subject to get a 7 but its worth it! It takes a lot of time and it is really frustrating anywayy ill give you some tips that may be important for the exam.

for the research book, try always to put the links from where youy took the information, or pictures, it might seem a minor detail but in the end it will add up points, try to investigate past artists rather than recent, or compare two importants, also it is very recommended to investigate as many cultures as you can, compare cultures from different times and parts! the more analyisis and critical thoughts the better..

for the studio work i recommend to try and reach the higher numbers of pieces as possible, the maximum asked for HL or SL A or B the more points we will able to get! rembember also that the examiner will have more work to judge so to have a better idea of the level reached!

it is very important to be extremeley neat and try to be the more creative you can, to change materials, work on 3D, use a variety of styles, another thing very important is to make a relationship between the reasearch book and the final piece..

plan every step on the reasearch book, that should help to get a better final piece of art..these are somethings Ive learned through the course

hope I helped!! and i recently joined Ibsurvival, i see this post was a few months ago. GOOD LUCK!

any suggestions will be greatfull!

byeee

Edited October 19, 2010 by coca cola

[solastalgia]

Hahaha, I like this thread.

In the end, I think the formula comes down to:

- making your workbook as thorough and clear as possible

- at the same time, making your workbook aesthetically pleasing

- showing in-depth thought processes behind your work

- going all out on artist research

- bringing a lot of culture into your pieces

- bringing a lot of YOURSELF into your pieces

- showing improvement in technique

- having a strong, well-defined theme that's evident throughout your work

- but at the same time, being subtle yet thought-provoking.

Our school has, in the past two years, gotten three sevens & four sixes in IB Art, I think. Hopefully I can be added to that list after I graduate!

Edited October 19, 2010 by solastalgia

[Ally13]

Not exactly following the topic... but my art teacher always says "If there's ever a fire drill, drop everything except your IW" lol

I love my art course!

[Guest]

I've heard that some examiners would raise your marks if you mention about an exhibition that you went to. They prefer an exhibition you went yourself than a school trip. Then take all that information and put into your IWB, and say how this piece inspired you and stuff.

I've actually started doing what you guys are listing in this topic at the start of the second semester, being experimental, researching (maybe not that in depth yet) and trying to get MYSELF and my message across, but I still got a 5 for my mocks T_T help please?

[Fco]

My teacher made us work pretty harsh during these two years, but it was totally worth it. She had been teaching the subject for six years, three in another school (and on average, each year 2-3 people got 7's) and three here. I don't want to speak bad about my school, so it USED to suck in Art. Nevertheless, the maximum grade people got the first two years was 6 (the girl regularly painted on a 150 x150 CM format, and her work was astounding). So my teacher said that if she didn't get a 7 by her third year she was out of the school for good.

Long story short, 10 people started Art SL, she kicked 6 and 1 girl started in the middle. I was the one with the least number of work (13), while this guy had over 20 (and doing a 2 meter artwork in oil). We were both predicted a seven, I was saved by my research workbook for which I got a 20 (tons, TONS of work and potential sleep hours lost there).

If you want to get a seven, don't try to follow one single path: follow them all. Use as much different media and textures as you want. Use oil, use ink, use candle wax (actually this give a terrific effect over watercolor), use old jeans, everything that you think is wastable CAN be repainted and used nicely. Work hard on your RW, hard, hard, hard! Look at the best diagramations, try doing an infography in every single page (even in experimental ones with drawings). Adding words is essential: you can even use them as a visual texture and enchance your research. And vary! Try to use as much different ideas as long as you can relate to your theme. And finally: IF YOU CAN, DO SCULPTURE!! That totally turned my 6 into a 7. And I didn't use a single ounce of ceramics: just objects (an old computer monitor, a keyboard, cardboard, wires, anything is original and will make the examiner turn around and go WOW!)