Students can access research material online if they are finding it difficult to access primary resources such as galleries, artist visits, museum collections, exhibitions and local craftspeople. Encourage them to use a range of sources such as articles, reviews, interviews, films, extracts from books and websites to support their personal observations and opinions.

It may also be possible to contact a local Artist via email and conduct an online interview. Many schools are delivering courses online and it may be possible for teachers to arrange a talk by a local Artist as part of one of the sessions. This would provide an opportunity for students to hear about the work first-hand and ask questions. If it is not possible to find an Artist that is relevant to all the students’ investigations, a series of talks from Artists working in different disciplines may be helpful.

If possible, candidates should study a combination of local and well-known international Artists to make sure a good range of quality research material is available to them. While students can use Artists found on the internet, they should not focus on those that only have a presence on social media platforms as there is likely to be less quality research material available about them. Students should be encouraged to use the research to develop their opinions and support the observations they have made about the work.

Encourage students to use items related to their theme or ideas that are accessible in the home. They can use these to gather direct observational studies and to record visual information to support their ideas. For example, if a student is looking at self-portraits it might be useful for them to consider related concepts such as identity and heritage. They could explore this using direct observational drawing combined with collaging or taking parts of photographs from their childhood or other family members and experimenting with different compositional formats. This would be good use of first-hand and secondary sources.

If students are struggling to identify first-hand materials for gathering direct observational studies, they may need to create relevant visual stimulus using photography. They may need to create objects, space, view or scenarios and use photography to capture this.

Encourage students who are creating their own photography to develop ideas for paintings, drawings or collages to get the best images possible. They should consider lighting, perspective and focus to give a high quality foundation for their own creative work. They should combine this with direct observation if possible.

Candidates must produce their final outcome in school.