The Sketchbook With No Journey
A candidate submits a sketchbook for the personal response unit. It contains 14 pages: a title page, three finished copies of famous paintings, a page of colour swatches, and ten pages of a final idea repeated with minor variations in marker pen. There are no annotations, no dated experiments, and no reference to the candidate's stated theme of 'marketplaces'. The final piece is competent but closely resembles one of the copied paintings. In interview the candidate says the theme was chosen because it was easy to draw. The assessment criteria reward investigation, development of ideas, and a personal response, and the candidate has three weeks before moderation.
1. Evaluate the sketchbook against the criteria and explain why technical competence alone will not raise the mark.
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The sketchbook shows technical competence but little investigation or development. The three copies are reproductions, not responses to primary sources, so they provide no evidence of observation or enquiry. The swatch page records colour but is not linked to any decision. The ten marker variations repeat one idea rather than testing alternatives, so there is no visible development from initial research to resolved outcome. The absence of annotations and dates removes the record of thinking that assessors look for. The final piece's resemblance to a copied painting raises a personal-response concern: the work derives from another artist rather than the candidate's own observation.
Technical skill is only one criterion. Marks for investigation, development and personal response are awarded for evidence of a journey: primary-source studies, experiments that fail and are reflected on, and decisions justified in the candidate's own words. Competence without that evidence cannot lift the overall mark.
2. Propose a three-week plan that would generate credible evidence of investigation and personal response without discarding the existing work.
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Week 1: return to primary sources. Visit or photograph a real marketplace, make 6–8 quick observational studies from life in mixed media, and annotate each with what was noticed and why. Add dated notes explaining the theme choice honestly and what the candidate wants to communicate.
Week 2: develop. Select two or three studies and push them in different directions, testing composition, colour and mark-making. Include at least one deliberate experiment that does not work, with a written reflection on why. Relate the earlier copies to the new work by analysing specific techniques borrowed from them and applying them to the candidate's own subject.
Week 3: resolve. Produce the final piece from the strongest developed study, with a short statement linking source, decisions and outcome. Re-sequence the sketchbook so the journey reads clearly from title page to final piece, keeping the earlier work as context rather than deleting it. This generates evidence for investigation, development and personal response while preserving existing strengths.