BlogStudyThe Ultimate 7 Day Study Plan for HSC Visual Arts

The Ultimate 7 Day Study Plan for HSC Visual Arts

HSC Visual Arts 7 Day Study Plan - Featured Image

Haven’t started studying for your HSC Visual Arts exam and only have a week left to study? You’re in luck! We’ve made a 7 day HSC Visual Arts study plan to help you keep your studies right on track!

This study plan will help you buckle down and sort out when and how you’re going to work on getting prepared through small and easily achievable actions!

You can mix and match how you want to study, but if you work through all the goals we’ve set here you’ll be ready to smash your exam in just one week!

So, what are you waiting for? Let’s jump into the 7 day HSC Visual Arts Study Plan!

Day 1: Planning Ahead
Day 2: Revising
Day 3: Short Answer Practice
Day 4: 12 Marker Practice
Day 5: Extended Response Practice
Day 6: Revision and Past Paper
Day 7: Exam Conditions Past Paper

Day 1: Planning Ahead

The first thing you need to do when it comes to studying is sort out how, when and where you’re going to study, along with what materials you’re going to use and resources you’ll need.

Let’s break it down so that you can tick off each section one by one. Realistically this should only take you 1 to 1.5 hours!

How?

Following this HSC Visual Arts study plan is, in our humble opinion, one of the best ways to tackle studying for HSC Visual Arts, but you can mix it up!

You can choose to mix the days around if you really want to work on a specific area, or skip certain days if you know you’ve already put a lot of work into that area.

Or you could even repeat certain days if you feel you need the extra time!

For example, maybe you find that you can whiz through your extended response, but the 12 mark question on an unseen image leaves you befuddled.

In that case, you may choose to skip one of the extended response days to work on the 12 marker instead, or just add some 12 mark practice time to one of the other days. You know how you study best and what you need to focus on, so don’t be afraid to mix it up!

When?

Planning when you’ll study isn’t just about saying “Oh yeah I’ll do that part on Wednesday, and the other part on Friday.”

If you really want to achieve awesome results you need to start managing your time effectively, and the best way to do that is with a study planner!

Study planners are super simple to make; just whip up an 8×4 table in Microsoft word and lay it out like the one below. Make sure to block out times that you know you can’t study, such as sport practice times, in grey.

Screen Shot 2016-03-03 at 11.09.17 am

Once you’ve set it up you can start planning when you are going to study.

Then fill in the boxes for when you plan to study in your favourite colour.

On some days you may want to give yourself extra time, such as the last 2 days before your exam. Make sure to leave a few boxes blank to give yourself a break too!

Screen Shot 2016-03-03 at 11.09.37 am

Where?

This is pretty simple, because figuring out where to study is just a process of elimination.

You may already know where you plan to study, but if not use this handy flow chart to figure it out!

Screen Shot 2016-03-03 at 2.31.48 pm

Materials

Here’s the fun part – choosing your materials! It can seem pretty non-essential, but picking out a cool notebook or some funky pens to study with can actually make the whole process a little more fun.

I used to raid places like Typo for my notebooks, because they always had cool designs and the line spacing in the notebooks was quite large, closer to the spacing on HSC answer booklets.

You can also check out places like Kikki.K, Office Works, Kmart and Big W – or even your local dollar store may have something fun!

Resources

This is where you’ll need to do a little work – probably.

Some students are super organised and will already have their class work, past papers, textbooks and study notes stacked neatly beside them, but a lot of students wont!

The best way to gear up for a week of super solid study is to make sure you have everything you need beforehand.

So check out the checklist below and collect each item so you can check off all the boxes:
  • Class Work – your notebook, worksheets, etc.
  • Textbooks – these may be from class or borrowed from a library
  • Study Notes any notes you’ve made on art theory, your favourite artists, class topics, etc.
  • Past Papers – either printed out or in a few browser tabs.
  • Recent Tasks/Tests – anything your teacher has marked recently, you can read over these for hints of what to improve on
  • HSC Visual Arts Essay Scaffold – get a clear breakdown of what’s needed in your essay responses

Day 2: Revising

Now’s the time to start putting some hard work in, so clock on and get ready to start studying.

There are 3 big things to cover in this section, but how long they take will depend on what notes you already have and how much you’ve been paying attention in class!

Elements and Principles of Design 

I can’t stress enough how important these are, yet heaps of students totally forget about them after year 8!

Spending even a quick 30 minutes to go over them is a great ideas so they’re fresh in your head.

Knowing the elements and principles of design are key if you want to write awesome responses to pretty much any artwork. For a quick refreshed here’s what they all are;

Elements
  • Line
  • Shape
  • Direction
  • Size
  • Texture
  • Colour
  • Value/Hue
Principles
  • Balance
  • Gradation
  • Repetition
  • Contrast
  • Harmony
  • Dominance
  • Unity

What you want to do is write out a brief description of each element or principle and then an example sentence about how it’s used in an artwork you’re familiar with.

For example, if you’re talking about colour you may say; “Van Gogh’s Starry Night Over The Rhone uses deep blues and vibrant yellows to create a calm yet inviting atmosphere, welcoming the audience into the world of the painting.”

It’s not a lot to write but it’ll get you into the swing of writing about all these different elements and principles of design so that when it comes to your actual responses you’ll be ready. If you need to brush up on what each element or principle is check out this awesome website – I had it bookmarked all through Year 12!

No one expects you to know every single one of these off the top of your head, but it is important to have several tucked away in your brain. When it comes to analysing artworks these are the things you’ll be writing about – consider them like your techniques in an English essay!

If an artwork uses bright blues and oranges talk about the contrast, use of contrasting colour and value/hue, it sounds so much better than just writing “The artist uses blue and orange.”.

Class Topics

Spend about an hour revising your class topics. These are important to revise because a lot of what you learned in the different class topics could end up being applied to different unseen artworks on the HSC paper.

Make sure to look at the topics you covered in Year 11 as well, as a lot of your Year 12 class time would’ve been dedicated to your major works.

When I went through the senior years my class spent some serious time on the topic of Site Specific Artwork, which at the time I found pretty boring. When it came time to study for the HSC I hated every minute spent revising the topic, but once I actually got into my exam one of the unseen artworks was site specific!

If I hadn’t revised there’s no way my response to that section would’ve been as good as it was, and I definitely would’ve panicked.

Though it seems pointless, you were taught these topics for a reason, so revising them is only going to help you. The best way to revise is to aim for half a page of notes on each topic, summing up the key ideas or concepts.

Also make sure to include 1-2 examples of artists or artworks related to the topics, and a few key words or glossary terms that relate to it.

Here’s a quick breakdown:

Class Topic Notes 101
  • 2 dot points on what the topic is about
  • 5 dot points on key ideas/concepts
  • 3 dot points on key artists/artworks
  • 5 key terms and their definitions

This will build your vocabulary and knowledge of artists you can name-drop in your responses to improve your technical and sophisticated language!

Plus you’ll actually know what you’re talking about if one of the Section 1 questions is on one of your past topics.

Chosen Artists 

Spend about an hour and a half revising your chosen artists. These are the artists you plan to write your extended response on, and they’re super, super, super important.

You need to know these artists and their artworks inside out and back-to-front if you want to smash your extended response and work into that Band 6 range.

Ultimately you’ll want 2 pages of notes per artist, and you’ll need a minimum of two artists for your essay, so you’re looking at about 4 pages.

For each artist you need to have a strong knowledge of at least 2 of their artworks, and notes on these is what make up one of each of the artists’ pages of notes. All of these notes should be dot points, so try to keep the brief, concise and super succinct.

Don’t worry though, we’re not going to throw you in the deep end – these 4 pages of notes actually have a structure that makes them super easy to complete.

Artist Note Structure
  • The Artist – this should cover who the artist is, when and where they lived, key life events, their historical context and what their society was like. This information will work as context when you write about them and their works.
  • Style/Subjects/Issues – what does the artist make art about? Do they focus on particular subjects? Do they work in a certain style? What social, personal or other issues does their art look at?
  • Artwork A – list the elements and principles of design used in this artwork and what effect they have on it, then briefly discuss the artwork through each of the frames (structural, subjective, cultural, postmodern).
  • Artwork B – list the elements and principles of design used in this artwork and what effect they have on it, then briefly discuss the artwork through each of the frames (structural, subjective, cultural, postmodern).

Then just rinse and repeat for your other artist! Ideally each of these four sections will make up half a page of notes, but in some cases you’ll have heaps of into or want to study a third artwork, so don’t worry if they go over.

Once you’ve done these for each of your artists you’re ready to move on to the real stuff in the next day’s work!

If you’re looking for some help in putting all your study notes together for Visual Arts, check out this article here!

Day 3: Short Answer Practice

It’s time to get down to business and crack open those past papers! For this section you’ll actually be focusing on the first two parts of Section I of the exam paper.

That means that you’ll be doing everything except Question 3, the 12 mark question, as you’ll be working on that tomorrow.

For this section you’ll need 3 HSC Visual Arts past papers and the marking guidelines for each, which you can find in our master list of past papers here!

We all know that short answer sections seem pretty simple, but what you need to remember with the Visual Arts exam is that you’re answering questions on artworks you’ve never seen before. That makes this section significantly tricker, so you need to spend some time getting used to it in three parts, which you can spread out over the day.

If you’re struggling to nail the short answer unseen section, check out our article on how to ace it here!

Open Book Short Answer

The first part of this is pretty easy. Using a past paper and all your notes on the elements and principles of design and the topics you studied in class, you’ll work on answering Questions 1 and 2 of Section I.

You’ll want to focus on making the most of the unseen artworks, so go in and annotate them, point out uses of line, colour, etc. and highlight key info in the artist information (such as where the artist was from).

Also pay attention to marks; if a question is work 5 marks you’ll want to have 5 pieces of information in your response.

These may be two elements of design and three sentences on why they’re effective or why the artist has used them!

Remember TEE when writing your answers, as this will help make sure they’re structured perfectly.

TEE

  • Technique – what principle or element of design is used/what frame does it relate to
  • Example – how is it used specifically in the artwork
  • Effect – what does this have to do with the artist, artwork and/or question

When you’ve finished grab the marking guidelines from the NESA website or our master list of past papers for that exam and check how you went!

Blind Short Answer 

Now it’s time to raise the stakes a little. Using a different past paper try to answer Questions 1 and 2 of this exam – only this time you’re doing it without any of your notes!

This will make you work to remember key info and point out where your knowledge may be lacking.

Only recalling three elements of design? You need to revise them. Not sure how to analyse the artwork? It’s time to revisit the four frames! Feel like you have no idea what words to use? Time to google some art terminology and build up a glossary of technical terms.

All of this will show you where your knowledge is awesome and what areas you may need to brush up on, so really you’re teaching yourself what you need to work on!

Once’ you’ve finished go through again with the NESA marking guidelines and see how you went.

Timed Short Answer 

By now you’re ready to kick ass in the short answer section of the HSC, so grab your final past paper, set a 25 minute timer and smash it out of the park!

It’s suggested that you spend 45 minutes on Section I in your HSC exam, so let’s break timing down a little.

Generally you’ll want to spend about 20 minutes of the 12 mark question, which leaves you 25 for Questions 1 and 2.

As Question 1 is always worth fewer marks, you should spend a little less time on it than Question 2, so you’re looking at about 10 minutes for the former, 15 for the latter. Lets look at those times all together

Section I = 45 Min
  • Question 1 = 10 min
  • Question 2 = 15 min
  • Question 3 = 20 min

As this is just a practice you don’t need to micromanage your time, but make sure you’re aiming to be hitting the approximate time marks for the 2 questions you’re doing.

Once your 25 minute timer finishes stop what you’re doing and see how you went using the NESA marking guidelines!

Day 4: 12 Marker Practice

The dreaded 12 marker. This is the question almost every art student hates, because it’s almost but not quite an extended response on an artwork you’ve never seen before!

But not to fret – if you work hard you can totally kick the 12 marker’s ass.

The best way to become a pro at answering Section I Question 3 is to find out what a strong answer looks like, then practice and mark yourself. This is also the question a lot of students run out of time on, so making sure you can complete it in 20 minutes is also a must.

If you need some guidance on how to write a Band 6 worthy 12 marker, check out our article on writing one here!

Sample Answers 

The best way to get on the path to writing strong responses is to figure out what strong responses actually look like.

The best way to do this is to find some past sample answers that marked well and figuring out what sets them apart and makes them so awesome.

The best way to do this is by printing out the sample answer and annotating it. Use one colour of highlighter to point out any time the answer mentions the frames or an element or principle of design, then a different colour to highlight where they’ve linked the technique/effect/artwork back to the question.

If you’re feeling extra motivated you can go through with a third colour and just pick out any strong sentences, punchy phrases or technical terminology.

To get you started here’s a collection of sample answers you can check out!

The question you’re looking for in there is question 1c, but you can check out the other questions too.

That link also has some low marking samples, so if you want you can check them out and try to figure out where they went wrong so you can avoid that in your own work.

Untimed Practice 

For this practice you can take as much time as you want to formulate the perfect answer to a past paper question, so make the most of it.

Make sure to keep the sample answer in mind and try to emulate the things that made it great.

Just like with Questions 1 and 2 you’ll be answering Question 3 in your own time, and you can choose whether you want to use your notes or not as you write it.

In this situation the main goal is to write a strong response that’s sophisticated, structured and above all answers the question.

Remember, even though this is a visual arts exam, STEEL is still your best friend.

STEEL for Visual Arts
  • Statement – what are you saying about the artwork/ what point are you making?
  • Technique – what principle or element of design is used/what frame does it relate to
  • Example – how is it used specifically in the artwork
  • Effect – what does this have to do with the artist, artwork and/or question
  • Link – connect everything you’ve said back to the question you’re answering/idea you’re proving

When you’re done you know the drill – check over your answer against the marking guidelines and see how you did!

Timed Practice 

This is the same thing, but this time you’ll be working to a time limit. It may seem like 20 minutes is ages to get 12 marks, but a lot of students really struggle to finish this question in time, so make sure you pay attention to your timing.

If you’re aiming to make three points or cover three ideas in your response, you need to be halfway through your second one within ten minutes, so you need to watch the clock.

At the same time you can’t forget about structure, sophisticated language and technical terminology, so this is a real balancing act. Give it your best shot!

As usual, check your answer against the marking guidelines when you’re done.

Day 5: Extended Response Practice

You’ve been building up to it for 4 days now and it’s time to finally start preparing what is going to be an awesome extended response!

Today’s all about figuring out what you’re going to write and how, so we’ve broken it down into 3 easy steps.

If you’re looking for some help with writing your extended response for Visual Arts, check out our article on writing one here!

Artist Cheat Sheets 

Your extended response is where your artists you chose before come into play, so you’ll need to revise them to make sure you still know them inside out.

The best way to do this is through a 2-step process.

Step 1: Cheat Sheets

Using artist cheat sheets you can super quickly condense all the info you have on your artists into one page of super succinct notes.

Using the 2 pages of notes you wrote for each artist a few days ago, go through and fill out one cheat sheet for each artist.

Make sure to include all the info you need but keep it brief, using dot points, abbreviations and text talk if you need.

Step 2: Study The Sheets

It’s not as simple as filling out the cheat sheets and then leaving them to gather dust – you need to study them too!

You have a few choices on how you study them, but I’ve found that the best way to really remember the info is to have a friend or family member quiz you on them!

Just give someone your cheat sheet and have them ask you questions about anything on the page.

It’s your job to give a super detailed answer and explain it to them, so if you find you can’t remember an artwork or the artists’ details are fuzzy, you need to revise your notes again!

Essay Plans 

Now let’s move onto the actual extended response. When you get into the HSC exam you’ll be given 6 questions to choose from in Section II, but you only have to answer one.

That said, you want to be prepared for anything, because some questions just wont work for certain artists, while other may confuse you.

The best way to prepare for anything in the extended response is to grab a past paper and map out a super simple essay plan for every question. That’s right, all of them.

You’re going to end up with 6 brief but useful plans that show how you’d tackle each of the questions, making it easy to see what kind of questions you would (and wouldn’t) be able to answer with confidence.

Your essay plans should be in dot point form and map out just the main idea of your response, along with what artists/artworks you’d talk about and in what way.

An example will make this easier to picture, so let’s do one using Gustav Klimt and Henri de Toulouse Lautrec and the following works of theirs.


klimt

lautrec

Question

Analyse how emotion is used in artworks to provoke and generate discussion about ideas and issues.

While this plan is pretty good, it’s clear that this question would probably be better suited to contemporary artists who create art about social, political and other issues.

That’s not to say this couldn’t turn into a strong response, only that my chosen artists and artworks may be better suited to a different question.

Practice Response 

Real deal time! You’re ready now to start writing your extended response based on one of your 6 essay plans, so choose the one that you think was looking the strongest.

Need help? We’ve got an article all about how to write a Band 6 Visual Arts extended response right here!

Work through your extended response almost like you would an art essay, making sure your structure is on point and you’re linking everything back to the question. STEEL is love, STEEL is life.

STEEL for Visual Arts
  • Statement – what are you saying about the artwork/ what point are you making?
  • Technique – what principle or element of design is used/what frame does it relate to
  • Example – how is it used specifically in the artwork
  • Effect – what does this have to do with the artist, artwork and/or question
  • Link – connect everything you’ve said back to the question you’re answering/idea you’re proving

Use your artist cheat sheets as backup for whenever you need to check some info or remember a key element from one of your artworks, as well as to boost your memory as you go.

Also, make sure that you’re handwriting your response, as a lot of people are tempted to type extended response to make sure they’re making word counts.

While this may seem like a good idea at the time, you’re going to be handwriting in the HSC so you want to be practicing by hand, so ditch the keyboard!

At this point you don’t really need to be worrying about time, but do keep in mind that you’ll only have about 45 minutes to write in the HSC exam, so try not to exceed an hour spent writing. This will just make it easier for you to cut down on time later!

Day 6: Revision and Past Paper

It’s only 2 days away so you really have to buckle down now if you want to kick ass in your Visual Arts HSC exam. And how do you achieve that, you ask? Practice, practice, practice.

Artist Revision

As it gets closer to the exam you need to make sure you really know your chosen artists for your extended response, so you have to keep revising.

Read over your 2 page notes at least once and make a little mind map of the key ideas/info about each artist.

Remember 2 of these will be the artworks you’ve chosen to talk about, so the other key points should include the artists’ origins and life, their subjects/ideas, style, etc.

Around each bubble write some key info/terms that link to that idea to you can recall everything quickly, just like this:

FullSizeRender

When you’ve completed these mind maps stick them up somewhere you’ll see every day, such as your bedroom wall, bathroom mirror or on the fridge.

They’ll only be up for a few days, but having them right in front of you so often means you’re more likely to absorb their information!

Past Paper

The big day is right around the corner, so it’s time to tackle the whole exam in one go! This means working through an entire past paper, however you don’t have to do it all in one go, so feel free to have breaks between sections.

You can grab a past paper from our master list of Visual Arts past papers here!

In the actual exam you’ll have 1.5 hours to complete the paper – 45 minutes per section.

Because you want to start honing your time management skills now, use this as a practice run of watching the clock and keeping to a time limit. Remember our breakdown;

Section I
  • Question 1 = 10 min
  • Question 2 = 15 min
  • Question 3 = 20 min
Section II
  • Extended response = 45 min

Try to stick to these time limits but don’t worry if you go over – just make sure you don’t spend more than 1 hour on each section.

Also keep in mind the important things we’ve mentioned – TEE, STEEL, our artist cheat sheets, sophisticated language and technical terms.

These are the things that, when used well, can turn a Band 4 response into a Band 5, or even a Band 5 into a Band 6!

As always, make sure you grab the NESA marking guidelines and see how you did at the end! If you’re not marking yourself you have no way of knowing if you’re on the right track.

Day 7: Exam Conditions Past Paper

If you’re not feeling the pressure yet you must be one cool cucumber, because today is the last day before the exam!

That means it’s time for one last sprint to the finish line, so let’s make it count by doing the closest thing you can do to taking the exam a day early.

Here’s a quick breakdown of What to Do the Night Before HSC Exams to make sure you’re prepared and well rested! But let’s continue…

Past Paper Under Exam Conditions 

Here’s what you’re going to do – head to the silent section of the library or go into your room and shut the door. Make sure no one disturbs you and set a time for 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Now grab that past paper, a trusty pen and a notebook, hit start and write, write, write!

Make sure to remember our time breakdown and stick to your limits.

Use TEE when answering your short response questions and make sure you mention those elements and principles of design. Don’t forget the frames and show that 12 mark question that it won’t get the best of you.

Keep those artist cheat sheets in the back of your mind and choose the extended response question that works best for you and your chosen artists. And whatever you do, don’t stop writing!

This section may seem short but there’s nothing else for me to say! By now you’ve practiced each of these sections multiple times, you’ve revised your artists and notes over and over, there’s no way you could be more prepared than this!

Treat this past paper like your actual exam and give it your all, and I promise that when you whip out that NESA marking criteria you’ll be ticking every box.

Pro Mode: feeling confident? Or maybe you’re not 100% sure? It sounds lame, but doing a second past paper under exam conditions will give you that last little practice you need to go in tomorrow and smash your exam out of the park!

And there you have it! You’ve made it through our 7 Day HSC Visual Arts Study Plan!

You know what that means? You’re ready for anything. Now get a good night’s sleep, and wake up in the morning ready to totally own your HSC Visual Arts Exam!

In your practical art assessments, but feeling a bit stuck? Check out our article on how to find inspiration for your HSC Visual Arts Major Work to get that creativity flowing!

Looking for some extra help with HSC Visual Arts?

We pride ourselves on our inspirational HSC Visual Arts coaches and mentors!

We offer tutoring and mentoring for Years K-12 in a variety of subjects, with personalised lessons conducted one-on-one in your home or at one of our state of the art campuses in Hornsby or the Hills!

To find out more and get started with an inspirational tutor and mentor get in touch today!

Don’t wait until 7 days before your exam to get personalised tutoring support in Mosman!

Give us a ring on 1300 267 888, email us at [email protected] or check us out on TikTok!


Maddison Leach completed her HSC in 2014, achieving an ATAR of 98.00 and Band 6 in all her subjects. Having tutored privately for two years before joining Art of Smart, she enjoys helping students through the academic and other aspects of school life, even though it sometimes makes her feel old. Maddison has had a passion for writing since her early teens, having had several short stories published before joining the world of blogging. She’s currently studying a Bachelor of Design at the University of Technology Sydney and spends most of her time trying not to get caught sketching people on trains.

45,861 students have a head start...

Get exclusive study content & advice from our team of experts delivered weekly to your inbox!

AOS Website Asset 2

Looking for Visual Arts Support?

Discover how we can help you!

AOS Website Asset 1