GCSE | Meg Shuker

GCSE art

From 2021-2022, I studied GCSE art. I had been working on my practical skills my entire life, so at this point, I was pretty skilled at what I did. I spent most of my project creating realistic copies of second-hand references, and taking inspiration from other artists. Much of my personal style development happened after this project, which I am excited to show you later on. Below, you can see some of my favourite GCSE work.

Choosing a topic

My GCSE art project began by choosing a theme and carrying out initial research. I chose the theme of beetles, being my special interest, and I created a mind map, mood board and research page. You can see some of my initial artwork (mainly acrylic paintings) dotted around, which helped me to get a feel of the project and practice some important techniques, for example replicating the shine of a beetle's elytra.

Albrecht Durer inspired work

After deciding on my theme, I created an artist research page on Albrecht Durer. I initially chose this artist based on his incredible piece titled "stag beetle", which I attempted to create my own copy of. However, after viewing some of his renaissance-style portraits, I decided to try out the style for myself, with a twist. Instead of creating a human portrait, I added the head of a beetle. I couldn't use my own reference images, which was a struggle throughout this project. However, photography has since become an integral part of my artistic process which has made my art far more original.

Artist copy of the piece "Stag beetle" by Albrecht Durer, watercolour on paper.

Portrait in the style of Albrecht Durer, acrylic paint on paper.

Biro drawings

As part of my experimentation with different materials, I created some biro pen drawings. I experimented with a few different techniques, and for some drawings I used several pen colours. I love working with biro because I can quickly create these amazing sketches by crosshatching with the pen. Hatching is something that has made its way into my style even to this day, because I just love the look.

Drawing of a stag beetle, biro pen on lined paper.

Sketches, biro pen and watercolour on paper

Mixed biro pen on paper.

Pencil drawings (graphite and coloured)

This sketchbook page explored both graphite pencils and coloured pencils. I began with a small-scale practice in graphite, which allowed me to get a feel for the material, before moving on to a bigger, more completed work. I chose a black and white beetle for reference. I then used coloured pencils to draw another beetle, and I think the medium worked so well for creating that reflective, saturated look that the elytra have.

Black and white beetle, graphite pencils on toned paper

Colourful beetle drawing, coloured pencils on toned paper

Small-scale beetle drawing, graphite pencils on paper

Stencilling

I made use of the laser cutter available to me at school and created stencils of a beetle silhouette. I decided to layer stencilled images in silver paint on top of a painting of my hand, as if I were holding them. I think this is the painting that began my interest in acrylics and encouraged me to experiment with my style. You can see the big brushstrokes start to come out. Drawing my hand also gave me the opportunity to use my own references.

Sketchbook page looking at stencilling, Acrylic paint and metallic paint on Paper.

Eileen Downes inspired collage

For this page, I had taken a really high quality image of a ladybug that I wanted to make a piece with. I decided to create an Eileen Downes inspired collage and use brightly coloured paper to capture the hues seen in my photo. I am fond of the way I represented the sheen of the beetle's elytra.

Eileen Downes inspired collage of a ladybug, coloured card.