Human Beings by Vee
This GCSE project by student Vee explores the theme Human Beings. From the outset, Vee demonstrates a thoughtful and independent approach, beginning with a title page that brings together images by artists she has researched, clearly setting the context for her project.
She starts by creating an artist research page on Naila Hazell. Alongside written annotation that includes her own opinions, Vee completes a small artist copy. This practical response allows her to analyse Hazell’s work through making, rather than observation alone.
Vee then researches Shane K. Berkery, producing an almost monotone pencil study. She makes connections to Berkery’s work through her limited use of colour and experiments creatively by using chocolate wrappers as gold leaf. This is an effective example of adapting materials to echo an artist’s visual language.
Next, Vee creates a visual mind map to explore different aspects of Human Beings. From this, she chooses to focus on Daily Life, explaining in her annotation that she is interested in how the “day-to-day of people can be extremely revealing”. This page includes her own photographs and skilful studies in watercolour and black-and-white pencil on brown paper.
A subsequent double page spread documents a visit to the National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery. Here, Vee reflects on compositions she observed and the use of chiaroscuro, making clear links between gallery research and her own developing ideas.
She then moves on to Mundane Environments, drawing directly from her own daily life. On this page, she presents an exceptional coloured pencil drawing of a room alongside a watercolour study of the interior of the tube, carefully annotating her thinking and intentions.
Vee explores Childhood next, recognising how early experiences shape identity. This section includes a pastel study, pencil on brown paper, and marker pen drawings of herself and her brother as children. She demonstrates a wonderful control of the media. From here, she develops the idea of Community, considering both her childhood and present day. She creates a painterly digital portrait, explaining, “I wanted to honour my family,” and includes a QR code linking to a time-lapse of the digital process.
Vee used Krita to create her digital artwork. Krita is a free, open-source raster graphics editor designed primarily for digital painting, illustration, and 2D animation, available on Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android. It features advanced brushes, layers, vector tools, and colour management tailored for professional artists, concept artists, and illustrators.
Although ideas develop continuously throughout the project, Vee also creates a dedicated development page to explore possible final compositions. She experiments digitally, explains her choices, and considers how colour might reflect both her themes and the artists she has studied. At this stage, she introduces the idea of computer pop-ups within her composition to symbolise modern life.
She eventually selects an image of a child holding a parent’s hand, with the adult figure out of shot, using the gesture as a symbol of family. She explores different background possibilities before creating a new double-page spread using childhood reference photos to experiment with monoprinting. The textured quality of these prints documents a more expressive way of working.
As she moves closer to her final outcome, Vee fine-tunes her ideas through annotation and practical testing. She practises with oil pastels to help resolve colour choices and clarify her direction.
Her final piece, created using oil pastels and oil paint, brings together her investigations into daily life, childhood, community, and family. It reflects her sustained engagement with artists, materials, and personal ideas, and demonstrates how careful development, experimentation, and reflection can lead to a meaningful personal response.
Thank you to Vee for allowing her work to be shared. You can see her sketchbook flick-through on Instagram. There are more example projects by Arty Students on the website.