Unit 3 Outcome 2: making artworks, presenting a critique and reflecting on feedback (VCE Art Making and Exhibiting)
“Outcome 2: make artworks in specific art forms, prepare and present a critique, and reflect on feedback”
Unit 3 Outcome 2: make artworks that integrate your influences and develop an individual style, present a critique (up to 10 journal pages and at least two artworks), and reflect on the feedback in 1000 to 1500 words with visual information, planning how you will develop your artworks in Unit 4. It is assessed in the SAT (60%).
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What this outcome asks
Unit 3 Outcome 2 moves from research to making. You make artworks developed from your Outcome 1 experimentation, integrate your influences, develop an individual style, then present a critique to your peers and reflect on their feedback. It is part of the School-assessed Task (60%).
The answer
Making artworks
The study design focuses on how you:
- manipulate materials and apply techniques and processes to develop an individual style;
- integrate the inspirations and influences of other artists and expand on your ideas;
- develop visual language to communicate ideas and meaning;
- progressively document and evaluate your art making.
The critique
- A presentation of your Unit 3 art making to your class or another group, covering all aspects of Outcomes 1 and 2.
- Limited to 10 pages from your Visual Arts journal and at least two artworks (experiments, works in progress or finished works).
- Formats include an oral or written presentation with visual evidence, an annotated visual report, a poster or display, a publication (print or online), or a digital presentation such as a video.
Reflecting on feedback
After the critique, you gather feedback and reflect on it to develop artworks in Unit 4. The study design requires the reflection to be documented in 1000 to 1500 words, with visual information.
- Record the feedback accurately (who said what).
- Analyse it against your intentions: is it valid, and why?
- Decide what to change, keep or reject, and justify it.
- Plan specific next steps for Unit 4 using art terminology.
- Show it visually: annotated images, sketches and test pieces.
A student making digital photomontages about identity:
- Critique: presents 10 journal pages (research, experiments, development) and three montages.
- Feedback: peers praise the layering technique but say the colour grading makes the works look like advertisements.
- Reflection: the student agrees the glossy finish undercuts the personal theme; decides to use a desaturated, grainy treatment inspired by one of their three artists; plans test prints on matte paper.
- Unit 4 link: the finished artwork uses the revised treatment, documented in the journal.
- Presenting too much
- Keep to the 10-page limit and choose the most revealing pages.
- Defensive reflection
- The aim is to learn from feedback, not justify everything.
- No link to Unit 4
- Your reflection should plan the next stage of art making.
Practice questions
Original practice questions graded from foundation to exam level, each with a full worked solution. Try them before revealing the solution.
foundation3 marksList three things your Unit 3 critique presentation should explain.Show worked solution →
- How your subject matter and ideas developed from your influences and inspirations.
- The materials, techniques and processes you used and why.
- How you used visual language to communicate meaning, and what you think works and does not work yet.
Marking guide: 1 mark each.
core4 marksA peer says in your critique that your paintings' message is unclear because the imagery is too busy. Write a short reflection showing how you will use this feedback.Show worked solution →
Example:
"My classmates found the message of my paintings about urban loneliness unclear because the crowded compositions pulled attention in too many directions. Looking again, the single figure I intended as the focal point competes with the detailed signage. In Unit 4 I will simplify the background by reducing the palette to muted greys and using larger areas of negative space, and I will use contrast (a warm light on the figure) to create emphasis. I will test two small studies before starting the final work to check whether the figure now reads first."
It restates the feedback, analyses the cause, plans specific changes using art terminology, and plans to test them.
Marking guide: 1 mark for restating feedback, 1 mark for analysis, 1 mark for specific planned changes, 1 mark for terminology and testing.
exam6 marksEvaluate the role of critique and feedback in developing artworks. Refer to your own art making. (Practice exam-style question.)Show worked solution →
A strong response:
- Explains the purpose of critique: making decisions explicit, getting other perspectives on whether ideas are communicated, and identifying strengths and weaknesses.
- Gives specific examples from the student's art making: what feedback was received, from whom, and what it revealed.
- Explains the changes made in response (to materials, composition, visual language, subject matter) and their effect on later artworks.
- Evaluates: which feedback was most useful and why, any feedback the student chose not to act on and the reasons, and the limits of critique (peers' preferences versus the artist's intentions).
- Uses accurate art terminology.
Marking guide: 1 mark for purpose, 2 marks for specific examples, 2 marks for changes and effects, 1 mark for evaluative judgement.
Practise this
- Quiz Exhibitions, Curating and Conservation: VCE Art Making and Exhibiting Units 3 and 4 practice · 12 questions
- Quiz Visual Language and Art Making: VCE Art Making and Exhibiting Units 3 and 4 practice · 12 questions
- Flashcards Art Making and Exhibiting deck
- Mock exam Full Art Making and Exhibiting paper