我女儿于2016年参加纽省高考。当知道她准备把视觉艺术作为高考课目时，我非常纠结并且担心。这是因为我知道她只是一名艺术爱好者，不具备类似艺术家的很高天分；其次我们担心艺术作品在评分中的考官主观性。这门课不是亚裔背景学生高考所选择的热门，我们对此评分过程不熟悉。我女儿和我们讨论过很多次，也提供了很多信息让我们知道这门课高考的评分过程和其他课程一样同样客观和科学，她有信心取得好成绩。她为此付出了很多热情和努力，拿到了94分的高分。

        我的经验是：
1. 对艺术的热爱和激情比天分更重要。

2. 学校教的技巧有限，很多要靠自己自学、练习。

3. 要提早备考- 个人作品在11年级开始就要开始准备。我女儿在高考前的一个圣诞节学校假期里基本上完成了她的作品。高考时她只需要应考理论部分，减轻了高考期间的压力和工作量。

4. 考生中素描、水彩画和油画等作品较多。如果你选择这些形式的作品，一定要有自己的特色，否则较难胜出。

5. 作品选题和综合技巧的应用很重要。我女儿的个人作品是做了一个系列的玩具模型。她用羊毛针刺技术做了各种人形，用硬纸板做成动物形的面具，用纸张不同的处理做背景。作品的主题是空气污染对人类的影响，引起大家对环境保护的重视。她写的作品介绍也较切题。我觉得环保是比较讨人喜欢的题材。

6. 学生的艺术笔记也占分数- 反映你平时的努力，不要轻视。

7. 个人作品的评分至少有三个外校的老师打分，他们会把各部分的分数加起来给个总分，加上本校老师的给的分数和高考时理论部分成绩，所以视觉艺术的高考成绩应该是可控而且总分应该是比较合理的。

我请女儿写了一篇短文来介绍高考备考中的体会，希望对大家有帮助。我怕译得不好，所以把原文贴在下面，家长们可以直接给孩子读。

HSC Visual Arts Advice:

1.EXPLORE: As SOON as possible, which means even during the end of Year 11 and the holidays before you start the HSC. This means doing some research, looking at artists whose works you like. Artists usually post their techniques, processesand materials online. I recommend apps such as Pinterest which the art community loves to post their works on. The app allows you to save as many posts as you want. Exploring will give you ideas that you maybe haven’t thought about before for your major. When exploring, keep an open mindset. 

2.EXPERIMENT: Many of the artworks that receive top marks are done using techniques that the student hasn’t done before in their life, but picked it up when they experiment with different art techniques. Once you’ve found some art making processes (eg:watercolour, cardboard sculpture, spray-painting etc.) make a couple of little samples/artworks experimenting with these processes. They don’t have to be good, but experimenting will help you find new ways of making your major. 

3.RECORD: Make sure you record EVERYTHING you research and experimentwith in your visual diary. Markers love to see diaries that show great effort. A good tip in filling your diary, is to write down notes that briefly describe what you experimented or researched and whether you want to use this for your major. Stick in pieces of things that inspire you- may even be a lolly wrapper or brochure that you like the aesthetic of and helped you develop you concept for your major.

4.PRACTICE: Once you’ve found a couple ofart making techniques that you want to incorporate into making your major, practice with them. Markers will be looking for signs of expertise in whatever way you choose to make your artwork. The best artworks show students combining different processes together. Keep in mind that marking is harsher for processes that are commonly used, such as watercolour, painting and drawing. Marking will not be as harsh for unique techniques, such as digital art, textiles and for what I did, which was cardboard sculpting, incorporated with wool-felting and paper-burning. However, that does not mean that you should choose a unique technique just because it is easier to get marks with. Stick to what you are strong in and enjoy experimenting with.

5.BE CONSISTENT: Plan out times to do your artwork and even do more experimenting as you are making the artwork. DO NOT leave your artwork to the last minute- if you do, you will regret your life and want to jump into a trash can. I made sure that I took advantage of every chance to work on my major and even I felt stressed near the end because things will happen (eg: something takes longer to make than you expected).

6.IF YOU HAVE A FRAGILE ARTWORK- MAINTAIN A BUFFER OF AT LEAST HALF A METRE SURROUNDING IT AND PROTECT IT WITH YOUR LIFE. There is nothing worse than forgetting to put a simple paper sign next to your artworks saying “Do Not Touch” and having someone curious accidentally touching and breaking your hard work.

7.Some extra notes for the major: Take some time to develop an artist statement that sounds cool to markers (preferably something you are passionate about- but if you are not that is okay, just pretend), if you are stressed out, take a deep breath and let yourself enjoy theart making process.

8.FOR THEORY (THE EXAM): Art theory is not really about WHAT you say, but HOW you say it. Key things to study for- make sure you have a solid grasp of the Conceptual Framework and the different Frames. You will need to use these as tools in shaping your answer. Also memorise information about a couple of your own chosen artists to write about for the essay. Make sure they are artists that you are interested about- this makes it easier to memorise information about them. Remember that in art, you will ALWAYS sound competent and correct as long as you use the Conceptual Framework or the Frames as your base. Read the question carefully. 

Good luck!