AP Course Description
The AP Studio Art Portfolio is for art students who are motivated learners and who are serious about developing their ability to communicate their ideas, thoughts, and feelings in visual form. This course is not based on a written exam; instead, students submit a portfolio at the end of the academic year to attempt to earn college credit. Students are required to produce a minimum 24 works of art that reflect issues related to 2D design. Media such as Drawing, Painting, Printmaking, Mixed Media, and Collage are utilized. This course enables students to develop quality artworks that demonstrate, strong visual idea development, significant knowledge of the elements and principles of design, and the artistic skill and ability necessary to apply them.
Prerequisites
Students may also be required to present previously produced work in portfolio form as evidence of skills and ability prior to enrollment.
Portfolio Requirements
The 2 – D Portfolio contains 3 sections: Quality, Concentration, and Breadth
1. Quality: In this section, the student will submit five examples of their best work. This work does not need to show a variety of techniques or approaches, just examples of mastery in concept, composition, and/ or execution of 2D design. Artworks should be between 8"x 10" and 18" x 24" in size and either paper, cardboard, canvas board, or unstretched canvas.
Commentary: The portfolio requires a written commentary on the central idea of your concentration and how your work demonstrates the exploration of that idea. The commentary is not graded but is helpful information provided to the College Board as an explanation of your work during the evaluation process.
2. Concentration: In this section, the student is asked to devote considerable time, effort, and thought to an investigation of a specific visual idea. The concentration is a body of artworks that grow out of a coherent plan of action. These works should use the elements and principles of design in an informed and/ or experimental way. The works are expected to be unified visually or conceptually. The work must reflect your individual interests, be focused on a process of visual growth & discovery, and show the development of a visual language appropriate to your original concept. You will be expected to make significant progress toward this goal during the first few months.
The concentration cannot be a variety of works produced as solutions to class projects, a collection of works with differing intents, a group project or collaboration, a collection derived solely from other people's published photographs, a body of work that simply investigates a medium without a strong underlying visual idea, or a body of work that merely takes a long time to complete.
3. Breadth: In this section, you will be required to submit 12 slides that demonstrate your understanding of the principles of design. Include examples of Unity/ Variety, Balance, and Emphasis, and thoughtfully applying these principles while creating your art. For this section, you need 12 slides of 12 different artworks. Details may not be included. You cannot submit the same slides that you submit for the concentration.
Originality/ Integrity
Students who make use of borrowed images, such as photographs in magazines, books, or from the Internet need to demonstrate creativity and sophistication of approach that goes beyond mere copying. You must show substantial and significant development that surpasses duplication. Simply copying an image violates copyright law, is unethical, and constitutes plagiarism. Students are encouraged to create art from their imaginations, experiences, and from direct observation of the world around them.
Class - Activities and Strategies
Each 1 month period consists of 4 120-minute class periods. Students will have access to all basic art-making materials and art room facilities during scheduled class time
Quality: Craftsmanship and mastery of technique with various 2 D mediums used will be encouraged and evaluated throughout on an ongoing basis. Quality will be addressed during peer and teacher critiques as well as self and teacher evaluations.
AP CLASSROOM RULES
➢ Regular attendance is essential.
➢ Inclass time must be used productively.
➢ Attention must be given to lectures, directions, and demonstrations.
➢ Participation in discussions and peer critiques is expected.
➢ Proper and safe use of materials and equipment is expected.
➢ Proper cleanup duties & storage of work are a must.
Homework Summer Art Journal
As in most college-level classes students will be expected and strongly encouraged to spend a considerable amount of time outside the classroom on developing the 24 artworks needed starting in the summer prior to the AP Art course. Drawings, Sketches, Ideas, and Visual Resources will be collected in the Summer Art Journal. Journaling is a vital tool for all artists for recording ideas, experimenting with techniques and subjects, and capturing inspiration. Take and collect photos of
interesting textures, lighting, subjects, etc and fix them into your journal. In addition, complete the following artworks based on these prompts in your journal.
Summer assignments
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Self-portrait draw while looking in a mirror with charcoal using a Chiaroscuro technique
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Draw your hand holding a small object using a cross hatching technique with pencil
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Draw an unusual interior space (ie. refrigerator, inside the car, closet, etc.)
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Draw or paint a still life of your worldly treasures in bird's eye view
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12 Sketches of same person different poses on the same lg. paper any media
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Mixed Media Collage of a personal pursuit
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Color a rendering of a stilllife arrangement of your family's shoes. Express some sense of their personalities.