AP Studio Art Syllabus
Course Description
AP Studio ART
Sarah Frivold
The AP Studio Art: 2-D Design course is designed for students who are seriously interested in the practical experience of art and wish to develop mastery in the concept, composition, and execution of their ideas. [SC2] AP Studio Art is not based on a written exam; instead, students submit portfolios for evaluation at the end of the school year. In building the portfolio, students experience a variety of concepts, techniques, art mediums, and approaches designed to help them demonstrate their abilities as well as their versatility with specific techniques, problem solving, and ideation. Students also develop a body of work for the Concentration section of the portfolio that investigates an idea of personal interest to them. The goals of the AP Studio Art: 2-D Design course are to:
• Encourage creative as well as systematic investigation of formal and conceptual issues in the Quality, Concentration, and Breadth sections of the portfolio. [SC1]
• Emphasize making art as an ongoing process that involves the student in informed and critical decision making to develop ideation. [SC7]
• Develop technical versatility and skills while using the visual elements of art and the principles of design to compose graphic images in a variety of two-dimensional designs. [SC4]
• Encourage students to become independent thinkers who will contribute inventively and critically to their culture through the making of art.
The AP Studio Art: 2-D Design course addresses three major concerns that are a constant in the teaching of art:
(1) a sense of quality in a student’s work;
(2) the student’s concentration on a particular visual interest or problem; and
(3) the student’s need for breadth of experience in formal, technical, and expressive means of art.
Photography, printing, drawing, painting, printmaking, mixed media, and collage are all appropriate means for expressing design principles. The 2-D Design portfolio contains three sections: Quality and Concentration.
Quality
In the Quality section, you will submit five examples of your best work. You do not need to show a variety of techniques or approaches, just your best work.
Excellence demonstrated in original artwork from either your Breadth or Concentration sections—five actual works.
Concentration
The Concentration is an in-depth personal commitment to a particular artistic concern, idea, content, subject matter, or concept. It must include 12 slides / some details / 10 to 12 works.
The Concentration section is a cohesive body of work developed through a planned investigation of a strong visual idea of personal interest to you. In this section you will develop a body of work that grows from this investigation. During ongoing one-on-one conferences with your teacher, you will be assisted in discovering your concentration. You will develop and present to the teacher, for approval, your specific plan of action and specific plan of investigation, for the development of your chosen concentration theme. As your concentration work develops, you may discover a need to modify your submitted plan of action. It will be important for you to discuss with the teacher any modifications you feel a need to make in your plan of investigation for your concentration. [SC3 & SC9] You must submit 12 pieces of work in this section.
In the Concentration section, students are expected to choose an idea, concept, or subject matter to explore in depth. This investigation of their theme should be something that is important to them. During ongoing individual conferences/meetings with each student, the teacher will assist the student in choosing a concentration theme. Each student will develop and present to the teacher for approval a specific plan of action for investigation, and an outline for his or her chosen Concentration theme. This cohesive body of work will investigate a strong underlying visual idea, using any single 2-D medium or a combination of media. If modifications to the submitted plan of action for investigation become necessary, the student will get those approved by the teacher. Ideation may be developed in any single art medium, combined media, or process.
Homework and Sketchbook [SC7]
As in any college-level course, it is expected that students will spend a considerable amount of time outside the classroom working on completion of assignments during open studio, the summer assignments, and throughout the course. Ideas for projects or solutions to problems should be worked out in a sketchbook both in class and outside of class. The sketchbook is an essential tool in recording ideas, capturing visual information, working on compositional issues, and just fooling around. Sketchbooks are checked frequently for progress.
You need to carry it with you every day, everywhere. Open it up first thing in the morning and last thing at night and many times in between. Draw in it, write in it, scribble in it, paint in it, glue things into it, cut the pages, tear the pages, change the way it looks to make it look like your own book. At the end of the summer it should reflect YOU and your experiences throughout the summer. Work in your sketchbook is an ongoing process that will help you make informed and critical decisions about the progress of your work. [SC7] Your sketchbook is the perfect place to try a variety of concepts and techniques as you develop your own voice and style. [SC4, SC5 & SC6] Rules for working in your sketchbook:
1. Do not make “perfect” drawings. Make imperfect drawings; make mistakes; make false starts. Let your hand follow your feelings, not what your brain is telling you to do.
2. Always fill the page you are working on. Go off the edges whenever possible. Do not make little drawings in the center of the page. Make every square inch count for something.
3. Do not start something and abandon it. Go back later, change it, and make it into something else. Being able to rescue rough beginnings is the sign of a truly creative mind, it is good practice and great to stretch your ideas/ creativity.
4. Draw from observation, things you see in the world. Learn to translate the dynamic three dimensional world into a two-dimensional world.
5. No cute, pretty, precious, adorable, or cliche images. This is a college-level art class. Expect your ideas about what makes good art to be challenged.
6.Challenge yourself! Try new, different things!!
NOTE: * Your sketchbook is like a working brainstorm, even though constructive criticism is part of art, rejection is part of being an artist and not letting it get you down is part of being an artist… try to avoid showing your work to others unless you know they are going to understand what you are trying to do in your sketchbook. You don’t need negative feedback when you are trying out new ideas or experimenting. This is a place for risk taking. Make sure to only share with people you are confident won’t derail your free spirit. Give yourself the safe space to try all the things you want, work through them, then produce a final product to share with others.
Ways to work in your sketchbook:
• Draw, sketch, pint, collage write, draw, doodle, make mistakes, try again, and so on.
• Use pencils, pens, crayons, sticks, charcoal, burnt matches, pastel, watercolor, acrylic, pine straw, fingers—basically anything that will make a mark. You have the power to make a mark. Work on paper, canvas, sandpaper, or the like.
• Draw what you see in the world. Try not to only draw from drawings from published images (plagiarism) or personal photographs.
• Use gesture, line, and value in your drawings. Try to create a sense of light and depth in your images.
• Use the principles of perspective to show depth in a drawing.
• Glue stuff into your sketchbook, such as ticket stubs, gum wrappers, tin foil, lace, lists, receipts, sand, leaves, twigs, pebbles, shells, earrings, shoelaces, whatever. Make a collage with the stuff. Add these things to pages that you started but don’t like. Let your imagination go wild.
• Build the pages up by layering things; paint and mark on top of collage, newspaper, and drawing. Attach pieces of fabric and photographs and paint over parts of them. What did you do? What are you trying to say?
• Express yourself! Work to develop mastery in concept, composition, and execution of your ideas. [SC2, SC4, SC5 & SC6]
• Make decisions about what you do based on how things look. Go for the tough look, not the easy solution. Do not be trite; say something important about the world you live in.
• Take a news story and interpret it visually; use abstraction to express an idea.
• Play around with geometric and organic forms, interlocking and overlapping to create an interesting composition. Use color to finish the work.
• Create a self-portrait using distortion, or cubism, or impressionism, or minimalism, or pop.
• Create a drawing of the interior of your room but add collage elements for the lamps and furniture. Glue sheer fabric over the collage. Draw an image on the sheer fabric of yourself moving around the room.
• Make at least 30 gesture photos from observation of the figure. Use different looks. Layers, techniques, locations, forms of lighting…
• Write about your work. Write about what you like about a drawing, what you don’t like about it. Write about your hopes for your artwork. Write about why you like to make art.
• Write about how your artwork could impact another’s thinking or feeling. Write about what you want to say with your artwork, and what it means to you in the larger sense.
• Lastly, this experience should be for your growth as an art student, as a person who values art as a means of expression. Keep it for yourself so that you will feel free to work without judgment. Remember, this is an ongoing process that uses informed and critical decision making to develop ideas. [SC7]
Exhibitions/Competitions
AP Studio Art students are encouraged to participate in exhibitions and competitions. At the end of the school year, students will organize an exhibition of their work in the PAC lobby or somewhere on Campus. Details about this exhibition will be provided toward the end of the second semester. Students will be responsible for creating the invites, setting up, and preparation of the show.
Assignments/Evaluation
Assignments that are open ended in nature and that explore a variety of approaches to design are made during the first semester. Assignments have end dates. Students should make every effort to complete work by the end date; however, there may be circumstances that cause an assignment to be delayed. It is important that students have a discussion with the instructor if work is going to be turned in late or they will miss a group peer critique.
[SC8] Work is evaluated in progress and in the finished state through group critiques with teacher and peers. Ongoing one-on-one conferences, critiques, and discussions will take place between the teacher and each individual student.
[SC8] The AP Studio Art: 2-D Design rubric, which is distributed separately, provides the grading criteria. Assessment of student work is based on original compositions and artistic integrity.
All individual student work must be original in concept, composition, and execution. Throughout the course, explicit and specific examples of ongoing activities will take place that will help students understand how artistic integrity, plagiarism, and moving beyond duplication are incorporated into all aspects of the course. Ongoing individual conferences and group critiques will aid student understanding. In addition to these activities, the teacher will conduct discussions and assign readings that reflect what constitutes ethical behavior in the making of art. What is an original voice in a work? Students are not to use someone else’s designs and/or images from the Internet, books, or published or unpublished sources as a basis for their individual creations. If a student uses another person’s image or a published image as a basis for his or her own piece, there must be significant alteration to the piece for it to be considered original. Artistic integrity is essential to this course. Students are to work from direct observation, dreams, fantasies, life experiences, and their own photographic compositions and designs. [SC10]
SUBMITTING ASSIGNMENTS:
- For an assignment to be considered on time, it must be correctly submitted and ON TIME!
- This year, we will be submitting via canvas
GRADING:
- This year, I will be grading on a 5 point scale.
- Each point is worth an equal amount
ASSIGNMENT RUBRIC
UNITS
Photoshop Refresher
Portrait flip book- Photograph 3 people in the studio (refresher on studio lighting). PS all 3 people into one single face.
Blending Animal- Blend 2 different animals to create a new animal, make sure to perfect textures and layers.
Students are given daily activities to refresh PS skills including masking, layers, clone stamping, blending modes, selection skills, global changes, micro changes, quick keys, and proper non destructive workflow.
Elements of Art:
Line
Shape
Form
Color
Value
Texture
Space
Students revisit the elements of art using a consist theme throughout each image.
Principles of Design:
Pattern
Contrast
Emphasis
Balance
Scale
Harmony/Unity
Variety
Movement
Rhythm
Repetition
Students revisit the elements of art using a consist theme throughout each image.
Composition:
Revisit the rules of composition including the
Rule of thirds
Framing
Simplicity
Worms Eye View
Birds Eye View
Leading Lines
Lines of Sight
And more…
Students re-address composition by choosing one theme or concept and photographing the same concept with different compositions.
Patterns:
Unity
Harmony
Patterns
Cultural Studies
Students will research cultural patterns and have examples in your journal of six different cultural patterns of your choice. Project Select a cultural pattern and apply it as a mask in Photoshop onto one of the images you have photographed. Make sure the composition works in unity and harmony, watching the scale as you mask the pattern. You may also print patterns on inkjet transparencies and overlay them onto your photograph. You may work in color, B/W, or a combination.
Portraiture:
Formal
Informal
Studio Lighting
No Faces
Environmental
Documentary
Street
Self Portrait
Students use different lens, cameras, PS techniques, lighting, and environments to create a variety of strong portrait techniques.
Identity:
Self Portraiture
Artist Research
Family History
Brain Mapping
Students research the concept of identity through multiple short activities.
Choice:
Review your portfolio. Select favorites and what you feel is some of your best work.
Plan a reshoot to see how you can improve your work. The course includes group critiques, with the teacher, enabling students to learn to analyze and discuss their own artworks as well as artworks of their peers. Project Rework or re-photograph one of your previous assignments. You may use Photoshop to alter the image if so desired, or work directly from your negative in the darkroom.
Resources
Sketchbook
Museums
Classroom Website
Photo Books provided in class and of your own research