AP ART 2022 - 2024
AP ART 2022 - 2024
At Salem Academy Charter School
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"Baba Yaga's New Whip" - Watercolor.
I chose to reinterpret works created by Ivan Bilibin, a Russian artist famous for creating beautiful paintings which capture the magic behind classic Russian fairy tales.
Bilibin's works hold a special and nostalgic place in my heart, as they were integral to my childhood.
Detailed brush strokes build up several layers of pigment on top of a light background painted with a watered-down watercolor mixture. The light background that fades away and the saturated, dark, and detailed front pieces work in unison to create the allusion of perspective and a somber atmosphere.
"You Never See Glass Until It's Broken" - Led Pencil.
This still life attempts to present a sense of "orderly chaos". The orderly, man-made, glass has been tipped over and the beautiful nature of the flowers invasively vines throughout the composition without interfering with the tidiness.
This experiment resulted in an interesting composition that boosted my proficiency in blending, shading, and the led pencil medium.
"Ma Belle Dame" - Digital Art.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864–1901), one of the greatest French painters to ever live, explored many styles during his life, including pop-art poster prints and advertisements.
My artwork renders the Audrey Hepburn movie, 'My Fair Lady', in the style of Toulouse-Lautrec.
Lautrec famously loved drawing horses, so the scene at the horse races perfectly suits Hepburn's character and the advertisement for the movie itself.
"In the Shadows of the Moon - Terrapin Station" - Led Pencil, Charcoal, Pen.
“Inspiration move me brightly”.
One of my personal favorites.
This artwork was inspired by both the song and album “Terrapin Station” released by the Grateful Dead in July of 1977.
What is a "Sustained Investigation"?
What is a "Sustained Investigation"?
A “Sustained Investigation” is an integral part of an AP Art student’s portfolio in which the student chooses one topic/idea/theme on which they create 15 artworks. This part of the portfolio “should show a body of related works that demonstrate an inquiry-based sustained investigation of materials, processes, and ideas through practice, experimentation, and revision” Sustained Investigation Overview, © 2022 College Board.
My Sustained Investigation topic is titled "The Pestilence" as it explores the diseases, epidemic outbreaks, and viruses which occured throughout human history.
THE PESTILENCE
Sustained Investigation by Sophia Butusova
"The Pestilence - AIDS" - Oil Paint.
The AIDS Epidemic (1981) is an ongoing sickness that people still get infected with daily. Since the beginning of the spread of the HIV virus, 84.2–113.0 million people have been infected and 40.1–48.6 million people have died. Most people infected with HIV get proper treatment before their infection can develop into the worse stages (AIDS). While treatment medicine has been developed, there is no cure for this disease.
The use of color theory plays an essential role in portraying emotion. The oil paints, strictly limited to orange, black, yellow, and white blend and mix to create a sickly orange undertone that echoes the morbidity and pain of the screams in the portrait to the viewer.
"The Pestilence - Catherine in Darkness" - Acrylic Paint, Colored Pencils.
The Black Death reincarnated in the 1700s, spreading across Russia, and going down in history as the "Russian Plague" (1770–1772).
The illustration portrays the Great Empress of Russia, Catherine II (Catherine the Great, reigning from 1762 to 1796). The time of the plague fits into the heart of the Empress consort of Russia's empirical rule.
Catherine's countermeasure attempts against the sickness were futile. In September of 1771, the plague's death rate peaked, killing over 1,000 citizens every day.
Prismacolor colored pencils layer, blend, and crosshatch to create the portrait of Catherine, while acrylic paint tendrils spiral through the background — representing the high death toll due to the pandemic, the blood spilt in the protests, and the overwhelming consumption of the disease during the time period.
"The Pestilence - Grim Reaper's Guilt" - Acrylic Paint.
"The Pestilence - Hear the Organ Play" - Acrylic Paint, Colored Pencils, Fabric Glue, Fabric.
When one is affected by the Black Plague the diseased person's organs are the first parts of their body to fail. This work in progress captures just that.
Acrylic paints diluted with water block out the base colors block out the base color of the organ, creating an underlayer. The first layer adds coverage and makes the next coats of paint and the final result look more cohesive and opaque. Transition colors and blending add to the exposure, building up value and pigment while portraying the hues of the bodily organs, as well as the sickness they possess. The dark tones create the plagued look I desired.
"The Pestilence - The Ebola Outbreak" - Colored Pencil, Digital Art.
The most affected demographic during the Ebola outbreak is babies and children living in East Africa. An alternative title for this piece is "The Children's Sickness". This piece is meant to portray the emotional destress felt by the family members and especially by the parents of the children who died.
Primary colors (red, yellow, and blue) create the base tones underneath the colored pencils, shining through to create diseased undertones in the face and eyes and contributing to the feeling of the artwork. The eyes, blocked out red under the white allow the color to show through, creating a bloodshot look. The shadows and cool blue ones are created by color underlays. The colors of the gown are parallel to the ones on the flag of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to remind viewers of the country affected most by the outbreak.
"The Pestilence - The Children's Disease" - Colored Pencil, Pencil, Watercolor.
The artwork created to reflect the fear of being unhealthy, which plagues the minds of many. I chose to picture a drawing of a doctor labeling blood work vials, with stickers, to send them off for testing in order to represent the fact that being diagnosed with a disease is something an individual has to live with and endure constantly. Although some try to forget their diagnoses, they cannot escape them with the constant reminders they are forced to have from the necessary experiences, such as regular blood work, that keep them alive. The grayscale band aids with cartoon characters create an even more depressing feel to the oeuvre, showing that anyone can have a chronic disease, regardless of their age.
"The Pestilence - SWINE" - Acrylic Paint.
"The Pestilence - BE NOT AFRAID" - Colored Pencil, Pen.
I decided to work with digital art (the first time I am doing this for my AP Art concentration) in order to represent the COVID-19 pandemic in a cartoony comic art style. I decided that this style would not only help portray the modernism of the work, that is required for the audience to feel as if it was very recent, but also the emotion that came with it. I myself had COVID-19, and wanted to portray the serious threat it had for me, and other immunodeficient people out there.
"The Pestilence - The Red Cross" - Colored Pencil.
"The Pestilence - BE NOT AFRAID" - Colored Pencil, Pen.
The Plague of Justinian (541 AD) was one of the many forms taken on by the Bubonic Plague. It was estimated to have killed between 25 and 100 million people in the Byzantine Empire. The disease was named after the Byzantine emperor, Justinian I, who wished to unite the people. Although he survived the plague, many in his empire did not. Even though there were many civil and religious issues that caused the fall of Byzantine, some say this plague was one of the main causes.
Summer Work #2
Summer Work #3
Artist Inspiration Project
I chose to reinterpret works created by Edgar Degas, a French impressionist who is well known for his common use of blue tones to portray scenes of dancing ballerinas. His sketchy style incorporates medias such as oil pastels, charcoal, pencil, and chalk pastels, creating an almost moving picture.
Summer Work #1
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