AP Studio Art - 2D

            The AP Studio Art 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. AP Studio Art is not based on a written exam; instead students submit portfolios for evaluation at the end of the school year. College credits are based on a passing score of each student’s portfolio.  The AP Program is based on the premise that college-level material can be taught successfully to secondary students. Therefore content for the course will be taught at the college entry level. It is therefore the schools recommendation that students entering AP Studio Art 2D, have completed the beginning photography course the year before.

            In building the portfolio, students experience a variety of concepts, techniques, and approaches designed to help them demonstrate their abilities as well as their versatility with 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.

Course Goals:

To encourage creative as well as systematic investigation of formal and conceptual issues in the Quality, Concentration, and Breadth sections of the portfolio.

To emphasize making art as an on-going process that involves the student in informed and critical decision making to develop ideation.

To develop technical versatility and skills while using the visual elements and principles in compositional forms.

To encourage students to become independent creative thinkers who will contribute inventively and critically to their culture through the creation of artwork.

To encourage students to set artistic and logistical goals for themselves.

Requirements Breakdown:

The AP Studio Art 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 students concentration on a particular visual interest of problem; and (3) the student’s need for breadth of experience in formal, technical, and expressive means of the student’s art. AP work should reflect these three areas of concern; quality, concentration, and breadth.

            Students will be producing a minimum of 24 pieces that reflect issues related to 2D design throughout the course of the year. These pieces will include (but are not limited to) traditional black and white photography, digital color photography, graphic design, or other 2D artwork. Students will create artwork around the courses projects, but will make additional pieces to complete their portfolio as necessary.

            Quality:

The quality section of the portfolio requires that students produce a total of 5 actual works that will be turned in to the AP Central for grading. This means that students physical work will sent in and scored. These pieces must show mastery of design in concept, composition, and execution; basically, in this section students should submit their very best work for grading. For the Quality section, students can submit the original pieces that they photographed in either or both the Concentration and Breadth  sections. There is a size restriction on the work to be submitted. Students must submit pieces that are no larger then 18” x 24”, including the matting or mounting.

Concentration:

The concentration section of the portfolio requires that students produce a body of work investigating a strong underlying visual idea in 2-D Design. Students must submit 12 digital files for grading. The files must be of the pieces in their completed state. The concentration section needs to be unified by an underlying idea that has visual and/or conceptual coherence and must be chosen by the student. Examples of concentrations could be:

An exploration of patterns and designs found in nature.

Interpretive portraiture or figure studies that emphasize dramatic composition or abstraction.<!--[endif]-->

A personal or family history communicated through symbols or imagery.

            Breadth:

The Breadth section should demonstrate understanding of the principles of design, including unity/variety, balance, emphasis, contrast, rhythm, repetition, proportion/scale, and figure/ ground relationships. Successful works of art require the integration of the elements and principles of design; students must therefore be actively engaged with these concepts while thoughtfully composing their art. Students must submit 12 digital files of12 different pieces for grading. The files must be uploaded of the pieces in their completed state. The best demonstrations of breadth clearly show experimentation and range of conceptual approaches to the work. The images must show a variety of applications of design principles.