You will explore a variety of media and
techniques used to create artworks. The
development of specific skills that emphasize the
direct observation of objects to develop control
over values, form, proportions, perspective and
color within artworks will be emphasized.
Students will learn how to create strong
compositions in a variety of 2- and 3-dimensional
media. In addition, students will be involved in a
study of Art History, Aesthetics, and Art
Criticism. This course meets for 18 weeks.
PROJECT DUE DATES:
All projects will have a due date by which they will be due to
be turned in. Some projects will be given a due date halfway
through the assignment as each class works at different rates.
If you have an excused absence, one extra day is allowed for
each excused absence, with the understanding that the project
will be made up after school or at home. It is your
responsibility to find out about missed assignments.
88 Days
AP Art Break Down
4 days
Intro to the Course!
2 days
Intro to Studio, Procedures, Collect Summer work, etc.
2 days
Introduction to Drawing/2
-D/3-D portfolios, overview of course, samples, etc.
27 days
Unit One: Bootcamp!
5 days
Bootcamp #1: Mark Making
5 days
Bootcamp #2: Painting
5 days
Bootcamp #3: Collage Portrait
5 days
Bootcamp #4: Architecture
5 days
Bootcamp #5: Paint Chip OR Sewing on Canvas
2 days
Submit and review Bootcamp Revisions; Photograph Bootcamp projects, etc
7 days
Unit Two: Proposing AP Art Sustained Investigation
2 days
Review of Sustained Investigation, examples, etc.
2 days
Process journal, brain storming self
-reflection, peer/teacher conference of themes
3 days
Draft, submit, review revise Sustained Investigation themes/plans/rough sketches
11 days
Unit Three: Sustained Investigation #1
10 days
Planning/Research/Sketching/Work on Sustained Investigation #1
1 day
Review, revisions, submit, photograph
10 days
Unit Four: Sustained Investigation #2
9 days
Planning/Research/Sketching/Work on Sustained Investigation #2
1 day
Review, revisions, submit, photograph
10 days
Unit Five: Sustained Investigation #3
9 days
Planning/Research/Sketching/Work on Sustained Investigation #3
1 day
Review, revisions, submit, photograph
10 days
Unit Six: Sustained Investigation #4
9 days
Planning/Research/Sketching/Work on Sustained Investigation #4
1 day
Review, revisions, submit, photograph
9 days
Unit Seven: Sustained Investigation #5
8 days
Planning/Research/Sketching/Work on Sustained Investigation #5
1 day
Review, revisions, submit, photograph
DRY MEDIA WET MEDIA MISC. MEDIA
Graphite Gouache Collage
Charcoal Watercolors (tubes or cakes) Cut Paper
Pen & Ink Watercolor Pencils Mixed Media
Colored Pencils Acrylics Adobe Photoshop
Chalk Pastels Oil Paints (Regular) Adobe Illustrator
Conte Crayons Oil Paints (Water-based) Photography
Oil Pastels Silk Painting Printmaking
Prismacolor Markers Batik / Fabric Dyeing Scratchboard
Caran d'Ache Artists' Crayons Enamel Paint Embroidery
Spray Paint Stenciling
India Ink
Low Relief (metal or
paper)
Image Transferring
Part II- Considering Your Artistic Strengths
•MEDIA STRENGTHS
Circle any of the media options below that you consider to be
strengths of yours:
Add other media strengths to the chart if they were not included.
SUBJECT MATTER STRENGTHS
What subject matters are you most successful in portraying? Make
a list below. (Examples: Portraiture, architecture, landscape, figure
drawing, abstraction of elements, etc.)
What is an AP Studio Art Concentration?
A concentration is a body of related works based on an individual’s
interest in a particular idea expressed visually. It focuses on a process
of investigation, growth, and discovery. It is not a selection of a
variety of works produced as solutions to class projects, or a
collection of works with differing intents. Students are encouraged to
explore a personal, central interest as intensively as possible, and are
free to work with any medium. However, the concentration should
grow out of, and demonstrate, a plan of action or investigation in
which the student has invested considerable time, effort, and thought.
Students will be evaluated not only in the work presented but also in
visual evidence that the student has thought out and pursued a
particular project or way of working.
You should come up with a 4-part “concentration equation” to solidify your idea:
_________________ + ___________________+ _____________+ ____________
TOPIC SUBJECT MATTER MEDIA. STYL
Example: Addiction + Self Portraiture + Mixed Media + Expressionism
It is a written description of what your concentration is and
how it evolved. You can think of it sort of like an artist
statement, but more specific than the ones we’ve been writing in
this class. Your commentary must accompany the artwork
you’ve uploaded to the submission site. Your commentary itself
will not be graded but it does help in the process of evaluating
your artwork. You’ll answer the following two questions:
1. What is the central idea of your concentration? (500
characters minimum)
2. How does the work in your concentration demonstrate the
exploration of your idea? You may refer to specific
images as examples. When referencing specific images,
please indicate the image numbers. (1350 characters
maximum)
Here’s what it looks like when you add your commentary to the
digital submission site:
http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/image/apartsdem
o/screenshots-student/s06L-entering-concentration-statement.gif
CONCENTRATION THEME
Spend a good amount of time developing your Concentration theme. You will be
working on it for a while and will create 12 works of art.
TIPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL CONCENTRATION
1. It is not enough to focus on a subject (trees) or a medium (charcoal). If trees, why
trees? Is it about growth? Negative space in nature? Protective canopies?
Strength and endurance? Branch and leaf structures? The “design” of a forest in
compositional relationships? Look at Mondrian, van Ruisdael, Courbet, van
Gogh and Fairfield Porter.
2. Your exploration should go deeper than merely taking a subject and executing it
in a variety of media or styles. Example: Apples rendered in watercolor, stipple,
crosshatch, cubism, fauvism and surrealism.
3. Ideally you should develop a visual language that fits your idea, a style and
medium and format appropriate to the theme you are investigating.
4. A concentration can be a series of works that are very consistent in theme and
approach OR it may evolve and develop as the visual idea is explored, ending in a
different place than where it began. In either case it is best to start out with a
clear plan of attack; if the idea changes, the change will usually be the natural
result of discoveries made in the process of exploration.
5. Do not choose to work in a medium in which you have absolutely no experience.
This is not the time to try something completely new. The point of the
concentration is to work in depth. This can usually be best achieved in a medium
in which you are already familiar. You are developing concept, not technique.
6. Research artists who have worked in styles similar to your own direction or with
similar subject matter. Do not rely totally on yourself for inspiration. Look at
historical masters, contemporary artists, the world around you and your peers to
cross-pollinate your own ideas.
7. If you choose to work in an area rich in cliché or teenage stereotypes your work
must be very original. It is strongly recommended that you avoid topics such as
blood dripping, skulls, large eyes, hearts, fairies, vampires, emotion through eyes,
your girlfriend/boyfriend, sunsets, rainbows & clouds, or sad clowns.
8. ALL images must adhere to copyright laws. By using original imagery or
drawing from life you will avoid any issues.
9. Themes such as “my feelings and emotions”, “nature” or “flowers” are much too
broad for a concentration. Even the more common concentration themes such as
portraits or still life need a specific focus. Still lifes that tell as story or emphasize
a certain interest in composition or design will be more successful. If the
concentration is “portraits”, you should consider things like format, intent, point
of view, lighting, style and expressiveness.
10. Visit the College Board Website. READ the Concentration Statements and then
look at the artwork. Really LOOK at how the artwork is connected and the artist
developed the idea.
BRAINSTORM A LIST OF:
o Ten activities that interest you
o Ten objects that interest you
o Your favorite five artworks (LOOK it up and
identify with artist).
o Look up the work of “Master” artists. To be
considered a master, at the very least, the artist must
have work in museums or EXTREMELY well-
respected galleries. Not Etsy… Select Five artists
that inspire you – what is it about their work that
inspires you? What, if anything could inspire you
with your own work? Be specific about what attracts
you to the work.
o What are some elements of art that interest you.
o Ten images that interest you – there doesn’t need to
be a reason they interest you.
THINGS TO CONSIDER:
1. You will need to create 15 cohesive pieces.
2. A theme is not the same thing as a Sustained Investigation.
3. Make sure your investigation is broad enough to evolve, but not so broad
that it isn’t interesting.
4. Point of View – An interesting point of view can have a powerful impact
5. Have unique compositions:
o Asymmetry is better than Symmetry
o Create movement that leads to your area of emphasis/interest
o The eye likes thirds
o Diagonals are more exciting than horizontal or vertical lines
o Avoid a central composition – A bull’s eye does not move the
viewer’s eye
o Consider both positive and negative space as well as background
6. Create work with (self-generated) references:
o Best – Observation from life
o 2nd Best – Combine 3 photographs to create a unique composition
OR use an image from a shot that you set up.
o 3rd Best – Enlarge a small section from a photograph
o NEVER – Copy an existing photograph that you did not take.
7. The work should be no larger than 18”x24”. If it is larger than those
dimensions, it may
not be sent in as a Quality work.
Once you have chosen your Sustained
Investigation, it is time to start planning
and working.
You will create planning pages for EVERY major project.
The pages will include all of the information from the prompts on this
page. The finished pages will be graded and will have a significant
impact on your grade for the project. Sketchbook/Planning pages will
not be accepted if created AFTER the project is completed.
Write out your Sustained Investigation Statement- or part of it within your
planning pages.
What is your prompt/mission for this particular piece? Write it out
somewhere within your planning pages. Describe what you plan to make
in detail & explain how this piece works with your Sustained
Investigation.
What medium/s do you plan to use for this piece?
Draw at least three composition possibilities.
Experiment within your sketchbook with media and mark making techniques.
Experiment in your sketchbook with color palette, including layering of
colors.
Draw your final composition.
List imagery/etc. that you need for this piece.
Do not erase- these pages can be quite messy.
Print out imagery to use as support material- and create a pleasing VISUAL
collage- TRY NOT USE YOUR PHONE to look at your images.
Did you complete all of the tasks listed above for your planning
pages?
Are ALL of your descriptions detailed?
Did you put forth a lot of effort, or did you just throw something
together?
Do you have good quality support images?
Did you experiment with your color palette?
Your planning pages will be a calculated into your overall project
grade. The expectation is that you spend a lot of time planning and
organizing your thoughts for each project.
Visual Dissection of a Natural Object
Study one object in its minute details to find what
makes it different from all other things in the world.
1. Find an interesting natural object, larger than a golf ball
and smaller than a basketball. It should have intriguing
shape made of several parts and lend itself to being studied.
Look outside, find an interesting fruit/vegetable at the
grocery store, etc. You are required to work from a real
object. Study the intricate details of the object. Make sure
you have chosen something that can be viewed from the
inside as well as from the outside.
Examples of objects you could choose are: pinecones, fruit
that can be studied from the inside and outside, crab shells, a
skull, large seed pods, or an ear of corn with its husk.
***You should try to gather at least two of these items,
so you can cut or take one apart and leave one whole.
Objective: You will create a one-of-
a-kind mixed media work of art
utilizing acrylic on canvas and string.
Theme is YOUR CHOICE- you may
focus on REALISTIC or
ABSTRACT compositions.
*You may integrate other materials.
Exploration and Practice #1 and #2
All Portfolios
Visual Dissection of a Natural
AP STUDIO ART
Mixed Media: Sewing and Acrylic on Canvas
Ink: Mark Making
Exploration and Practice #3 and #4
Painting/2-D Design
Exploration and Practice Photo
Point of a View
More elements of composition
Emulating Master Photographers
Exploration and Practice Ceramics
Exploration and Practice #5
Drawing/2-D Design
You will begin with a couple of small practice paintings
(one must be completed using a palette knife (or other
alternative implement, instead of brushes). These are
meant to be “quick studies” and should not take more than
an hour and a half to paint. You can paint fruit/s,
vegetables/s or a simple of object or objects. Keep in mind
the BACKGROUND is important- plan your background!
Select at least THREE (one with palette knife):
You will be choosing from the prompts below and your
technique – plus you will select between watercolor, acrylic
paint or oil paint. You will be painting on canvas, Masonite,
or painted on collaged background. You will need a
container with a lid, to use as a palette. Your painting must be
AT LEAST 16” x 20”.
Final Painting Rubric
Warm -Up Painting
10. UPLOAD IMAGES:
Photos of Sketchbook and brainstorming pages.
In-Process photos.
Photo/s of finished piece.
1. Identify the questions that guided your sustained investigation:
2. How does this piece “fit into” your Sustained Investigation?
3. Identify the materials used for your work. (100 words max)
4. Identify the process used for your work. (100 words max.
5. Name an aspect of “experimentation” evident in this work.
6. Name an aspect this work that shows evidence of “practice”.
7. Describe any evidence of “revision” in this work.
8. Identify the size of your work. (height x width x depth in inches)
9. Where are you going from here? Describe the piece you plan on
working on next? What do you plan on exploring for your next
piece- will still fit into your guided question/s as it/they stand, or
will your guided question/s evolve? If so, what will the guided
question/questions be for your next piece. Keep in mind, it needs
to stay the same or evolve some, it cannot change completely into
something else
AP Studio Art Scoring Rubric
Portfolio Format
The AP Art and Design portfolios each consist of two sections: Sustained Investigation and Selected Works.
Sustained Investigation—Section 1
15 digital images; some may be details or process images | 60% of portfolio score
Students will submit images and writing to document their inquiry-guided investigation through practice,
experimentation, and revision:
•A minimum of 15 digital images that include works of art and design and process documentation.
•Typed responses to prompts, providing information about the questions that guided their investigation and
how they practiced, experimented, and revised, guided by their questions.
Selected Works—Section 2
5 actual works | 40% of portfolio score
Students will submit works of art and design and writing to demonstrate skillful synthesis of materials,
processes, and ideas:
•5 physical works or high-quality reproductions of physical works with written responses on paper
identifying the materials, processes, and ideas used.
•Works may come from the Sustained Investigation section, but they do not have to.
Any Questions for me?
