AP Studio 2-D Portfolio emphasizes personal expression and the communication of ideas and concepts through photographic, traditional and digital media. It is a class for those students serious about developing their artistic skills, aesthetic acuity and visual literacy. Students, instead of passing a written exam, will produce a portfolio of work that will be presented for teacher and peer critique.
Through building a portfolio, students demonstrate technical ability, style concepts, aesthetic direction, ideation, personal expression and visual problem solving. Within the concentration section, students investigate and develop an idea of personal interest.
The goals of the AP Studio Art course are:
To encourage creativity and provide a systematic investigation of formal and conceptual issues in the Quality, Concentration and Breadth sections of the portfolio. (In art we talk about "formal elements" and "formal principles". This does not mean that you are wearing drapes and tux for your senior portraits - it concerns the visual buidling blocks that you compose to create a piece of art work. You can learn more about the formal elements by going to the elements of art pages)
To emphasize making art as an on-going process that involves the student in informed and critical choices. (While you are making art you also evaluate your art. For example, artists constantly search for balance in their work. They step back and examine their work while they are making it always mentally reconstructing the work. After the work is finished, they will further evaluate, comparing it to work in the past, work in progress and future works.)
To develop technical versatility and skills while using the visual elements and principles in compositional forms.
To encourage students to become independent thinkers who will contribute inventively and critically to their culture through the making of art. (Have something to say and say it.)
To develop visual literacy through the de-construction of existing popular photographic media. (Artists spend time mentally taking work apart. They want to know how other artists construct and create.)
Quality: Students will show five examples of their artwork that demonstrate quality. These pieces are to be displayed publicly in a local gallery.
Concentration: Students will find an area concentration that involves development of personal style, exploration of aesthetic interest, and the process of the idea becoming a visual form.
Breadth: Students will research a variety of diverse artists and integrate the conceptual framework into individual projects. The student will strive to understand what the artist is trying to communicate through the use of visual metaphor. Students develop visual literacy through examination of artists’ work and interpreting the artists’ message.
Homework
Students are expected to spend time outside of class researching artists, taking photographs, collecting imagery and developing ideas using a sketch book. The sketchbook is an essential tool for reflection, experimenting with ideas, practicing observational drawing and developing a personal style.
AP students are required to display artwork in the student art exhibit. Students are also encouraged to show work in any available venue.
The sketchbook: Students will keep a sketchbook and complete an average of 10 pages a week to include observational drawing, memory drawing, and idea writing.
Formal Critique: Students attend four formal critiques every semester. A beginning critique will also be included during the first week of the first semester.
Portfolio: Students will collect a portfolio of at least 20 of their best pieces.
Personal Interest: during the year students produce a body of work that represents the personal expression. Work can include extensions of class projects or work from their own ideas. Work of personal interest will be critiqued during regular critique sessions.
1. Isolating the center of interest. Unlike human perception, the camera sees everything. How do photographers draw your attention to what they want you to notice? Create a set of images the clearly show separation of the figure ground relationship.
Look at photo images from magazine advertising and discuss how the principle artist draws your attention to the center of interest. (Weston)
2. Photo Mosaic. Using the Holga 6cm film camera to create a photo - mosiac
3. Side by Side: Photographic image vs the hand drawn image. Using paper, and graphite pencil and draw an object. Emphasize tonality, shading and light and dark. After drawing the object, take a photograph of the object. In class mount photo next to drawing. What can we say about the difference in the photo and the drawing. How do drawings differ from the photograph even when the principle subject, tonality, is the same?
4. Graphic Vectors – Using line to move the eye through the composition. Compositions often use implied lines to move the eye through the composition and lead you to the center of interest.
Graphic relationships in a series: Create a series of four images that clearly show graphic relationships with one another. Use implied line to make a graphic connection between four images arranged in a grid.
5. Using texture as background. Use Photoshop or negatives to create dual image using a texture as background and portrait as foreground. How do we separate foreground from background? What are the perceptual influences that allow us to make this separation. What happens when they blend together?
6. White on White – The Aesthetic Control of light. Photograph white objects on a white background. Use two or more light sources to control shadows. Explore tonal range of a monochromatic image. Supplemental sketchbook assignment: sketch white cloth – look for subtle gradations in light and shadow.
7. Scale: Out of Context Small Objects. How do ordinary objects become extra-ordinary by sizing them out of context. Use the macro lens to photograph small objects and enlarge them to 16x20 prints.
8. Personal Environment Portraits: Enlist a friend to pose for photos that reveal their personal environment. Use at least one roll of film. Use different photographic angles to present dramatic and static angles. How do objects in the photo reveal the subjects personality?
Supplemental Reading and Research: Compare the work of Annie Liebowitz with Dorothea Lange. What is the emotional tone of their individual work? How does the artists’ aesthetic approach differ?
9. The Narrative, Images That Tell Stories: Using a story of your choice, create a story board (sketchbook assignment). Use the story board as a guide to a more complete photographic sequence. Research the work of Duane Michals for narrative in art.
10. Meaning and Communication: How do artists convey meaning? Deciphering the message. Students are asked to collect color ads from magazines and analyze for hidden messages. Students then create an image or their own that includes an object or action that symbolizes an emotion.
11. The Visual Metaphor: Find objects that have meaning beyond what is apparent. Look for combinations of objects that could make a visual sentence. How do artists use symbolism to represent a feeling, an emotion or an idea. Everyday language is filled with metaphor. There is metaphor in the visual language of art. How do artists express feelings and emotions using metaphor?
12. Digital Collage: Create a collage of photo images using Photoshop that show our relationship to our environment. How do humans effect the environment? What is natural and what is synthetic?
13. Visual Essay: Impact of The Media on Individual Choice. Show media examples that show how the popular media influences choice. Combine the graphic power of text with image directly influencing an audience. What is the message beyond in obvious in advertising and political propaganda. What subtle messages are conveyed visually and subliminally?