Peak to Peak Charter

AP Studio Art: 2-D Design

Ms. Heather Bertarelli and Ms. Belinda Chase

2009 - 2010

AP Studio Art: 2-D Design (Art 90) Syllabus

Course Title: AP Studio Art: 2-D Design

Prerequisites: Digital or fine art track (one or the other)

1.  Digital Art and Photography I
2.  Digital Art and Photography II / 1. Art 10
2. Art 20
3. Art 30
4. Art 40


Course Overview

AP Studio Art provides the opportunity for the visually inclined students to excel and receive recognition on a national level. It allows students to compare their work with other high school students throughout the nation, and helps them prepare an excellent portfolio for study at the college level. All students enrolling in the course are expected to submit an AP Portfolio.Students will be admitted into AP Studio Art: 2-D Design (Art 90) after successful completion of Digital Art and Photography II or Art 40 or with a portfolio review and teacher approval.

The purpose of AP Studio Art: 2-D Design is to provide an intensive study of the process of creating two-dimensional design (2-D) artwork using both traditional fine and digital art media (materials and tools). Emphasis is placed on the quality, breadth and concentration of the student’s production and experiences in digital art, photography, drawing, and design. Projects will be structured around the elements of art and principles of design (listed below). In these projects, students will need to use their knowledge of technique and materials to communicate through their art. This encourages students to use critical thinking skills, while also developing their own voices as visual artists. Thus, students will develop mastery in concept, composition, and execution of their personal artistic vision. This fast paced course requires the student to be highly motivated and interested in the serious study of art which may lead to college credit. Motivation, imagination and commitment are required to succeed in the course.

AP Studio Art: 2-D Design is a two semester course that focuses on producing a large number of quality works that demonstrate mastery of fundamental artistic concepts. In their work, students will investigate all three components of the AP Portfolio, Quality, Concentration and Breadth. Students will further develop their technical skills and creative thought processes as they find their own way to communicate visually. Students will also be presented with problems that require unconventional and imaginative solutions

Resources may include slides, student and teacher examples, drawing /painting books, art magazines, art reproductions, videos, and the AP Central website http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/Controller.jpf. Students will be given written criteria for each project with specific requirements.

Course Standards: Based on National Visual Art Standards 9-12

I.  Students recognize and use the visual arts as a form of communication.

II.  Students know and apply the elements of art, principles of design and sensory and expressive features of the visual arts.

III.  Students know and apply visual arts materials, tools, techniques, and processes.

IV.  Students relate the visual arts to various historical and cultural traditions

V.  Students analyze and evaluate the characteristics, merits, and meanings of art

Course Objectives: Studio Work (AP 2-D Design portfolio)

Students will be expected to:

·  Demonstrate an understanding and mastery of multiple art mediums, skills, and
techniques

·  Apply the elements and principles of art through careful planning, creativity, and excellent craftsmanship.

·  Develop art related concepts and skills that are meaningful in terms of personal, societal,
and cultural importance

·  Solve formal and technical problems in studio art practice

·  Produce works of art that exhibit creativity and sensitivity through individual exploration

·  Express ideas in visual (art production), oral (group & individual critique sessions) and written (artist’s statements, journal entries, and reaction papers) forms of how art -making is an ongoing process

·  Create original works of art and cultivate ideas that solve challenging visual art problems using skills of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.

·  Focus on creating a concentration, or a body of work that shows a commitment to an idea that shows continuous growth.

·  Maintain a good work ethic through self-discipline and continual practice.

·  Analyze works of art in terms of history, aesthetics, and culture and use these as springboards for the creation of their own work.

·  Reflect analytically and critique works to gain understanding of one’s own work and the work of others

·  Complete all sections required for final portfolio review: Quality, breadth, concentration, written commentary.

·  Assemble presentation of AP portfolio to the College Board for evaluation.

AP Studio Art Portfolios

The table below summarizes the section requirements for each of the three portfolios. Students in AP Studio Art: 2-D Design will only submit one 2-D Design Portfolio with the following sections: I. Quality, II. Breadth, and III. Concentration.

Drawing / 2-D Design / 3-D Design
I. Quality
Five actual drawings; maximum size is 18" x 24" / I. Quality
Five actual works; maximum size is 18" x 24" / I. Quality
Five works; two slides of each one are submitted
II. Concentration
12 slides; some may be details / II. Concentration
12 slides; some may be details / II. Concentration
12 slides; some may be details
III. Breadth
12 works; one slide of each is submitted / III. Breadth
12 works; one slide of each is submitted / III. Breadth
Eight works; two slides of each are submitted

2-D Design: Course Units of Study

The class has three parts, as follows:

A.  Artists’ Experiences: In order to get exhibitions and remain current with the art world, artists have responsibilities beyond creating art.In this part of the class students will critique, and matte their work; as well as write papers, perform self-evaluations, and read selected articles. In addition, we will develop artists’ statements and work on college selections and scholarships based on career study for the following fall.

B.  Sketchbook and Photography Assignments: Students will have weekly sketchbook and photography based assignments for homework. Each assignment will be expected to be of portfolio quality. For assignments students will need to spend a minimum of four to six hours per week outside of class.Some students will spend considerably more time than this. Your sketchbook may also include visual ideas, notes, photos, doodles, plans, short assignments, quick drawings, and practice of various techniques. Many art schools like to see students’ sketchbooks to see how their minds and creativity work.

C.  2-D Design Portfolio: Students will demonstrate a vast interpretation of two-dimensional composition and design. The elements of design are the tools which offer many ways for artists to express their ideas. The principles of design will help artists students build or organize the elements on a picture plane in order to create unique compositions. Techniques will include: graphic design, typography, digital imagining, photography, collage, weaving, illustration, and printmaking. Realistic, abstract, and other forms of expression will be seen in the student’s portfolio. Because a portfolio submission of 24—30 works is needed, students will need to complete a minimum of 12 artworks each semester, or roughly one to two works per week. While students may submit work created outside of this course, students should work steadily to create this amount of quality work. It will allow them to be selective about what they put into their portfolios. Submission of a portfolio in May is mandatory to receive AP credit.

The submitted AP Studio Art 2-D Design Portfolio has three required sections:

Section I QUALITY
In the Quality section, refers to a student's accomplishments in a variety of art forms and techniques. The student's work in this section should show a variety of works that demonstrate intelligence, perception and technical skill. Students will be introduced to a variety of visual problems in color, design, photography, digital art, and drawing. Each work must demonstrate mastery of drawing in composition, concept and execution. Actual work must be 18” x 24” or smaller. 5 matted works total.

Section II CONCENTRATION
In the Concentration section, students will explore a single visual idea or theme in depth. When a subject is settled on, the student should spend considerable time developing it. This body of work should show investigation, growth, and discovery of a compelling visual concept. The purpose is not to show visual solutions to class assignments, rather, students should explore a central interest thoroughly. Students are encouraged to work with many ideas, styles and mediums. This concentration should embrace an action plan and show excellent use of time, effort, and thought. The works should be unified by an underlying idea that has visual coherence. The Concentration is usually started during the second quarter (of the first semester), and completed in the second semester. 12 slides must be submitted.

Section III Breadth
The breadth section will address a wide variety of art styles and techniques. It requires twelve slides of eight works in which color and design principles are the primary focus. Students will demonstrate mastery and versatility in a range of techniques, problem solving, and ideation. 12 slides must be submitted.
Elements and Principles of Art

Elements of Art

LINE: Lines can be thick, thin, and continuous or interrupted Line is the most basic elements of design.

SHAPE: Shape is 2D. It has height and width, but no depth. It is similar to a silhouette or outline.

FORM: Form is 3D. It has height, width, and depth. Forms usually have weight and mass.

VALUE: Value refers to the lightness and darkness of colors or grays (grayscale).

COLOR: Color is what we see when light is reflected from a surface. Color is also known as hue which is the name of a color.

SPACE: The area around or within an object or the ‘feeling’ of depth. Space can be positive space or negative.

TEXTURE: This refers to the surface quality or the sense of touch. It can be implied or real texture.

Principles of Design

BALANCE: Having even or the same balance of space, or comfortable distribution of visual weight in an art composition.

UNITY: Refers to the sense of wholeness or harmony in a work of art.

CONTRAST: This refers to differences in elements such as color, texture, value, and shape. Contrast usually adds excitement, drama and interest to art works.

EMPHASIS: The main theme or focal point of an artwork or where the greatest attention is placed.

PATTERN: The repetition of one or more elements of art. For example, repeating color, shapes, design and/or lines.

MOVEMENT: This can create a path for the viewer’s eyes to follow across a composition. It can direct the viewer’s eyes through the art to a center of interest.

RHYTHM: This is a type of movement or closely related to movement. It is often created by repeating shapes, lines, colors in a certain order or pattern.

Sequence of Course:

First Semester will involve creating works of art to complete your Breadth section. You will have approximately 18 weeks this semester to finish at least 12 pieces of artwork. During this semester you need to start exploring ideas for your concentration. Many assignments will be given, and sometimes you will be working on your own independent projects. When projects are complete you will fill out a student critique and turn it in with the artwork. Oral critiques will also take place. Critiques are very important for receiving feedback in an A.P. Class. Students must be able to express the ideas and concepts of their work as well as other student’s work.

• The creative process in AP Studio (brainstorming & sketching, rough drafts,
revision/reflection/criticism, final product and portfolio preparation)

• The AP Studio Portfolio (description, requirements, & expectations for Sections I, II, & III)

• The advanced use of art elements and design principles in photography and digital art

• The advanced use of artistic media: Advanced Adobe Photoshop skills and techniques, digital drawing, and creating meaningful digital artworks based on Big Ideas (broad human issues)

• The conventions and vocabulary of photography and camera functions

• The building of your portfolio

• Plagiarism

Artistic integrity, published images, photographic references, artwork references

• Criticism and the Critical Process

Criticism rationale, peer critique process, teacher critique process, individual critique
assessment, and post critique reaction/reflection

Second Semester’s focus is on the Concentration section of your portfolio. You need to develop an original style. The student and instructor will work together to make choices on techniques, medium, style, form, subject, and content. A written artist’s statement must accompany the work in this section. This statement will describe what your concentration is and how it evolved; the sources of your ideas; and what medium/media you used. Quality section needs to be collected and organized throughout the semester. This is the time to show off your craftsmanship and technical skills. This is where you group your best work. They may be separate, distinct works, or they may all be directly related. You will continue to take slides and prepare portfolios, getting them ready to send off to the AP College Board. Finished Portfolios are due around the first week of May (the exact date for your portfolio is ______. This is the date they must be turned in.

• Developing your own style and a historical context for your work (pre-concentration
exploration)

• Section II Concentration*

Successful development of pieces

Revision, reflection and recording/criticism

• The completion of your portfolio

Section I Quality Selections pulled from best work

Section III Breadth Selection & revision from semester 1

Section II Concentration Selections

• Portfolio Preparation

Digital imaging, final critiques (group & individual), exam prep, exist interview/survey

Artistic Integrity: Originality and Plagiarism

Students are expected to adhere to Peak to Peak’s honor code. Artistic integrity means that your ideas, images, and products are original. We will discuss what constitutes artistic integrity and plagiarism. Students may use someone else's photos, published images, or artwork as a reference or inspiration for one’s own work. Yet to maintain artistic integrity, there must be SIGNIFICANT alteration to the piece for it to go beyond duplication and be considered original! Any published work must serve your vision in a way that moves beyond copying and becomes your original statement Important note: digital art work that is based on published photographs or the work of other artists must move beyond appropriation. Other artist’s work may be used as reference for personal artwork, but the work being referenced should be altered to such a degree that the original artist’s intent is in no way recognizable in the student’s work. Originality and creativity are important components of this course. Students will not make direct use of another artist’s work and call it their own; this violates copyright laws and is plagiarism. Students should work from personal photographs that they have taken.