AP Studio Art: Drawing

Breadth

  • 12 COMPOSITIONS
  • SHOWS SKILL IN A BROAD RANGE (media, content, styles, color choices, etc.) 
  • SIZE: 18" x 24" max
  • TWO DIMENSIONAL WORKS ONLY
  • NO PHOTO REFERENCES YOU DON'T OWN YOURSELF!

Concentration

  • 12 COMPOSITIONS
  • SHOWS UNITY ACROSS PORTFOLIO (consistency in some, but not all, areas:  medium, content, style, color scheme, etc.)
  • SIZE: 18" x 24" max
  • TWO DIMENSIONAL WORKS ONLY
  • NO REPEATS FROM BREADTH

Quality

  • 5 COMPOSITIONS
  • SHOWS TECHNICAL ABILITY
  • CAN BE ORIGINALLY DIGITAL or ANALOG (print out and mat digital compositions just like analog works of art)
  • CAN BE NEW WORKS OR REPEATS FROM BREADTH OR CONCENTRATION
DRAWING CONCERNS
  • LINE QUALITY
  • LIGHT & SHADE
  • RENDERING FORM
  • COMPOSITION
  • SURFACE MANIPULATION
  • ILLUSION OF DEPTH
  • MARK MAKING
THINK ABOUT
  • the RANGE of marks used to make drawings
  • the ARRANGEMENT of the marks
  • the MATERIALS used to make the marks
AP GRADING CRITERIA
  • COMPOSITION, CONCEPT & EXECUTION
  • DECISION MAKING AND INTENTION
  • ORIGINALITY, IMAGINATION, INVENTION
  • EXPERIMENTATION, RISK-TAKING
  • CONFIDENT, EVOCATIVE WORK ENGAGING THE VIEWER
  • TECHNICAL SKILL WITH DRAWING MEDIA
  • DIGITAL OR PHOTOGRAPHIC MEDIA
  • STUDENT VISION

DRAWING PROJECT IDEAS

MIXED MEDIA
  • Composition in which you use at least three different media (such as a wet medium, dry medium, and some collage elements) while focusing on one element and one principle of design.
COLOR SCHEME
  • Create a portrait, still life, or landscape using either a complementary, analogous, or split-complementary color scheme in any 2D medium making color the subject matter. Focus on values.
LAYERED COMPOSITION
  • Create multiple layers of visual information within one work of art. After a few layers, go back to build bridges between lower layers creating unity, paying attention to formal elements of line, shape, value and texture.
PHOTO MANIPULATION
  • Digitally, manually, or otherwise draw into photographs you have taken (and manipulated). 
ARBITRARY COLOR
  • Colored pencil portrait (of any singular object) using arbitrary colors corresponding to values (highlights and shadows) instead of actual skin tones. Style reference: Lui Ferreryra - unrealistic candy colors, faceted hatching 
MYTHOLOGICAL EVENT
  • Create a mythological event. Think up a story involving the imaginary revolt of one of the following: domestic animals, computers, machines, kitchen appliances, elevators, flowers, etc. Visualize your idea by making a convincing illustration of the event.
TWEAKED REPRESENTATION
  • Create a representational composition with your own flair. You can combine disparate elements, or rework a real thing in a new way. Your reference imagery should be something you own (a photo you took, observational drawing of real things, etc. - not from the internet). 
17 VIEWS
  • Create an observational drawing of one object that can change position. Overlay varying positions on top of one another. [Do not use reference images you do not own. Ideally, draw from something you can turn or change the position of and draw each position while looking at the object.] 
ILLUSTRATION
  • Multi-color digital or analog illustration tells an intriguing visual story. Pay attention to compositional space and color palette to create unity. Be sure to use light and shadow to emphasize volumetric forms.
NON FINITO
  • Drawing or painting composition that alternates from a simple contour to a fully rendered form at chosen focal points.
DEEP SPACE
  • Create a composition creating the illusion of deep space. Do not include any heads of people.
OBSERVATIONAL LANDSCAPES
  • Create an observational drawing of a place you have access to for at least an hour. Create a contour drawing in ink that won't run. Then add watercolor in areas of emphasis using a limited split complement color palette.
SPRAY PAINT STENCIL PORTRAIT
  • Use spray paint and a stencil you cut yourself to create a portrait. Cut out 3 color layers, so that the colors overlap to create the illusion of a form with depth. No black outlines. Be creative with how you crop your image. Not all portraits are straight ahead pictures of faces. Stencil the image on three different kinds of surfaces.
LINE QUALITY
  • Use three different kinds of mark making styles to produce seriously different line qualities. Consider how different a line made with a fine tip and ruler is from a large fast brush filled with ink. Can be in one composition or across three compositions. 
NEGATIVE SPACE WITH FORMS
  • Draw multiple versions of a three-dimensional object from multiple angles. Negative space and rhythm are important visual concerns.
ART HISTORY REINTERPRETED
  • Choose a FAMOUS work of art and reimagine it in a new way. Example: Amy Park redid Ed Rucha's photographs as watercolors; Kehinde Wiley reimagined old master paintings with contemporary black figures.
TECHNICAL DRAWING
  • Technical drawings produce a different quality of line than expressive drawings. Create a technical drawing of a real or imaginary object or place. Be sure to use changes in line quality to show volume.
TEXTURES
  • Technical skills like the ability to communicate texture are important to the breadth portfolio. If you do not naturally render textures other than smooth, now is a good time to create a composition (hopefully an interesting one) that includes implied texture [shine, gloss, hair, fur, wet, etc.].