INTRODUCTION TO ART
ART IN MOTION
ART IN MOTION 2
CERAMICS
PRINTMAKING
AP 2D
AP 3D
AP DRAW

AP Studio Art: 2D Design
2018 PORTFOLIOS
QUALITY PORTFOLIO
CAITLIN
SANTOS
BREADTH PORTFOLIO
CONCENTRATION PORTFOLIO
CONCENTRATION STATEMENT
Q1:
​​Through the subject of keys, my concentration focuses on the symbolism of keys conjured by humanity with the intention of portraying either direct or indirect symbolism associated with my subject. Keys are not only referred to as objects that open and close things, but throughout the ages, keys can also relate to ideas such as possibilities, freedom, or even death. Given that my concentration is intended to invoke symbolism, I chose to unify them with a combination of abstraction and cubism.
Q2:
​​Some of my works demonstrate how I position my subject—keys—within the negative space I’ve crafted and that allows me to relate to some of the themes I’ve chosen for each respective piece. In composition #4, it depicts a key that’s designed to look like a flying insect that incorporates movement as it leaves a trail of color that leads down to a gray-toned cage. Aside from playing around with my negative space, I’ve also incorporated deep hues to unify the compositions. Over the course of my time in constructing each piece, I’ve decided to refine my linework and color them as mainly white or yellow and this serves to craft a sense of sophistication that may not be seen in some pieces because those pieces were a few of the first ones that I made. I believe the last few compositions were more dynamic in color and somewhat more complicated in symbolism because I wanted to experiment with how well I could convey the rest of my themes if I made them more contrasting or variable with added variety. 
CHRISTINE
​YUAN
​
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Q1:
My concentration focuses on using cats as my focal point in order to explore different compositional choices and styles. Texture, bold color palettes, and the feline subject matter unify my portfolio.
Q2:
By using scale, texture and color scheme, I explore the texture of cat fur in different visual styles. In my paintings (images 1, 6, 7, 9), I used differences in scale to create dominance, with the cat overpowering other elements in the composition. With an enormous cat, those compositions are more playful as compared to my other pieces. It is fun to see something you’re familiar with in a different size and perspective from what you are used to. In those drawings, I also used rougher brushstrokes and more textures than my other paintings.
In other works, I created dominance using contrast and highlights, make my characters seem as if they are glowing. Inspired by children’s book illustration style, images 2, 3,and 4 use a graphic approach to coloration, as compared with images 1, 6, and 9.
By purposely incorporating more negative space into my compositions, I learned how to control visual eye movement by balancing the negative space around the cat (images 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12).
EMILY
​HUYNH
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KELLY
​WONG
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Q1:
​​The central idea of my concentration is the movement of transportation. My concentration is styled upon integrating aspects from minimalist and modernist styles, and it clearly demonstrates its roots through a limited color palette, and arrangement of abstract shapes. I wanted to capture the movement of the transportation modes by using balance and pattern. The patterns move the eye through the piece, and the imbalance of the composition make the piece move through the negative space. 
Q2:
​​The work in my concentration demonstrates the exploration of my idea through the eventual addition of greater elements and principles of art. For example, image 1 was my first composition, and does not exhibit much experimentation. It primarily consists of shape and movement, with the geometric figures gradually decreasing in size to the supposed origin of the shapes further back. On the other hand, image 3 tests balance and movement. The greater positive space and triangle makes the composition seem to move towards the right. The majority of my pieces use balance in this way as well. The orientation of the shapes and the positioning on the paper were all meant to convey that, as seen in image 5, 7, 12. Free-falling through space is an idea that is thoroughly repeated throughout the concentration. Next, image 2 shows my exploration with the relations between organic and geometric shapes, as well as the movement of the shapes. It was the only one designed in this way. The three shapes layered on top of each other are meant to exhibit their twisting and turning in space. Finally, image 9 is the most prominent example of using line to show movement. The white lines boldly direct the eye towards a direction like in image 6, but with shapes.
LESLIE
​KWAN
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Q1:
​Using depth and movement, I depict real spaces with personal significance in a floating dream-like manner.
Q2:
By using a narrative style to approach the portfolio, I tell an episodic story of my connection to spacial tropes with the motif of a visiting spirit. I chose a one-point perspective technique for the pieces to create an illusion of space and depth. The compositions are mostly asymmetrical to complement the movement created by the floating objects. I implemented a surrealistic style when rendering said objects, which is seen when they are distorted or are textured to resemble plastic or clay. After the first four pieces, I used hard pastel in an attempt to exaggerate the hazy feeling, but the medium failed to recreate that texture. Instead, the elements of the pieces became too blurry and unclear. Because of this problem, I went back to using acrylic paint for the rest of the portfolio, which solved it. The colors in the pieces as a whole contribute to the mood giving a whimsical and dreamlike quality to the pieces. All of the elements work together to create a resemblance to dreams.
LINA 
​LI
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Q1:
​My concentration investigates ways to visualize the stressful and morbid feelings of transitional states, such as the shift from teenager to adult or cultural shifts between countries and languages I experienced. The visual theme that connects my artwork is the relationship between the human figure and some invading or otherwise not germane objects. 
Q2:
​For my concentration pieces, stressful, morbid, and uneasy emotions become the structural guides for compositional arrangement. The close cropped framing of image 4 demonstrates claustrophobia. The cactuses sprout out of the head in image 8, spotted skin brought by the butterflies in image 9, the gem-like growths of image 10, and the snakes emerging from the head in image 11, all visually explore themes of infection and invasion. In images 1, 2, 3, and 4 visually explore personal fears, through portraiture, place and familiar objects. To create the morbid atmosphere in images 5, 7, and 11, I used bold, contrasting color schemes with macabre content. Wanting to make my concentration idea more clear and consistent, I decided to strengthen the relationship between human and unique objects, as seen in images 6, 8, 9, 10 and 11. 
            With the help of diverse media, bold color schemes, and odd juxtapositions, dramatic, stressful, and morbid feelings are visualized.  
QUALITY
LINDA 
​THAI
BREADTH
CONCENTRATION
CONCENTRATION STATEMENT
Q1:
The central idea of my concentration stems from the aesthetic and innovation of retrofuturism. To me, retrofuture represents a dream of the future from the perspective of the past. With this idea in mind, I want to convey the modernist’s imaginative depiction of the future by blending the feelings of nostalgia and retro-style with futuristic technology and science fiction.
Q2:
Throughout my process, I aim to have my pieces follow a style that mimicked art-deco inspired principles such as geometric shapes, sharp and flat colors with minimum shading, intricate facets, airbrush effects and graphic features. I incorporate dated and contemporary elements focusing on limited color palettes and negative space in order to create unity and balance in my artwork. By using negative space, I isolate the main subject of my composition by controlling the viewer’s eyes and creating a vantage point that emphasizes heroic exploration (image 10, 11, and 12) and extreme perspective (image 9). When I began my concentration, I wanted to depict an accurate impression of retrofuturism in the mid 1900s by referencing historical popular culture and events such as film noir (image 1, 3 and 4) and the Space Age (image 10, 11 and 12). Overtime, I saw growth in my artistic endeavors and expertise evident by the contrast between the first few pieces (image 1 and 2) and the last few pieces (image 11 and 12). The beginning ones were more one-dimensional with substandard shading, mudane composition, and low-risk taking. But with more practice and research, I developed my own style by constructing facets that created the illusion of depth and form and complementing it with more dynamic compositions and sophisticated color choices.
NATALIE
THI
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Q1:
​The nature of my concentration uses cardboard to print geometric and organic shapes, which creates texture within positive and negative space. Carving into the cardboard creates a print as well as cutting and pasting a collage to make a stamp. Using cardboard is significant because of the corrugated texture creating a pattern within the negative space that is simultaneously regular and uneven, producing an irregular layer of visual noise.
Q2:
​In the beginning of my concentration, I was interested in the print itself and the texture that was created as a result. In numbers 4, 5, 6, and 7, I was able to show how I manipulated the texture I wanted from the cardboard by either carving through the layers or cutting individual pieces out to make one whole piece. As I kept going through my concentration I had grown more interested in the printing plate itself because of the monotonous color and the layering of the cardboard as shown in 9 and 10.
RICA
​WONG
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Q1:
​​In life everything revolves around ‘multiples’ of things, from societal views to how we categorize things in groups. From this, I was inspired to create art pieces that contained multiples of the same or nearly the same thing, while focusing on the spacing and flow of the composition. My concentration explores different patterns, motifs, abstract colors and shapes, to create a perspective that embodies ‘multiples’.
Q2:
​​In the beginning, I wanted to include many objects in order to create a motif in my art work, such as in my early works 3,5, and 6. I realized that I was able to create shadows, highlights, and shades by using paper-cutouts instead of solely screen printing. As you can see in images 6 and 7, I’ve tried to recreate shadows in an inorganic way, which was my second step in adding depth. Paper-cutouts provided greater freedom to use different light sources to cast shadows and create negative space. The abstract shadows created from the light source gave my concentration an interesting perspective. I experimented with creating images 8, 9, 10, and 11 by layering colored paper. I tried to use fun limited color palettes and colors that had great contrast but still felt unified across the portfolio. Images 8, 9, and 10 depict animals and their movement through different spaces. Using more than one creature allowed the artwork to create movement and flow within the compositional space. Towards the end, I decided to use bright color palettes, organic lines, and layering to amplify the freedom and playfulness in my artwork, especially evident in images 11 and 12. 
SAMANTHA 
​YOUNG
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Q1:
​​The central idea of my concentration is impermanence. In my artwork, I wanted to focus on the fact that all things eventually reach their end. I also implemented representations of time which play a major role in the idea of impermanence. I investigated the use of organic abstractions in my pieces to create flow and rhythm between objects. I used surrealist techniques, a contrasting warm and cool color palette, and line art to make bold figures throughout my work. 
Q2:
​​Initially my concentration was about the distinct ideas of life and death, and making effort to connect their differences. My use of watercolor creates a feeling of flow to mimic the coming together of the two subjects such as in works and 6 and 12. I became interested in the ethereal connection between the loose watercolor abstractions and the opaque figures, as seen in work 8 which became the centerpiece for my idea of impermanence. Using acrylic paint with a warm color palette, I created the hand that represents the living. I used watercolor with a cool color palette to give off a weightless feeling in the hand of bones representing death. One factor that plays a major part in life and death is time. Time is an idea I highlighted in work 5 where the exposed neck is also a clock on the inside to exemplify the fact that nothing lasts forever. Time is also shown in work 4 where I used a surrealist technique to make the terrarium into an hourglass. At first I struggled with my heavy-handedness when it came to watercolor which defeated the graceful movement I was going for, as seen in image 1. As I got more practice with the medium I was able to take control of the watercolor in my art to create a more weightless feeling which you can see in images 11 and 12. 
TIFFANY
​WEI
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Q1:
​The central idea of my concentration revolves around the problems faced by teenagers today through the use of symmetric composition and a limited color palette. Each individual piece illustrates a different specific scenario or problem in which a teenager may encounter. 
Q2:
​​The teenage problems addressed are: bullying, peer pressure, high expectations, virtual reality obsession, body image, drug use, depression, excessive influence from social media, procrastination, college preparations, and pressure from parents. Having experienced and witnessed others come across these situations, I wanted to bring awareness to aspects that are otherwise looked over, ignored, or pushed to the side. Surrealistic representation coupled with arbitrary color choices unsettle the viewer, creating an uneasy relationship between the teenagers depicted and their environments. Symmetric compositions, borrowing from formal portraiture, focus the viewer centralizing the gaze. The color palettes, especially of compositions 4 and 7, help to reiterate the social problems depicted. 
When I first began to develop my concentration, I had difficulties tying my pieces together. Although pieces 1 and 2 depict social problems, their color schemes contrasted vastly against one another. I was also worried that certain pieces were too conceptual and failed to convey the message clearly. To combat these obstacles, I decided to reuse color combinations, compositions, and perspectives. For instance, pieces 5 and 11 depict a first person perspective, thus encouraging a greater sense of depth. 
WES 
​PHILLIPS
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Q1:
​Simple, unusual, and unique architecture that is visually entertaining and includes multiple perspectives and optical illusions. The entertainment of the compositions is aided by the depth, which is accomplished by the shadows and line work, and the limited, whimsical color palette.
Q2:
​The work in my concentration demonstrates the exploration of my idea in each of the ways which I described. Take composition number twelve for example. The line work creates the illusion of the building getting further away from us and the shadows provide us with the idea that some of the objects are round. The two color limited palette of baby blue and dark pink assists with making the composition entertaining. The building is simple in its shape, but it is also unusual and unique in the way that it is constructed. If you look at it from other angles, some of the stairs change the direction in which they lead (such as the stairs at the bottom of the composition). Then composition six. The darker two color limited palette including dark violet and coral makes the composition entertaining and the two infinity triangles are simple yet absolutely impossible since they cannot physically connect where they connect.
2017 BREADTH PORTFOLIOS
2017 CONCENTRATION PORTFOLIOS
JACOB
​VAN OOSTEN
AP SCORE

5
TAYLOR
PANNELL
AP SCORE​

3
NISA 
​ALAM
AP SCORE

3