Welcome to AP Visual Arts 2011-2012

Welcome to Advanced Placement Studio Art

I am looking forward to a year of visual exploration and discovery. Below you will find answers to many of your questions about the AP Drawing Portfolio. In class you will get more information and clarification. This is your year to concentrate on the development of your personal "style" and to develop, explore and express your own visual ideas and interests.


AP Studio Art Syllabus: Drawing Portfolio

Course Description
Through studio practice, application of design concepts, and informed decision
making, students will assemble a body of artwork that demonstrates a high level of
quality and growth over time of content, technique, and process. Students will
develop mastery in concept, composition, and execution. Students will address
three components in their portfolios: Quality, Concentration, and Breadth.
Students will submit this body of work to the College Board for grading and
possible college credit.

Artistic Integrity
Originality and creativity are important components of this course. Students are expected to use artistic integrity throughout the course. It is preferred that students work from “life”. To facilitate their work, students may work from personal photographs that they themselves have taken. Other artist’s work may be used as a reference for personal artwork and should be properly credited.

Plagiarism
Students will not make direct use of another artist’s work and call it their own; this violates copyright laws and is plagiarism, and will result in an automatic failure for the project, and possibly the class. Copying and/or duplication of another artist’s work and calling it your own is cheating and fraudulent, and is not permissible in this course.

Drawing Portfolio
Students will expand their drawing and two-dimensional design skills and
advance their visual communication skills by exploring a variety of drawing processes
and techniques, and compositional and aesthetic concepts.

Expectations
The process of developing a portfolio requires a great deal of time and effort and
the five 50- to 55-minute class sessions per week are markedly inadequate to create
the amount of work necessary for the portfolio.

Open Studio
The open studio is designed to provide concentrated work time in the studio with a teacher present as a resource. Open studio is not required but is recommended for success. An open studio schedule will be posted in the art room. Students should sign up if they plan to attend.

Homework
Students may receive specific assignments or just be asked to spend
time working on a particular in-class assignment at home. They should be
prepared to spend four to eight hours a week outside of class on their work.

Sketchbook
Students will use a sketchbook as a visual journal to work through ideas, to practice
drawing and design skills, and to record their journey through this year. It is expected that students will use their sketchbooks as tools for developing and recording their ideas.

Critiques
The majority of class time is spent making artwork, though students
are expected to participate in group and individual critiques throughout the
semester. Furthermore, individual instructional conversations with the teacher
will assist each student in assessing strengths and weaknesses in their own images
and provide feedback on ways to further develop their individual and unique
drawings and compositions. In turn, these conversations will help the student
discover ongoing ways to improve their art making.

Drawing Portfolio
Students will produce a minimum of 24 works that satisfy the requirements of
the Quality, Concentration, and Breadth sections of the AP Studio Art Drawing
Portfolio.

Student Objectives:
Maintain a strong work ethic
• Work through and solve visual problems effectively.
• Refine the ability to draw/render and interpret what you see.
• Understand how art elements and design principles communicate content.
• Increase awareness of the creative process.
• Increase knowledge of art tools and materials.
• Pursue the art making process with a passion—be fearless.

Supplies
Many supplies and basic equipment will be provided by the school, but some
supplies will need to be purchased by each student.
Materials in bold are required:

Sketchbook workbook journal (minimum 9x12 maximum 11x14)
An art bin to organize supplies - like a fishing tackle box and/or a storage container with a lid.
A set of Prismacolor colored pencils, the 12, 24, 36 or 60 color set
Pencils #2
Ebony pencil
Charcoal pencils of varying hardness
Vine and compressed charcoal
Erasers – kneaded, Pink Pearl
Paint brushes – “easel” brushes for use with oil or acrylic paints
Paint – acrylic only
Oil Pastels
Pencil sharpener
Pastel pencils


Assessment and Evaluation
Most grading of work is accompanied by a written rubric and comments. Drawing assessment is an ongoing part of the class and takes place individually, in small groups and through self-evaluation.

Portfolio Development
Based on finished work as per term quota
Graded using the evaluation rubrics as established by the College Board
Both volume and quality will be taken into consideration for final grades

Participation
Regular attendance is mandatory.
Use of in-class time.
Attention to lectures, directions and demonstrations.
Participation in critical discussion.
Proper safe use of materials and equipment.
Cleanup responsibilities and storage of work.


Course Outline
Students will primarily be preparing work for the Breadth section of the portfolio
during the first semester. A variety of concepts and approaches will be used
to demonstrate abilities and versatility with techniques, problem solving, and
ideation.

Students will transition into more open-ended and exploratory work
for the Concentration section of the portfolio during the second semester. Each
student will develop a cohesive body of work for the Concentration section, which
is a planned, sustained investigation of a visual idea in drawing.

Each student will present, to the class and teacher, an action plan for the development and completion of their investigation. Dates for critique will be set and provided students along with each assignment. Students will be expected to have projects “critique ready” at the beginning of class on each assigned critique day. Individual critiques with the teacher and group critiques with peers and the teacher are mandatory.