Summer Assignments for AP Studio Art: Drawing 2016-2017 Ms. Meg Getsinger -Upper School Visual Art -Rocky Hill School mgetsinger@rockyhill.org Assignment: You will complete a minimum of 3 projects over the summer as your AP Studio Art class preparation. You must also keep a sketchbook that you will continue to work in throughout the 2015-16 school year. These assignments will be due the first day of class. You will receive a major grade for your summer work. It is your choice as to which assignments you complete from the list below. Pieces should be between 9 x12 and 24 x36 in size the assignments are about quality, not quantity. You may use any media or mixed media of your choice. You are encouraged to explore media, techniques and approaches you have not used before. These pieces are work for the Breadth section of your AP portfolio. You will need 12 strong Breadth pieces in your portfolio. The emphasis in this section of the portfolio is a variety of media, style, approach and subject matter. The Breadth section of the Drawing portfolio MUST include observational drawing. In addition to the 3 projects of your choice that you complete, you should also be working on the development of your CONCENTRATION for your portfolio. The College Board describes the Concentration section as follows. The concentration is a body of related works that demonstrate the students
commitment to the thoughtful investigation of a specific visual idea. Please refer to the AP Studio Art Description for further explanation http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalservices/pdf/ap/apstudio-art-course-description.pdf The development of your concentration should be documented in your sketchbook. Project Choices: A still-life arrangement of objects representing members of your family a favorite pair of shoes, a toy etc. You must have at least 3 objects and use an unusual viewpoint or angle. You might put the objects on the floor and stand up looking down at them. A still-life arrangement of 3 or more reflective objects. Your goal is to convey convincing representation. Sketch and shade for contrast and drama. Consider doing this as a selfportrait draw yourself distorted in a shiny object. A drawing of an unusual interior for example, look inside a closet or cabinet, in the refrigerator, under the car s hood, inside the medicine cabinet. Café Drawing go to a coffee shop to sit and sketch. In your drawing, capture the essence of the place by capturing the people and things that you see. A close-up of a bicycle/tricycle from an unusual angle with strong light/shadow. Do NOT draw the bicycle from the side view. Expressive landscape this can be near your home, a place you visit on vacation. Make every effort to work plein air, meaning drawing or painting outdoors. You will have better light and will be able to focus on the color your actually see. A self-portrait expressing mood. How can you use color to convey that mood? What style will work best for you in this work? Do some research online or at an area museum to see how different artist create self-portraits and what techniques and media they use. Use an odd/extreme angle and consider strong light/dark contrasts. Create a self-portrait of yourself that is done by looking at your reflection in an unusual reflective surface in other words something other than a mirror. This could be an appliance (toaster, blender), a computer monitor, a broken warped mirror, etc. Create a portrait of a friend in motion Create a still life of a part of your kitchen, or art room shelves, etc. Note: If you attend an art class or workshop over the summer at a college, museum, or arts center, you may submit work from those programs as your summer assignments. Sketchbook Requirements:
Brainstorm 3 or more Concentration ideas o You should have a minimum of 36 thumbnail sketches with brief written explanations to support concentration ideas. Contemporary Artist Research: Explore the work of 3 or more contemporary 2D artists and address the following areas about the artist and their work. 1. Give some background information about the artist. 2. Describe the artists work. 3. React to the artists work. Include printed images/text as well as your own descriptive drawings/writing of the artists work. Use as many pages as needed in your sketchbook on each artist. Museum Visit: You must visit at least one museum and one gallery or one public art venue this summer. I would like you to document this experience in your sketchbook. Please choose an interesting piece within the museum/gallery/public art exhibition and sketch. You should also take a few notes on the context of the space and the artist. Museum Suggestions: The RISD Museum http://www.risdmuseum.org Here is a link to a list of all of the museums in Rhode Island: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/list_of_museums_in_rhode_island Public Art in Rhode Island: http://www.arts.ri.gov/publicart/ If you have not yet taken an AP class, go to www.collegeboard.com to register ASAP. You will find information on the AP Studio Art courses, the exam, scoring rubrics, as well as examples of past student work and how they were scored. It is an invaluable website. Under My organizer you can create a free user account you can use this account to access information about any AP exam and class. Under the College Board Tests section, you can click on AP which will take you to the AP homepage. The link to the Studio Art homepage is: http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/sub_studioart.html?s tudioart You will receive an AP Art poster at the beginning of the school year. This provides you with important information on the portfolio
requirement. Take some time this summer to familiarize yourself with the three sections of the AP Art portfolio: Quality, Concentration and Breadth. All three are required and carry equal weight. Keep in Mind: Your portfolio may include work that you have done over a single year or longer, in class, on your own or in a class other than one you have take at RHS, such as one at a museum. If you submit work that makes use of photographs, published images, and/or other artists work, you MUST show SUBSTANTIAL and significant development beyond duplication. This may be demonstrated through manipulation of the formal qualities of design and/or concept of the original work. It is unethical, constitutes plagiarism, and often violates copyright law to simply copy an image (even in another medium) that was made by someone else. This is true of any and all images on the Internet! Your AP portfolio will be evaluated by a minimum of three and a maximum of seven artist-educators. Each of the three sections will be reviewed and independently based on criteria for that section and each carries equal weight. You MUST follow the detailed specifications listed in the current Course Description and the Studio Art Poster. If the guidelines are not followed, your score report will carry a message saying that your score is based on an incomplete or irregular portfolio. The goal is a 5, not an incomplete. Please feel free to contact me over the summer, send images for input or critique. I ll check in with you periodically. It is easy to start the summer with the best intentions and then run out of steam or motivation. Suggestions: Set a goal of having a work of art done by a certain date and then make yourself stick to it. It is very important to be disciplined and have good time management, so that you do not find yourself at the end of the summer scrambling to create something to turn in at the start of the school year. This would not be a great way to start an AP portfolio! Periodically, search online for art being made by artists in the media or subject you are working in. It is important to stay current and it is always inspiring to look at what other contemporary artist are doing/creating. Again, don t hesitate to contact me: mgetsinger@rockyhill.org Have a great summer! I can t wait to see all of the amazing work that you produce over the summer.
Best, Ms. Getsinger