art department
703-924-7435
JUNE 10, 2009
Welcome to the
Hayfield AP Art Studio Class for 2009-20010!
In order to be ready to go in
September with this class, you will need to do some work over the summer. It is also easier for you to get to the
museums and see art by the masters. This
packet is designed to help you focus and get things accomplished. Planning is essential for success here.
AP (Advanced Placement) classes are
designed to offer students a college curriculum while they are in high
school. The benefits of such a class
include the opportunity to earn college credit, to reach the level of work that
will be expected the college or art school, and the chance to explore particular
subjects in depth to determine if they are of sufficient interest to continue
with in college. The AP Art Studio class
is unlike any other AP class in that there is not an examination in May. Instead, a portfolio of 24 completed works of
art is submitted in slide for to the College Board to be graded on a scale from
1 (poor) to 6 (excellent). Five original
works of art are included in the portfolio.
It is
We will begin work on your AP
portfolio the first day of class. Please
be prepared with the work that is in this packet. YOU MUST COMPLETE THE ASSIGNMENTS INCLUDING
THE SKETCHBOOK WORK ON TIME TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR A GRADE OF “A” THE FIRST 9
WEEKS.
Use your calendar and plan your museum
visits and work. Plan to attend the
museum days and studio days. Do not leave things until the last minute. This should be quality work and most of it
should end up in your portfolio. It
should also be creative and fun which last minute panic projects never
are. I wish you a happy and productive
summer and look forward to seeing you in the fall for our great artistic
adventure.
Questions? Email me at
The college or art school you select
to attend may choose to give you credit for the AP portfolio in place of a
required class (unusual), credit as an elective (usual), to place you in a more
advanced class (usual), or may not give you any credit for it (does
happen). The slides and artwork for the
class are the backbone of any of the portfolios you may submit (again in slide
form) to colleges, art schools and scholarship competitions. Scholarship deadlines are usually between
January 1st and March 1st depending upon the school. We will work hard at making your portfolio
serve all of your needs. READ ON.
While we will do a lot as a class
about colleges and art schools including having representative visit Hayfield,
we cannot visit campuses for you to see if you find them suitable. You need this experience to make an
intelligent decision next year. Perhaps
you can arrange with some other members of the class to visit some schools as a
group.
One of the great pleasures of living
in the
Many organizations and schools offer
classes during the summer that can contribute to your artistic development and
portfolio. Call the colleges and universities,
the Art League, the Arlington Art Center, the Washington Studio School, The
Smithsonian Resident Associates Program, Glen Echo, Pyramid Atlantic (book
arts), and others. All have schedules of
their classes and will mail you one.
Most have Web sites.
_____Sketchbook work showing research, reflection, experimentation and planning. 5 to 10 pages.
_____One 11” x 14” colored
pencil drawing of the master artist’s work.
_____Your original work to
show the artist.
_____20 TO 30 PAGES
OF SKTECHES, STUDIES AND NOTES ABOUT THINGS YOU FIND VISUALLY INTERESTING
INCLUDING AT LEAST 3 OF THE ABOVE POSSIBILITIES. THIS IS IN ADDITION TO THE SKETCHBOOK WORK
FOR ASSIGNMENTS 1 AND 2.
AP ART STUDIO ASSIGNMENT
THIS ASSIGNMENT REQUIRES YOU TO SPEND AT LEAST ONE DAY IN THE MUSEUMS OF DC. YOU MAY VENTURE TO OTHERS. PLAN CAREFULLY SO THAT YOU GET THIS DONE.
Wander through the National Gallery of Art and/or the
Phillips Collection, the Hirschhorn, the Freer Gallery or the Renwick. Come back for as many days as you need
to. FIND A PAINTING THAT YOU LOVE, THAT
REALLY MOVES YOU.
Carefully draw the painting in the museum in colored pencil
(The museum will be fine with that.) on 11” x 14” vellum
There is nothing like working from an original work of
art. Really try to get a feel for the
color and the composition in your work.
Make us understand why it moved you from the way you draw it. Write in your sketchbook about what you liked
about the work.
Find other works by this artist. Do some research and learn as much as you can
about him/her. Experiment in your
sketchbook with the artist’s ways of working.
What colors (palette) did he use?
What were his favorite subjects, moods, ideas? Collect postcards of the artists work. What can you find on line? Make this part of your sketchbook; however,
do not just download and print a bunch of stuff. Write your own thoughts. If you download and print an image to
include, write an explanation of why you chose it.
Now use all of this new information and skills to create a
work of your own based upon your master artist.
Make notes in your sketchbook about the development of your work. Your work should be one you would like to
show to this artist. What would you
want him/her to talk with you about?
What questions would you have?
Your sketchbook should be very rich.
example
Jenn found a portrait she really like by James McNeill
Whister at the National Gallery of Art.
She did a few quick studies in her sketchbook to understand the
compsotions and value structure of the painting. She went home and did some research about
Whistler. She found a great book at the
library that had the painting in it. She
used the book to get a light composition study of the painting on a piece of
vellum surface illustration board. She
took the board and her colored pencils when she went back to the National
Gallery of Art. She spent the afternoon
doing a careful drawing of the Whistler painting trying to work as he did.
She learned a lot about Whistler and also visited the Freer
Gallery which owns many of his works including the Peacock Room which he
decorated and which is famous for the feud he had with its owner.
Later she used the same
materials and composition for a self-portrait.
She even dressed in an outfit she thought fit Whistler’s style!
Her questions for Whistler included whether she had really
captured his method and style and whether her personality came through in her
self-portrait. The class thought
Whistler would have been pleased.
_____Sketchbook work showing research, reflection, experimentation and planning. 5 to 10 pages.
_____One 11” x 14” colored
pencil drawing of the master artist’s work.
_____Your original work to
show the artist.
AP STUDIO SKETCHBOOKS
“Sketchbooks for artists are like journals for
writers. They provide a continuous
source of motifs and ideas for compositions as well as an entertaining record
of the past. They also play a key role
in teaching you to see and draw.” Daniel
Mendelowitz, late of
Learning to see is fundamental to being able to create works
of art. Drawing functions as a record of
your seeing and your interpretation of what you see. The ideal way to use a sketchbook is to draw
in it everyday. Use the common things around
you—the corner of your room, your closet, the view out the window, the tools in
the garage, the attic, trees in the yard, summer’s flowers—that attract your
attention to sharpen your artistic skills and vision. All of the planning for your projects this
summer should be in your sketchbook. You
want to create a deep, rich resource that you can draw upon for the coming
year. Explore many possible solutions to
assignments and record your thinking verbally and visually. Look for books with reproductions of master
artists’ sketchbook and draw from them.
Draw, draw, draw!
POSSIBILITIES
When
you visit a museum, buy a postcard of a painting or drawing that moves
you. Copy the information on the back in
your sketchbook. Glue the postcard in
your sketchbook. Draw or paint from the
postcard to learn about the compositions, artist’s techniques, the color
choices. Research the artist and his/her
working methods and life. Write about
what you saw and learned.
Copy a quote or lyric you find meaningful into your
sketchbook. Use 3” x 5” pictures planes
(frames) to create several studies for works of art that are a response to or
illustration of the quote or lyric.
Read an article in The Artist or American Artist
magazines and try out the techniques in your sketchbook. Do studies for a work of art using the
technique you learned. Make a photocopy
of the article if you do not own the magazine so you can share it with the
class. These and other art magazines are
at your library and at Barnes and Noble or Borders.
Get a book on how to do something you want to try and record
your progress and studies in your sketchbook.
Document the title and author of the book.
Create comic style illustrations for an everyday process such
as eating breakfast. You could make it a
“how to.”
Draw outside at night—in the dark.
Draw with your eyes closed or without looking at your page
until you are done. What happened?
DO AT LEAST 3 OF THESE POSSIBILITIES ALONG WITH YOUR OWN
IDEAS.
_____40 TO 50 PAGES OF SKETCHES,
STUDIES AND NOTES ABOUT THINGS YOU FIND VISUALLY INTERESTING INCLUDING AT LEAST
3 OF THE ABOVE POSSIBILITIES. THIS IS
IN ADDITION TO THE SKETCHBOOK WORK FOR ASSIGNMENTS 1 AND 2.
SUPPLIES
You will need a few supplies to do your work this
summer. You can go to any art supply
store for them or order from companies such as Blick Art Supplies on line.
The closest art supply company to the
school is Michael’s near Springfield Mall.
Use the Yellow Pages to find others.
There is a list in this packet.
YOU NEED
_____ Drawing pencils—at least 2H, HB, 2B, 4B and
6B
_____ Erasers—kneaded and white vinyl
_____ Colored pencils—Prismacolor are what we use
at school. Lyra, Cretacolor and many
other artists’ pencils are good. Be sure
what you get is “open stock” meaning that you can replace ones you use up
without buying a whole new set. In a
pinch you could use Crayola’s 50 color set, but it doesn’t have the quality or
depth of color that the professional ones do.
_____ A sketchbook. Check for heavy drawing paper with a bit of
“tooth,” not slick. You are going to
need 75 pages or so.
_____ A pad of vellum finish
Nice additions are
ink, all kinds of pens, brushes and watercolors. Buy primary colors in the watercolors. If you can buy more, buy different primaries. You don’t need a suitcase of greens. You know how to make green, yes?