AP Studio

AP Art and Design Syllabus

Oak Grove High School

Dr. Deaton Rm. 1603

 

Two Dimensional Design/Drawing/Three Dimensional Design

 

Course Overview:

This course is designed for students who are seriously interested in the practical experience of art on a college level.  AP studio art is not based on a written exam; instead, students submit a portfolio of art for evaluation at the end of the school year.  The Advanced Placement Studio Portfolio consists of two sections: Sustained Investigation and Selected Works.  Both areas will be discussed and worked on in depth throughout the semester in and out of class.  This class is for students looking to receive college credit hours.  There for students will be expected to work on a college level. Students will be expected to work independently on projects and meet due dates promptly.  Students will develop skills of creating compositions, developing concepts, and applying critical thinking and problem solving to their artwork.  Students will complete in class projects as well as out of class assignments such as journals, sketchbooks, and writing assignments.  This course enables the development of mastery in concept, composition, and execution of successful designs.  The course will cover a variety of media and techniques and will encourage students to go outside of project guidelines and above project requirements.  Students will also participate in weekly critiques of theirs and other student’s works.  Together we will create a learning community where as a class we will investigate various subjects and media and help each other to progress and improve as artists.   

 

During the semester we will create 12 pieces focusing on technique, understanding of media, and display of the students skills as an artist.  These pieces will be teacher guided but will be student driven.  Students will pick a central idea to explore and investigate visually in these pieces known as the sustained investigation.  From these 12 works we will take in progress photographs of three pieces to show the judges your creative process.  We will take 2 up close detail photographs to showcase the highest level of skill you produce.  In total you will have 15 photographs to submit in your digital portfolio. 

 

This class is very fast paced as it is only offered one semester.  During the fall semester we will complete everything needed to complete the AP Studio Art exam even though it is not until May.  This allows time to re-photograph works, redo pieces that may be weak, or to replace works you are not happy with to allow the portfolio to be the best representation of the student as a serious artist.  This will also allow time to upload images to the AP website in advance to make sure this portfolio is to the best of your abilities.

 

In May, students will submit their slides and works as a portfolio for an AP exam grade.  Five works will be sent off to be graded and returned over the summer.  The exam will last approximately one hour.  Submission of a portfolio is required to receive AP credit, and portfolio must score a 3 or higher.

 

Content of the Class:

 

Sketchbook:  Students will complete a sketchbook throughout the semester that will contain sketches for their portfolio projects as well as sketches from in class lessons or demonstrations.  This is where they will complete most of their home and prep work assignments.

 

Journal Entries:  These will be included in their sketchbook as will serve as critical thinking practice for their projects and sketches.  They will be given writing assignments where they will be asked to do readings and respond to what they have read, they will receive research assignments and will be asked to collect images from out of class sources.  These entries will include written notes pertaining to the sketches and research done for projects.  These are not to be taken lightly and effort will be graded.

 

Portfolio:  These portfolios will consist of three sections of work created in this course for the AP exam.  The three parts are:

1. Sustained Investigation: 15 slides based on an ongoing thematic investigation of a subject of the student’s choice which is accompanied by short written commentary as instructed on the exam.

 

2. Selected Works: Five original pieces of at work that display a mastery of design.  These will need to be the student’s best works out of the entire portfolio.  They can be from the sustained investigation or from their own personal works.

 

Homework:  An AP studio art course requires time spent outside of class planning, visiting galleries, and collecting materials, researching topics and artists, and completing or revising portfolio entries.  If sketchbook and journal work is not completed in class it will become homework and is to be handed in promptly on the due date or it will receive NO credit. 

 

Grade Scale:

60% Projects-final works of art, photographs of final works, tests

40% Writings, sketches, and research. 

 

Grades:

Works will be graded using a rubric similar to that used to grade the AP exam.  It is a scale of 1-5.  A 1 is equivalent to an F and a 5 is equivalent to an A.  Scores on projects will be converted in to letter grades for progress reports and report cards.  Students will be graded weekly on their sketchbook/journals as homework grades.  Projects should be turned in weekly to be graded. No extensions will be granted.  If a work is not handed in the student will receive a deduction of 1 letter grade until the work is handed in.  Projects will be tracked to insure student is making adequate progress throughout course; this will be assessed in your participation grade.  Fridays will be used to critique current works and check progress and will also factor in to your participation grade.  Students need as much feedback as possible to be able to create the best possible work so participation in critiques is very important.  Students will have one on one conference with teacher on Wednesdays to check all work and progress.  See grading rubric at end of syllabus.

 

AP Scoring: The Advanced Placement Studio Art exam is scored on a scale of 1-5 with 5 being the highest.  If you pass the exam with a 3, 4, or 5 you will receive college credit of 3.0 credit hours at most schools.  If you receive below a 3 you will not receive credit but that does not necessarily mean you fail the course.  Your course grade and exam grades are completely separate and do not count towards one another.

 

Copyright Issues:

It is mandatory that all work produced by a student must be original imagery.  Do not work from magazines or published images as the basis of your images (i.e. do not copy photographs found on-line and call it your own work.)  If you want to alter someone else’s image and include it in your work (magazine clippings or photographs) it must be altered dramatically to the point it would be unrecognizable to the original artist. 

We will stress the concept of artist integrity in this course as it is vital to defining yourself as a serious artist.  We will discuss the topics of ethics in art during class and during critiques.  

If you are found using an image that is not yours without manipulating it and then calling it your own, you will be required to completely redo your work and will receive and automatic 50 on the assignment.

 

 

Supplies:

1. Sketchbook: Approximately 8”x10” (No Smaller)
2. #2 Pencils
3. Notebook/Folder for Handouts
4. Portfolio larger than 18”x 24” (Can be purchased from Michaels or A.C. Moore)
5. Hand Held Pencil Sharpener
6. Kneaded Eraser
7. Optional: Colored Pencils (Prismacolor, Crayola, or Prang)
8. Optional: Good Quality Paint Brushes

 

For More Information on the Advanced Placement Guidelines or course information go to:

www.Collegeboard.com

 

AP Grading Rubric:

 

	Poor	Moderate	Good	Strong	Excellent
Materials well used, technique is excellent	1	2	3	4	5
Inventive and imaginative	1	2	3	4	5
Evidence of thinking, clear visual intent	1	2	3	4	5
Purposeful Composition	1	2	3	4	5
Awareness of style and format	1	2	3	4	5
Sensitive and evocative	1	2	3	4	5

 

You will receive points for each category to earn a total of 30 possible points. Your grade will take your points and divide it by 30 to create a decimal representations of the following numerical grades:

 

Example: If you scored 24 points then 24/30= 80 which is a B

 

Translation into numerical Grade:

 

• 5= 90-100 A
• 4= 80-89 B
• 3= 70-79 C
• 2= 60-69 D
• 1= 0-59 F