As students begin to put together their schedules for the coming year, they may want to consider the classes that the art department has to offer. The AP Studio Drawing and AP Drawing classes are one of the higher level classes available to both juniors and seniors. In order to get into this class, students must have taken Introduction to 2D Art, Advanced 2D Art, Drawing I, and Drawing II.
Because this is an advanced class, there are summer project requirements that need to be met. Students must create a landscape, still life, self portrait, and a portrait of someone else. These projects can go into the portfolio at the end of the year, but not all students chose to do this.
Unlike other AP classes, AP Studio Drawing and AP Drawing does not have an AP Exam at the end of the year. Instead, students must create a portfolio that will be given to qualified judges. This portfolio contains twelve separate projects that the student has created during the time they have been in the class. These projects require a similar theme so that they flow together smoothly. Alison Walker, junior, says “The main focus of my project is hair. All the portraits are in sepia and sections of their hair is in other colors”. The portfolio also contains twelve other projects that they have created in the past. These previous projects are called “Breadth” and need to be supplied to show media diversity.
When the school year first begins, Mr. Sergeant, the teacher, assigns two projects. This year, they were a self portrait and a work that contains drastic color contrast. After the first two or three weeks of school, students are allowed to work on the remainder of their portfolio. By the end of the first semester, students are required to have five works out of the twelve required.
After a student finishes this class and they want to continue taking upper level art courses, they have the option to either retake AP Studio Drawing or take the other AP class, AP Studio Art - Two Dimensional Design.
Alison Walker – “Kurt” – Prismacolor