AP Studio Art
Friendly High School
2014-2015
Summer Assignment - 2D Design
Ms. Anna Guiles
anna.guiles@pgcps.org
Dear AP Studio Art Parents and Students,
Welcome to AP Studio Art at Friendly High School for the 2013-2014 school year!
The AP Studio Art portfolios are designed for students who are seriously interested in the practical experience
of art. AP Studio Art is not based on a written examination; instead, students submit portfolios for evaluation
at the end of the school year.
The AP Program offers three portfolios: Drawing, 2-D Design, and 3-D Design. The portfolios share a basic,
three-section structure, which requires the student to show a fundamental competence and range of
understanding in visual concerns (and methods). Each of the portfolios asks the student to demonstrate a
depth of investigation and process of discovery through the concentration section (Section II). In the
breadth section (Section III), the student is asked to demonstrate a serious grounding in visual principles and
material techniques. The quality section (Section I) permits the student to select the works that best exhibit
a synthesis of form, technique, and content.
The AP Studio Art class at Friendly High School is designed to allow students to participate in a college level
studio art course while still in high school. By submitting an AP Portfolio to the College Board for review in
May, students can potentially receive college credit.
The portfolios require that students submit 25-29 high quality works of art by the end of the year. Students
are allowed to include work in their portfolios that they have completed previous to the AP year. In order to be
successful, students must complete some of this work over the summer. They must complete other
assignments that will help them become adept researchers and generate ideas for the work they will create
during the school year.
The AP Studio Art Summer Assignments are as follows:
1. Sketchbooks : Students must purchase a new 8”x10” or 9”x12” black hard bound sketchbook
that contains at least 100 pages. Students are expected to fill 15 pages in their sketchbooks by the
first day of school in August.
The sketchbook should be your “new best friend” this summer. You need to carry it with you every day,
everywhere! Open it up first thing in the morning and last thing at night and many times in between. At
the end of the summer it should reflect YOU and your experiences throughout the summer. Work in
your sketchbook is an ongoing process that will help you make informed and critical decisions about the
progress of your work. Your sketchbook is the perfect place to try a variety of concepts and
techniques as you develop your own voice and style.
In your sketchbook you need to complete 1 page that demonstrates each of the following
Principles of Design. The subject matter for these is your choice.
1. Symmetrical Balance
2. Asymmetrical Balance
3. Radial Balance
4. Contrast
5. Emphasis
6. Gradation
7. Harmony
8. Variety
9. Proportion
10. Repetition
11. Movement
12. Rhythm
13. Unity
14. Positive/Negative Space
15. Pattern
RULES for working in your sketchbook:
1. DO NOT make “perfect” drawings. Make imperfect drawings; make mistakes; make false starts. Let
your hand follow your feelings, not what your brain is telling you to do.
2. ALWAYS FILL the page you are working on. Go off the edges whenever possible. Do not make
dinky little drawings in the center of the page. Make every square inch count for something.
3. Do not start something and abandon it. Go back later, change it, and make it into something else.
Being able to rescue bad beginnings is the sign of a truly creative mind. Finish everything you start.
4. NO CUTE, PRETTY, PRECIOUS, ADORABLE, or TRITE images. This is a college-level art
class, not a recreation program to make pretty pictures to hang in your house. Expect your ideas about
what makes good art to be challenged.
Ways to work in your sketchbook: Here are some sketchbook suggestions if you are
struggling with how to begin your book.
• Draw, paint, draw, collage, etc.
• Use pencils, pens, crayons, sticks, charcoal, pastel, watercolor, and acrylic; basically anything that will
make a mark.
- Create unique images – do not copy something that already exists in the world/on the internet.
• Build the pages up by layering things, paint on top of collage, newspaper, and drawing. Attach pieces
of fabric and photographs and paint over parts of them. Conceal and reveal.
• Express yourself! Work to develop mastery in concept, composition, and execution of your ideas.
• Make decisions about what you do based on how things look. Go for the tough look, not the easy
solution. Do not be trite; say something important about the world you live in.
• Take a news story and interpret it visually, use abstraction to express an idea.
• Play around with geometric and organic forms, interlocking and overlapping to create an interesting
composition. Use color to finish the work.
• Create a self-portrait using distortion, or Cubism, or Impressionism, or Minimalism, or Pop.
• Make at least 100 gesture drawings from observation of the figure. Make at least 25 contour drawings
from observation of anything around you. Remember to use the whole page! Fill the space behind the
objects you draw. Make it count for something.
• Make a simple contour drawing of an arrangement of objects. Repeat the drawing four times. Explore
different color schemes in each of the four drawings. Write about how the color changes the feeling in
each image.
• Write about your work. Write about what you like about a drawing, what you don’t like about it. Write
about your hopes for your artwork. Write about why you like to make art.
• Write about how your artwork could impact another’s thinking or feeling. Write about what you want
to say with your artwork, and what it means to you in the larger sense.
• Lastly, this experience should be for your growth as an art student, as a person who values art as a
means of expression. Keep it for yourself so that you will feel free to work without judgment.
Remember this is an ongoing process that uses informed and critical decision making to develop ideas.
Bring the sketchbook to the first class in August. You will have an opportunity to select the pages
you want to share. We will use your experience as an introduction to some of the thinking that you
will be engaged in during the AP Studio Art course.
2. Large Artworks: These should be done on surfaces (paper, cardboard, canvas board, etc.) that are no smaller that 18”x 24”
Materials can be purchased at art-supply stores such as Michaels or AC Moore.
1. Opposites Double Self-Portrait:
- Draw 2 self-portraits on the same page that demonstrate opposites (good/evil, fire/water, day/night….etc).
- Draw the portraits AT LEAST life sized.
- Make the two portraits work with each other visually.
- Use a full range of values.
- Spend at least 6 hours on the drawing.
- Use the whole page! Create a background that is detailed and relates to your idea.
- Consider the COMPOSITION (this is the most important part for 2D Design)
- Use a 2D Material of your choice. (Excluding pencil).
2. Repeated Shoe Pattern:
- Create a pattern that includes a shoe motif.
- Use a color scheme (monochromatic, complementary, triadic, split-complimentary or analogous).
- Repeat the element or elements of the shoe over the page.
- Consider the composition. Design the WHOLE PAGE.
- Include a lot of details.
- Use a 2D Material of your choice. (Excluding pencil). Examples:
1. Bicycle Drawing:
-
Find a bicycle and draw it from observation. Choose an interesting way to compose/crop the bike on the
page.
Draw the outline and details.
Leave the positive space of the bike white.
Use black ink, black acrylic paint, black watercolor or black sharpie to fill in the negative space.
Create an interesting composition by zooming in on the bike and drawing all of the details that you see.
Use the entire page! Examples:
3. Museum Visits:
a. Visit an art museum this summer. In the DC area, some options include the National Gallery
of Art, The Hirshhorn Musuem, The Freer Gallery, The National Portrait Gallery and the
National Museum of African Art. In the Baltimore Area, options include the Baltimore
Museum of Art, the Walters Museum and the American Visionary Art Museum. Students
may visit museums in other cities as well.
b. Document your visit. Collect ticket stubs, brochures for the museum and exhibitions and
postcards. Take notes and draw sketches of artwork, people, the museum itself etc. Glue
museum artifacts in your sketchbook with the notes and sketches.
c. Choose 3 artists whose artwork stands out to you at the museum. Write down the name of
the artists, their nationality, the dates in which they made their work in your sketchbook.
Sketch their artwork in your sketchbook. When you go home, research the artist on the
internet. Write a paragraph (5-7 sentences) in your sketchbook that summarizes their life
and artwork.
4. Purchase Art Supplies: Because AP Studio art is designed to reflect a foundation college
level course, students will be responsible for purchasing a portion of their own supplies. There
will be a supply check the first week of school that will affect the student’s grade. Students should
come prepared with the following (can be found at Michaels, AC Moore, Utrecht (in DC) or College
Art Supplies stores. Also students can purchase materials online at www.dickblick.com,
www.utrecht.com and www.cheapjoes.com):
Required:
- 1 black hardbound 8”x10” or 9”x12” sketchbook with at least 100 pages. (students should
purchase this at the beginning of the summer for their sketchbook portion of the summer
assignment)
- 1 set of drawing pencils including: HB, 2B, 4B, 6B and Ebony.
- 1 pencil sharpener
- 1 box of soft or medium vine charcoal.
- 1 package (at least 2 sticks) of black compressed charcoal or conte crayons.
- 1 can of spray fixative
- 1 roll of masking tape
- 1 pair of scissors
- 1 glue stick
- 2 erasers.
- 3 18”x 24” canvas boards
- 1 set of Prismicolor colored pencils (at least 12)
- 4 fine tip black Sharpies.
- a few (3-7) watercolor or acrylic brushes in various sizes (high quality)
- 1 small plastic/pencil box to transport supplies.
- Acrylic Paint (artist, not craft) in red, yellow, blue, white and black.
- 1 jar of black ink.
Recommended (may change depending on a student’s individual interest/body of work):
- a mixing palette for paint.
- 1 set of watercolors
- a plastic jar with a lid for water.
- watercolor paper
- Uni-ball or other liquid/gel pens.
- a portfolio to store artwork in.
- Prismicolor markers
- colored Sharpie markers
- Photo printer paper for computer generated artwork.
- 1 USB flash drive.
I will be checking my email throughout the summer. Please email me at
anna.guiles@pgcps.org if you have any problems or questions while completing these
assignments. Feel free to send me pictures of work in progress!
Assignments will be due the 2nd class period. Please DO NOT wait until the end of
the summer to complete the summer assignments.
The summer assignments will also be available on the school’s website, should
you lose this packet.
Happy art-making this summer! I look forward to seeing you and your artwork in August!
Ms. Anna Guiles
AP Studio Art
anna.guiles@pgcps.org