AP Studio Art
Summer Assignment
These summer assignments help alleviate the pressure during the school year of
producing the many quality pieces needed for a successful portfolio. Completing more
pieces than required will only put you that much further ahead when school starts.
Feel free to contact me at any time over the summer with any questions or concerns:
mikeferrari@live.com
There are 6 assignment categories:
Sketchbook Assignments
Portfolio Pieces
Gallery/Museum Visit
Research College Board AP Studio Course
Research Artists/ First Week Presentation
Concentration Proposal
Sketchbook Assignments
Complete 10 sketches and spend at least 30 minutes per idea.
Sketchbooks should display forethought, good composition, exceptional craftsmanship,
have mature subject matter (avoid trite, cliché, overused symbols). These sketchbook
assignments should be finished drawings. Sometimes breadth pieces come from
sketchbooks. You can also include sketches in your final AP portfolio.
Possible sketchbook ideas:
Pile of pillows/sheets
Fabric with pattern
Your hands (overlay drawings)
Look up words you do not know and illustrate
Insects
Draw on top of an old drawing or painting
Man vs. Nature
Close up of an object making it abstract
5 drawings on top of each other
Negative space only
Only objects I found at this location_________
Non-objective
Oops, wrong color
Contradictions
Inside out
Plugged in
Extreme light source
Moving objects (gestural drawings)
Extreme perspective
Chinese proverb (fortune cookie illustration)
Social statement
A tiny image repeated several times
Café
Park
View from a car mirror
What was for dinner?
Your own take on a traditional still life
Laundry day
Glass bottles
Reflective objects
Tools or hardware (Jim Dine)
Illustrate song lyrics or a poem
Shoes
Create a texture surface and draw on it
Sink with dishes in it and soapy water
Yourself in 20 years
Abstract drawing of a building
Opposites
Conflict of interest
Layer it on
Anatomy
Morphs
The senses
Fill a plastic bag with objects and draw
Metallic objects
Rope
Portfolio Pieces
You must complete a minimum of 2 possible portfolio pieces over the summer in
preparation for this course. 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 works that you will possibly use for the “Breath” section of your AP
portfolio. You will need 12 strong Breath pieces in your portfolio. The emphasis in this
section of the portfolio is to show a variety of media, style, approach, and subject matter.
This is your opportunity to explore. This will help you start to figure out your
“Concentration” section of your portfolio. These assignments will be due on the first day
of school. They will count as a major grade for the first marking period.
Project Choices:
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A self-portrait expressing a mood. How can you use color to possibly convey this
mood? How can you incorporate other images to help convey this mood? Try
using odd/extreme angles and/or lighting.
A still life arrangement of 3 or more reflective objects. Consider doing this as a
self-portrait – draw yourself distorted image in the reflection.
A drawing of an unconventional interior – for example, look inside a closet,
cabinet, in your refrigerator, under a car’s hood, or inside a medicine cabinet.
A close up of a bicycle from an unusual angle with strong light/shadows. Do not
just draw it from a basic side view. Consider draping cloth over part of the frame.
Expressive landscape – this can be near your home or a place you visit on
vacation. Make every effort to work on site (plein air). You should be able to
directly reference your subject (not through photographs).
Architectural location – for example a coffee shop, library, town square. In your
drawing capture the essence of the place by including people you see. Start
gesturally.
Action portrait/figure drawing – have a friend or family member pose for you
doing some sort of movement. Capture the entire sequence of their action in one
work. Attempt to portray movement in your work. Look at Marcel Duchamp’s
painting “Nude Descending a Staircase” or Umberto Boccioni’s bronze sculpture
“Unique Forms of Continuity in Space.”
Personal Collage Drawing/Painting – Create an interesting collage using objects
that have meaning to you. Assemble the images or objects and then either draw
or paint the collage as you see it. Be sure to incorporate the shadow cast by the
objects, torn edges of images, or even thumb tacks and tape. Look at John F.
Peto, William Harnett, or some of the Dutch Trompe-l’oeil painters
Elaborate on one of the above sketchbook ideas
Helpful hints:
1. You should always draw directly from life instead of using reference photos. If
you must use a photo, take your own. “Any work that makes use of
(appropriates) photographs, published images and/or other artists’ works must
show substantial and significant development beyond duplication. This
demonstrated through manipulation of the formal qualities, design, and/or concept
of the source. The student’s individual “voice” should be clearly evident” (taken
directly form the Studio Art Course Description).
2. Use quality materials for your art. Good materials make it easier to create good
work. Use at least 80 lb white drawing paper and stretched canvases for painting.
3. Use standard sizes. Stay within the 18” x 24” size, so that these pieces could be
used for your final portfolio.
4. Use a sketchbook to plan your artwork. Make several thumbnails, jot down notes,
glue in reference images, and do color studies when needed. The best sketchbook
is the black hardbound 8.5” x 11” Basic Canson book with acid free paper.
Again, these ideas/sketches can possibly be used in your final portfolio.
5. Use a variety of media, even consider combining them for mixed media.
6. Take this opportunity to break out of your comfort zone and try new things (some
might not work out too well but you might surprise yourself).
7. DO NOT SIGN YOUR NAME TO THE FRONT OF YOUR WORK or place any
identifying marks on the front as per AP Guidelines. Be sure to write your name
on the back.
8. Your portfolio may include work that you have created over a single year or longer,
in class, on your own, or in a class outside of high school (summer course or
private lesson)
Gallery Visit
You must visit at least one gallery or museum over the summer. Take a sketchbook with
you and do at least 2 good sketches of any works that you find interesting or inspiring
from these exhibits. In your sketchbook, write down any pertinent information about the
work/artist (title, year created, medium). Make notes on your thoughts and ideas about
the artist’s intent and process. If you take photos make sure you also take a picture of the
works identification card for your records.
Look at museum and gallery websites prior to planning your visit to see what is currently
on exhibit.
Suggested NY Museums and Galleries:
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Museum of Modern Art
Whitney Museum
Guggeheim Museum
New Museum of Contemporary Art
Brooklyn Museum
PS1 Contemporary Art (Long Island City)
Gagosian Gallery
Pace Gallery
Joshua Liner Gallery
Jonathan Levine
PPOW Gallery
I would suggest going into NYC and spending the day visiting the galleries in Chelsea
(around 20th -30th St between 10th and 11th Ave). Some galleries are by appointment only
but most you can just walk in. This is a great opportunity to see examples of a wide
variety artists working today. Many galleries are closed on Sundays and Mondays.
If you can’t make it into NYC try the Newark or Montclair Museum (check their
websites for current exhibitions).
Research the College Board AP Studio Course
It is HIGHLY reccommended that you visit AP Central to become familiar with the AP
Studio requirements and to see sample portfolios from previous years. You can
download the Studio Art Course Description directly from the website. This will be an
extremely helpful resource for you.
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/studiodrawing
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/studio2d
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/studio3d
Research Artists/ First Week Presentation
Attached is an extensive list of artist that you should become familiar with. Spend some
time Googling them (especially the Contemporary Artists). Some will hopefully be
inspiring to you and some you will probably have little to no interest in but do this with
an open mind. Create a folder on your computer with the collection of artworks that
inspires you (label each with the artist’s name and title of work if possible). This folder
will contain a growing collection of images that will help you throughout your art career.
In the first week of school you will be asked present your findings. You should create a
PowerPoint presentation of some of the work that you found interesting or inspiring.
You should be able to describe why you are drawn to the work/artist and how it could be
related to/inspiring to your own work. This will also be your opportunity to introduce
your own work. Your work does not have to be included in the PowerPoint but you will
be presenting the actual pieces that you created over the summer. You should be able to
discuss the processes you used and present a clear plan for the school year.
Concentration Proposal
Over the summer you should be thinking about the subject you would like to take on for
your concentration. This is as specific subject that you would like to explore further
through a series of works (about 12 pieces). Once you have an idea write out a paragraph
describing specifically what you will do. Include medium, dimensions, and process.
Questions to consider:
Why are you taking on this subject? Is it personal to you? How is it unique? Is it too
vague of an idea? Is it a subject and medium that will best showcase your talents? Is it a
subject that will remain interesting to you throughout the course of the school year?
Feel free to email me with any possible ideas you come up.
These summer assignments should be enjoyable. Be passionate about what you are
creating. This course will be a lot of work but extremely rewarding in the end.
GOOD LUCK!!!
AP Studio Portfolio Requirements
Artist List
Illuminated Manuscripts – earliest – 400-600 A.D.
Sienese Painting: 13-15th c.
Giovanni Di Paolo
Sassetta
Taddeo di Bartolo
Simone Martini
Duccio
Early Renaissance: 14-15th c.
Piero della Francesca
Sandro Botticelli
Giotto
Masaccio
Bosch
Van Eyck
Van der Weyden
High Renaissance: 14-16th c.
Michelangelo
Leonardo DaVinci
Raphael
Titian
Tintoretto
Breughel
Mannerism: 1520-1590
Pontormo
Parmagianino
Baroque: 1590-1725
Caravaggio
Artemisia Gentileschi
Tiepolo
Reubens
Rembrandt
El Greco
Diego Velasquez
Bernini
Dutch Golden Age: 17th c.
Vermeer
Hals
Rembrandt
Rococco: 18th c.
Fragonard
Watteau
Neo-Classical: (coincided with 18th c. Age of Enlightenment – early 19th c.)
David
Ingres
Romanticism: 1800-1850
JMW Turner
Kaspar David Friedrich
Corot
Delacroix
Impressionism: 1870s
Courbet
Monet
Manet
Renoir
Van Gogh
Degas
Lautrec
Modernism (encompassing Impressionism, etc.): 1870s- 1950s?
Paul Gauguin
Van Gogh
Cezanne
Matisse
Courbet
Les Nabis:
Pierre Bonnard
Edouard Vuillard
German Expressionism:
Grosz
Dix
Soutine
Paul Serusier
Maurice Denis
Franz Marc
Emil Nolde
Cubism:
Picasso
Braque
Miro
Leger
Early Abstraction:
Kandinsky
Gottlieb
Mondrian
Malevich
Surrealism:
Redon
Magritte
deChirico
Ensor
Hudson River School:
Frederick Church
Thomas Cole
Early 20th C. American:
Thomas Eakins
Thomas Hart Benton
Charles Burchfield
Albert Pynkham Ryder
Bellows
Abstract Expressionism:
Pollock
DeKooning
Motherwell
Joan Mitchell
Rothko
Bay Area Figuration:
David Parks
Richard Diebenkorn
Wayne Thiebaud
Joan Brown
Balthus
Kahlo
Max Ernst
Albert Bierstadt
Asher Brown Durand
Florine Stettheimer
Hopper
John Singer Sargent
Winslow Homer
Post-Modernism: 1970- present (encompassing all below more or less)
Minimalism:
Ellsworth Kelly
Agnes Martin
Pop:
Andy Warhol
David Hockney
James Rosenquist
Peter Saul
Neo-Expressionism:
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Jorg Immendorff
Markus Lupertz
Contemporary:
Alice Neel
Wangechi Mutu
Bridget Riley
Enzo Cucchi
Francesco Clemente
Jenny Saville
Cecily Brown
Eric Fischl
Gerhardt Richter
Chuck Close
Trenton Doyle Hancock
David Hockney
Lucien Freud
Glenn Brown
Anselm Kiefer
Julie Heffernan
Tiffany Bozic
Ian Francis
Tony Curanaj
Chris Ofili
Gary Hume
Jo Baer
George Baselitz
Joyce Pensato
Julian Opie
Larry Poons
Llyn Foulkes
Luc Tuymans
Street/Graffiti Artists:
Shepard Fairey (Obey)
Banksy
Swoon
Doze Green
Barry McGee
Ron English
Blu
EVOL
Richard Hamilton
Roy Lichtenstein
Claes Oldenburg
Julian Schnabel
Philip Guston
David Salle
Jenny Morgan
Pat Steir
George Condo
Antonio Lopez Garcia
Alex Katz
Lisa Yuskavage
Dana Schutz
John Currin
Neo Rauch
Carroll Dunham
Fabian Marcaccio
Peter Doig
Julia Jacquette
Nicole Eisenman
Ellen Gallagher
Jim Nutt
Julie Mehretu
Hung Liu
Franz Ackerman
Jules De Balincourt
Angela Dufresne
Lisa Sanditz
Gerald Davis
Mickalene Thomas
Marlene Dumas
Elizabeth Peyton
Hernan Bass
Kehinde Wiley
Garry Baseman
Anthony Lister
David Kinsey
Joram Roukes
Retna
Jeff Soto
Ryan McGinness
How & Nosm
Catherine Murphy
Sylvia Mangold
Elizabeth Murray
Vija Clemins
Jim Dine
Deb Kass
Lari Pittman
Ross Bleckner
Richard Phillip
Mark Bradford
Jasper johns
Ellsworth Kelly
Tom Nozkowski
Amy Sillman
Chris Martin
Sigmar Polke
Martin Mull
Joanne Greenbaum
Charlene Von Heyl
Terry Winters
Robert Bechtle
Mary Heilman
William Kentridge
Kris Kuksi
Robert Lazzarini
Antony Gormley