Ap Art
Ap Art
AP Studio Art
AP Studio Art
Mr. Berrodin
(Two semesters, ½ credit per semester, 12)
Prerequisites: Art I, II, III
All students enrolled in this course are required to meet or exceed all criteria set by the College Board Advanced Placement Program, Princeton, NJ. AP Studio Art is intended for students who are seriously interested in a major in the field of art or are planning a continued study of art following high school. The studio work is geared toward the creation of a portfolio over two semesters. This portfolio will focus on two sections: The Selected Works section requires students to demonstrate skillful synthesis of materials, processes, and ideas. The Sustained Investigation section requires students to conduct a sustained investigation based on questions through practice, experimentation, and revision. Both sections of the portfolios require students to articulate information about their work. Students will be demonstrating commitment to academic excellence, the study habits necessary for rigorous coursework, and advanced creative problem-solving skills. An investigative workbook is required, as well as summer homework assignments. During the first week of school, students will be required to submit their summer portfolio assignments for a class critique. Students must be willing to do extensive additional work on their own and during mandatory open studio times. This is a highly demanding and rewarding class.
Fee: 2/3 of AP Exam & $70.00 supplies
Drawing/ 2-D Art and Design/AP 3-D Art and Design
A Sustained Investigation (SI) in an AP portfolio is a cohesive collection of works focused on exploring a central theme or question. It involves a dedicated process of developing, experimenting, revising, and deepening understanding of specific materials, processes, and ideas. This section of the portfolio showcases a student's commitment to an in-depth inquiry, demonstrating visual coherence and a unified underlying idea. It's characterized by significant investment in a particular project or method of working, showing the evolution of thought and skill over time. The SI requires clear focus and direction, embodying the student's personal exploration and artistic growth.
Erin Oulton
Sustained Investigation
Sustained Investigation
Victoria
Blechmid
Sarah
Kronz
Lauren
Podojil
Emma Duckham
Lauren Slates
Selected Works
Selected Works
Tuuli Pirinen
The Selected Works section of your portfolio should feature five artworks that best demonstrate skillful synthesis of materials, processes, and ideas.
Emma Duckham
Nick Hradisky
Deanna Sagaris
Chisti
Mocny
Randee
Pollarine
Alex Conces
Ashley
Parr
Kevin McHugh
Angela
Mangeri
Ian jones
Cameron Lada
Kristi Gates
The AP portfolio is an integrated showcase of process images, finished pieces, and reflective writing that highlights critical thinking and deliberate artistic choices. It requires students to demonstrate a grasp of artistic and design principles and to effectively integrate materials and ideas through continuous practice, experimentation, and refinement.
Portfolios
Portfolios
2021
2022
2023
2024
2021
Victoria Blechschmid
2021
Victoria Blechschmid
My sustained investigation focuses on
emotion and storytelling through the
exaggeration of color. I used extreme
colors, bold lighting, and high contrast to
intensify the emotions each piece portrays
while finding beauty in the unnatural.
Controlling color and lighting is a major theme of my portfolio. My initial focus was on color, such as slide 1 where I organized many colorful props. I then began to manipulate the color through lighting in slide 2 by using opposite-colored light sources to create extreme color contrast. Expanding my focus on color, I began deliberately manipulating many bold colors through physical tools such as DVDs to control color and lighting, beginning a larger series of
rainbow-colored works with similar methods. As
my understanding of color matured, I put more emphasis on portraying emotion and telling a story through it. I used my knowledge of color to more purposefully
create an emotion not only through rainbows but
also by exaggerating natural and monochromatic
colors to push a specific feeling, such as fear
or anger. I then focused on storytelling through directly connected pieces, portraying either triumph or heartbreak depending on the pieces’ order.
2021
Sarah Robb
2021
Sarah Robb
I investigated the journey to define & reclaim
womanhood & how it’s shaped by stories. I
began to study the discomfort of questioning
womanhood & found confusion in questioning it
while playing the role. In response, I considered
identity with bright, contrasting colors.
I explored more & realized that defining womanhood meant confronting the trope that women must be martyrs. I experimented with oil paint & varied textures to show the multifaceted grief women face due to that
idea. As I continued researching literature, I
challenged that inherent suffering idea & found it’s
not innate to womanhood but inflicted, and I was further drawn to vibrant chalk pastels to portray that. Finally, I experimented again with color & complex composition to evolve my investigation toward valuing women in their stories & redefining womanhood. I refined my technical skills with charcoal studies, detailed pastel pieces, & large paintings.
I drew in my journal to feel comfortable & confident expressing thoughts & emotions throughout my inquiry. My final piece evolves past old stories by revisiting them, culminating in an answer to my question: womanhood is personal, & I create stories to define womanhood for myself.
2021
Parker Susil
2021
Parker Susil
The main guiding question that started my
Sustained Investigation, was "How do I portray
Horror with art?". This evolved into a more
complicated question "How do I portray Horror
with abstract subject matter?".
I explored different horror elements and began to think of ideas I could relate back to horror. From something as mundane as an event that happens every day, to something as grand, and disturbed as the dreams I remember from nights before. Subtle elements are taken from all aspects of my life. I flushed out these ideas with sketches found in my sketchbook. I used them as launch pads to explore and express my ideas, composition, and posing. This gave form and cadence to my thoughts. I used a rough, expressive, often emotionally driven mark-making process to help drive home the horror theme. Developing sketches allowed experimentation with the paintings, sometimes simply using the sketch as a guide, and other times incorporating the sketch into the final piece, Improving and changing the techniques along the way.
The created Body of Works is meant to represent horror, and despair through abstract, and deformed pieces. I intend to disturb the viewer with the abstract.
2021
Sarah Cochran
2021
Sarah Cochran
I focused on my individual experience with the
cultivation, reflection, & destruction of the
natural world. Some pieces are metaphorical
examples of how nature impacts us, while
others are examples of events. My inquiries
deepened emotionally & expanded, representing
the different relationships that we have with the
natural world. Images 1-5 reflect a deep serenity, the baseline of my love for nature. Images 6-9 address grief both at the destruction of nature & loss of another. Images 10-15 depict the destruction of humanity. The last image is the harshest truth; that some violently treat others just the same as some treat the world. This embodies my investigation by reflecting on the nature of humanity and our relationships with the natural world. At first, I was unintentionally desaturating the paint to 'blend in', struggling with the insecurity about my own art. I overcame this by painting with solid primary color right out of the tube & desaturating it. The result is seen in images 4 & 7. Many of these works were created with oil paint to achieve detail & texture, others are chalk pastels for experimenting with more courageous colors, & charcoal for achieving practice with form & contrast.
2022
Audrey Magdics
2022
Audrey Magdics
Using my personal experiences, I am
portraying the healing process from isolation
and pain within my art. I began to explore
mark-making, color exaggeration, and distortion
to portray my emotions. In response, I
considered my emotions within duplicate imagery.
Hands are a crucial part of my work; I can show
different emotions through them. Along with
dramatic facial expressions, screaming into the unknown if the unknown is even real.
When deciding what mediums to use for my pieces, my direct answer is always acrylic paint, as it is a comfort to me. When I was at my lowest, I would spend all night working on countless acrylic pieces. The layering process reminds me of myself and what I’ve been through: putting one layer down, adding another, like building blocks continuously adding until you see the beautiful, finished product. I found balance and control within it to create works that describe the darks and lights within my life. I experimented with duplicate imagery in my earlier work, slowly gaining confidence to be able to do what I'm doing now. Purely painting with my emotions, as I strategically placed each tone in its special spot. Which led me to channel my experiences into visual representation. I validate my emotions, acknowledge them, and most importantly grow from them.
I revisited old concepts and ways of thinking to come up with imagery. My pieces have become contraptions of my darkest and brightest from the edges of my mind, showcasing years of built-up trauma and emotion, starting off with feeling not good enough.
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2022
Brandon Witmer
2022
Brandon Witmer
The main idea of my investigation was
exploring how I could physically break down
topics, whether they be general, personal,
or wide-ranging, for viewers to see images
in a "pure" form, untainted from bias, so
they could associate their memories and
ideals. I hoped to show the general topic of
Holidays through methods such as emphasizing negative space. As I found other ways to break down my pieces, like limiting my color palette, I researched Minimalism and began to see how I could incorporate it into personal topics, like my car crash, and then to intimate ideas that touch all.
I was convinced that everyone could recognize a topic like Holidays. I navigated my way towards breaking down holidays so anybody could pull experiences from straightforward pieces. I did not want viewers to look at my pieces and associate forced messaging, such as family values. Rather, I wanted pieces that appeared "pure" and were easily interpreted. I explored the use of Minimalism and found I could do the opposite of depicting general Holidays and break down rather personalized topics and then personal topics that everyone could relate to through several mediums and principles.
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2022
Kayla Tejada
2022
Kayla Tejada
This journey was compelled by the use of
nature in my work. Nature is a very
important subject for me to use since it
always brings me a sense of security
during difficult times. After
contemplating different ways to
demonstrate emotion, I began to use flowers
as people’s heads to convey different moods. After much experimentation, I concluded that I wanted to be able to show emotion in very unconventional ways. I came up with my overarching question of
how to show emotion without direct facial expressions. I have expanded to contrasting nature and technology to utilize as symbols.
In many of my pieces, flowers were the foundation of my experimentation. I utilized many
different flowers and plants to bring across different meanings. The vast amount of different
plants allowed me to reach a variety of different emotions in distinct and intentional ways. I
expanded the scope of my inquiry to utilize technology, alongside nature as symbolism. It's clear
to see the journey of my pieces through the use of nature, mediums, and subjects. I found that
intense emotions worked better with colored pencils and digital while softer emotions worked
better with paint.
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2022
Payton Verespej
2022
Payton Verespej
Experiencing a major obstacle, I was
allowed me to explore how I was affected
physically and emotionally. Leading me to
express what I was going through and how
I felt about the situation. Considering
emotions themselves and personal growth
from them with materials: paper, canvas,
cardboard, and color.
Expressing physical changes endured, I discovered underlying emotions. Investigating mediums and textures showed my emotions, specifically through symbolism to add complexity. Continuing to overcome, I looked at where I began and where I am now, due to growth. This compelled me to demonstrate growth and change in emotions through the use of colors, materials, and symbols. Allowing me to refine my ideas and my skills using studies of mediums to gain understanding, as well as detailed pieces to practice and gain skills.
Taking time to develop my initial ideas allowed me to
gain an understanding of how I intended to
express a physical change or emotion. Allowing
me to evolve my ideas to better demonstrate
my thought process. In my final piece, my thoughts
and views about the obstacles experienced had
changed: despite hardships happiness can be found
as long as you welcome it.
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2023
Liam Bell
2023
Liam Bell
The driving force behind my work is my
love for aviation. My conceptualization
process involves considering various
aspects of aviation and considering how to
create a composition from them. Additionally,
I enjoy exploring complex mark-making with
various mediums–namely oil pastels–and
considering how those marks would affect the meaning of the piece. My final intent is to find ways to convey my love for aviation and show others why I like it the way that I do.
Almost every single one of my pieces directly relates to aviation in its composition. I also pursued a path of developing markmaking with oil pastels, starting with my pieces The Key and World’s Edge, leading through Innocence, Portent, Beluga II, and finally ending with Circles, which shows experimentation and revision through differing uses and changes over the course of the works. Additionally, I continued to explore markmaking in other mediums, such as chalk pastel, in my pieces BMF92, BA009, and Oil Spill. I also explored positive and negative space, experimenting with my piece Cockpit which is revealed further in my pieces BMF92, BA009, Oil Spill, and Circles, as well as in earlier pieces such as Transasia 235 and World’s Edge.
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2023
Phoebe Yao
2023
Phoebe Yao
My work explores human emotions, memories,
and living conditions, both environmentally and
socially. Focused on the visual portrayal of my
experiences, I started by capturing the
transient, mundane moments that subtly fill our
lives, aiming to present life's wholeness through
art. This approach evolved into creating pieces
that reflect life's absurdity, using art not merely as
a memory capsule but as a medium to convey the emotions of those moments, thus celebrating time's flow rather than resisting it. Works like "Motion Blur" and "Secret Garden" exemplify this, capturing fleeting, overlooked moments, while "Now Firing" and "The Bear Necessities" inject humor to underline life's quirks.
In developing "Blooming Insanity," "The Kitchen," and "Seoul Flooding," I tapped into raw emotion and the ephemeral nature of time, moving away from realistic depictions towards capturing the essence of moments. The SAGEs series further explored human life's spectrum, keeping the
subject constant to highlight different life aspects.
"Landscape of Modern Domesticity" synthesized these
ideas into a single, complex piece that questions how
we perceive reality, aiming to make viewers reflect
on the nonsensical ways we often interpret our world.
My mission extends beyond reflection; I aspire to instill
laughter and satirical commentary on our existence,
making the fleeting moments of life more enjoyable.
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2023
Sage Gonzalez Arellano
2023
Sage Gonzalez Arellano
I explored gore and horror, and how I can
use those complex topics to experiment
technically and conceptually. I began very
broadly, looking at many different
perspectives, starting with gore. With every
piece I made, my investigation gained more
nuance: I started to look at invoking feelings of
fear, discomfort, awe, and even fascination. By the end, my investigation transformed into acknowledging the beauty in this inherently violent topic, for example in taking the typically visceral and horrifying, yet contrasting that by painting it to be beautiful and lively.
Throughout my entire investigation, I pushed myself to do things I had never seen done before–I combined my interesting concepts with unique, striking compositions and techniques. I took advantage of my chosen
mediums to do all kinds of styles–realistic,
expressive, and stylistic. Even when I
stayed focused on one medium, oil paint, I
built off the skills I developed with
each piece, and also used the same
techniques in other mediums. I
revisited many topics and pieces to
elevate them.
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2024
Grace Rodich
2024
Grace Rodich
Going into my senior year, I gained a
heightened appreciation for my childhood
and all of my years at home, as I
approached a different chapter of my
life. Diving back into my childhood allowed
me to draw both obvious and underlying
comparisons to my current point of view,
observing the various nuances in the process of growing up.
To properly tap into my childhood experiences, I investigated various mediums, textures, and colors. Additionally, I was driven by using compelling imagery to convey my ideas and overall investigation.
My investigation developed through my use of color and imagery to convey a cohesive nostalgic theme over my entire investigation. I studied different techniques used by notable artists which allowed me to become comfortable with making stylized pieces through utilizing underpainting techniques. By developing my
unique rendering style utilizing color through practice, I was able to create a cohesive look for my investigation and emphasize my nostalgic theme. This is evident in my acrylic and oil paintings, which feature bold colors and brushstrokes, as if through a child’s point of view.
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2024
Hazel Breyer
2024
Hazel Breyer
My theme began with the fascination of
mental illness and how I could portray and
convey aspects of emotions relating to
mental illness which led me to recognize and
understand that I was portraying and
conveying my own emotions. I found that
expressing myself not only became very therapeutic for me but led me to embrace and celebrate my thoughts; sharing my personal thoughts and feelings with others through my expressive and emotional pieces.
My work demonstrates my process of exploring and realizing mental illness through my sustained investigation; I am expressing my thoughts and feelings. I started to experiment with color, mark-making and drips to communicate a certain emotion or story. As I continued, I was able to use techniques to create expressive but also realistic pieces. I continuously gain more information on how to portray the idea of mental illness and allow others (and myself) to relive, celebrate, and find the beauty in my thoughts and feelings while concurrently creating exceptional expressive pieces.
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2024
Gracie Milano
2024
Gracie Milano
For my sustained investigation, I was guided
by the question: How does internal reality
differ from external reality? I wanted to
study how the way people saw themselves
differed from the way the outside world
saw them, but as I worked through the year
on these pieces, I discovered what I wanted to
know all along: How do I see myself? I wanted to experiment with different mediums to represent the ways I see myself in different instances, sometimes dark and unassuming, sometimes bright and welcoming, and even messy and confusing. This art led me to interpret what I see in the mirror each day.
I began with a piece called “Insignificance”, trying to convey the way I felt so small like I mean nothing in the world. This idea was very obvious, but I wanted to force people to attach their own meanings to aspects of my art. By the end of the year, I became deliberate with my choices in texture, medium, and background. I worked in my sketchbook and with studies to find ways to improve my pieces and compositions. My piece from more recently, “Trapped” shows my improvement in picking mediums, and working with texture and opacity, and represents feeling trapped in the persona I’ve created.
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2024
Kaitlyn Tanski
2024
Kaitlyn Tanski
Through experimentation with design
elements such as composition, color, shape,
and style, I have been investigating the many
ways time can be expressed through art. I
want people to look at my art and be able to
reflect on life, the passage of time, growth
and development, aging, deadlines, and the effect
time has on the world around them. I have used a variety of symbols both direct and more abstract to my theme, and communicated them in a variety of different mediums such as acrylic and oil paints, and oil pastels.
When creating the piece Bottomless, I had gotten pretty far into developing my underpainting and only realized I had gotten the proportions for the pose all wrong when there was already oil on the canvas. I was frustrated, but I chose to retake the photo and redraw and repaint it for the sake of a higher-quality piece. The piece Missing in Action was new territory for me, I had always covered every inch of my canvases and never had multiple mediums occupying a shared space. In the end, however, I think the mix of acrylic and oil aided in conveying the sense that the piece was left unfinished.
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