Summer Assignment for Advanced Placement 2D Art and Design

Summer Assignment for Advanced Placement 2D Art and Design

The Summer Assignment for Advanced Placement 2D Art and Design provides students with essential tasks to prepare their portfolios. It includes life drawing assignments, sketchbook tasks, and project options that encourage creativity and skill development. Students are guided to draw from life, utilize quality materials, and explore various artistic styles. This assignment is designed for AP Art students looking to enhance their artistic abilities and meet portfolio requirements effectively.

Key Points

  • Includes life drawing assignments emphasizing observational skills and value range.
  • Offers diverse project options, including self-portraits and still life compositions.
  • Encourages the use of quality materials and standard sizes for portfolio readiness.
  • Promotes exploration of various artistic styles and techniques through sketchbook assignments.
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AP Art 2D Summer Assignment 2021
Ms. Kayla Purcell (kpurcell@syrdiocese.org)
Summer Assignment for Advanced Placement 2D Art and Design
Summer assignments help alleviate the pressure during the school year of producing the many quality pieces needed for a
successful portfolio. There are 3 assignment categories for the summer: Sketchbook Assignments (10), Life Drawings (2),
and Projects (2). Completing more than the required pieces will only put you that much further ahead when school starts.
Helpful hints:
1. Draw directly from life instead of using reference photos, whenever possible. If you must use a photo, take your
own or use a photo from the public domain. Attach the photo to the back of the work.
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 the quality section of
your 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, which can be purchased from Barnes and Noble, Amazon, The Art Store, Michael’s. ***You do
not have to get the Canson brand, but I am REQUIRING YOU to have a black, hard bound sketchbook for AP
Art. Minimum size: 5.5” x 8”, maximum size 9”x 12”.
5. Use a variety of media, even combining them for mixed media.
6. 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.
7. Visit the AP Central website for the portfolio you are submitting often to see sample portfolios and to become
familiar with requirements.
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/studiodrawing
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/studio2d
8. Look at good art! Visit the local art centers, galleries, art museums, and art festivals. Take your sketch book with
you, and render the work as well as your response to it. It is a good thing to jot down your thinking process in
your sketch book as well as draw in it.
9. Read about art! Read art magazines, such as The Artist’s Magazine and International Artist. You will find these
in local libraries. Check out books about famous artists in the library while you are there. Study the images in
them.
10. Search the Internet for artists dealing with the same subject as you. Study their work, life history, and influences.
Part One: Life Drawings
Complete at least TWO of the following observational drawings. The AP Readers (Judges), as well as art schools love to
see a drawing made from life. Use charcoal or pencil. Spend the time needed to complete the work. Don’t just draw a
contour. Use a full range of values, with deep shadows and bright highlights to create form and depth. Use the entire page,
placing your focal points in the sweet spots, and running of the edges with your composition. Fill the paper up, using more
positive that empty space.
1. A self-portrait that expresses a specific mood. Think about the effects of color and how it conveys the individual
mood. You may use any style (realism, cubism, expressionism, etc.). Research online to study various artists’
self-portraits and their styles and techniques. Check out Van Gogh, Frieda Kahlo, and Rembrandt.
2. Still life that consists of 3 or more reflective objects. Set up the objects on a table, cover it with cloth, and place a
lamp near it to create dramatic lighting. Your goal is to convey a convincing representation. Render as accurately
as you can.
3. A drawing of an unusual interior – for example, looking inside of a closet, cabinet, refrigerator, inside your car,
under the car’s hood etc. Include as many details as you can.
4. A still-life of your family members’ shoes. You should include at least three shoes - go for interesting shapes,
design, texture, color. Place them in different positions,
5. A close-up drawing of a bicycle/tricycle from an unusual angle. Don’t just draw the bicycle from the side!
6. Buildings in a landscape: Do a drawing on location. Look for a building or spot in your neighborhood that is part
of your neighborhood’s identity. It could be a fire house, restaurant park, church or any other building or place
that you would miss seeing if it were torn down. Consider going to where you can sit on a bench and draw.
7. Expressive landscape: locate a landscape near your home or use a photograph that you have taken of a
landscape. Or, you can also use multiple sketches or photos of different landscapes to create a unique one. It is
best to work from an actual subject, so draw outdoors while looking at the actual landscape. Use expressive color
to draw. Check out the Fauvists or the Der Blaue Reiter to see expressive use of color at work.
8. Create a self-portrait, using your reflection in an unusual surface, something other than a normal mirror. This
could be a metal appliance (toaster, blender), a computer monitor, a broken or warped mirror, a car’s rear view
mirror, or tinted windows.
9. Public sculpture: design plans for a public artwork. Look at the work of Joan Miro, Claes Oldenburg, Louis
Bourgeois, Auguste Rodin, David Smith and more, for ideas of sculpture and installation art in the environment.
Make your project sketches similar to those that Christo prepares for his large-scale environmental installations.
See his most recent project: “The Gates” in Central Park, NYC. http://www.christojeanneclaude.net/tg.shtml
10. Café drawing (or any other local hangout): go to a place where you can sit and sketch for a long period of time.
Capture the essence of this place (local eatery/café, bookstore, mall, etc.) by drawing the people and places you
see.
11. Action portrait: have a friend or family member pose for you doing some sort of movement (jump roping,
walking, riding a bike, walking down stairs, etc.). Capture the entire sequence of their action in one piece of
artwork. How will you portray movement in your work? Look at “Nude Descending a Staircase” by Dada artist
Marcel Duchamp, as well as the work of Futurist artists Giacomo Balla or F.T. Marinetti. Check out the
photographic motion studies by Muybridge.
Part Two: Projects
Choose at least TWO of the projects to create. You may choose any media or combination of media, including traditional
painting and drawing media, collage, photography, or digital art. Photographs and digital art must be printed out. Start
your project by developing each idea in your sketchbook. Plan your composition with big shapes, value/color contrasts,
scale relationships, point of view, and lighting. Make use of the elements of art and principles of design with intentions.
Plan it out! Solutions need to be fresh and unique instead of obvious, predictable, and trite.
1. Create a series of 3 new artworks around a theme of your choosing. Consider this a mini concentration. Look at
artists who worked in series, such as James Ensor, Andy Warhol, Stella, Mondrian, Matisse, and Picasso.
2. Create a comic strip about a social issue. All characters must be original. Include text and color.
3. Create a photomontage, using Photoshop if necessary. Research Barbara Kruger, David Hockney.
4. Using media of your choice, design a CD cover for an imaginary musician or group, or for any local band that
you personally know. It must be totally original and be packaged in a plastic CD case.
5. Research and create a Pop-inspired work incorporating personal symbols or words. Research the art of Andy
Warhol, Robert Indiana and Ed Ruscha, as well as their photography.
6. Create an artwork that illustrates a story or a person from the Bible. Research contemporary artist Kehinde
Wiley’s work, Rembrandt’s many biblical scenes, and James Tissot’s prophet series.
7. Create a colorful design for a handbag or other item of clothing. Research Tina Turk’s bags, as well as the
psychedelic art movement.
8. Create an off-beat portrait of a family member/friend using thick bold outlines and arbitrary colors, using paint
and/or oil pastels. If you use a photo, draw on top of it with oil pastels. Research van Gogh, Gauguin, and Georges
Rouault.
9. Create a new, artsy label for a real can of food. Use a social issue as a theme. Visit the website
http://artandsocialissues.cmaohio.org/ to see how other artists dealt with social issues.
10. Photograph details: close-ups of faces, architectural details, textural surfaces, interesting lighting and
compositions. Check out the photographer Simon Lewis, Diane Arbus, and Annie Leibovitz.
Part Three: Sketchbook Assignments
In addition to using your sketch to plan your projects, you must complete 10 sketches and spend approximately 30
minutes per idea. Sketchbooks should display forethought, good composition, exceptional craftsmanship, have mature
subject matter (avoid trite, overused symbols). These sketchbook assignments should be finished drawings. Choose from
this list or create your own ideas for your 10 sketches (you can do more!)
1. Pile of pillows •
2. Fabric with pattern •
3. Look up words you do not know and illustrate their meanings
4. View from a car mirror
5. What was for dinner
6. Laundry day
7. Glass bottles
8. Shoes
9. Create a texture surface and draw on it
10. Sink with dishes in it and soapy water
11. Yourself in 15 years
12. Abstract drawing of a building
13. Opposites
14. Forced perspective
15. Draw something submerged
Photographic/ Design Sketches (if you think you will include photography within your portfolio)
1. Self Portraits & Portraiture (unique, great straight & altered) –
2. Natures Light (sunlight, sunset, dawn, reflections… sky paintings)
3. Family Documentary (telling a story) -Macro Photography (up close & personal… subjects optional)
4. Reflecting Worlds (multiple views through reflected surfaces)
5. Worm’s eye View (Unique angles & perspectives)
6. Bird’s eye view
7. Long Exposure Experiments (Light painting, ghosting, night works… use tripod if needed)
8. On The Streets, Over the River, In the Woods (travels, backyards… where ever you go)
9. An exploration of patterns and designs found in nature and/or culture
10. A series of works that begins with representational interpretations and evolves into abstraction
11. A series of landscapes based upon personal experience of a particular place
12. Design and execution of an original children’s book\\
13. Abstractions developed from cells and other microscopic images
14. Interpretive portraiture or figure studies that emphasize dramatic composition
15. A personal or family history communicated through symbols, imagery or metaphorical objects only
16. Any Social/Political Issue
17. The Family Portrait
18. Colors I’ve Never Seen Before
19. Unique Perspectives
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FAQs of Summer Assignment for Advanced Placement 2D Art and Design

What types of life drawing assignments are included?
The assignment includes at least two observational life drawings, such as a self-portrait that expresses a specific mood and a still life with reflective objects. Students are encouraged to use charcoal or pencil and to explore a full range of values to create depth and form. The emphasis is on drawing from life rather than photographs to enhance observational skills.
What are the project options for the AP 2D Art and Design assignment?
Students can choose from various project options, including creating a series of artworks around a chosen theme or designing a CD cover for an imaginary musician. Other projects involve creating a comic strip about a social issue or a photomontage. Each project allows students to explore different media and artistic concepts, fostering creativity and personal expression.
How many sketchbook assignments are required?
Students are required to complete at least ten sketchbook assignments, spending approximately 30 minutes on each idea. These assignments should reflect forethought and good composition, covering a range of topics from everyday objects to abstract concepts. The sketchbook serves as a planning tool for their artwork and a space for experimentation.
What is the significance of using quality materials in the assignments?
Using quality materials is crucial for achieving good results in art. The assignment specifies the use of at least 80 lb white drawing paper and stretched canvases for painting. Quality materials not only enhance the final artwork but also encourage students to take their work seriously and develop their artistic skills effectively.

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