These 12th Grade Art students have been busy refining their skills and developing their ideas. Several had submitted and AP Art and Design portfolio last year and so were familiar with the expectations of the course and were able to work very independently. Despite missing nearly three months of studio time because of the pandemic, they still did a great job with limited materials and media and completed their work within the deadline that was set for them. You can see range of work and approaches is varied and shows each student's individual attitude to art-making.
Mathilde C: 2-D Portfolio
I have always had a passion for horse riding, however, as I grew up, I discovered a technique called natural horsemanship which completely changed my perspective on horse riding. Instead of using equipment to micro-manage the horse, I learned to communicate and bond with the horse to ride as one. In today’s society, the majority of riders use a maximum of equipment such as different sorts of bits, spurs, whips, and ropes to force the horse to perform certain movements. Although an outsider may not have even questioned these techniques, I wanted to focus my sustained investigation on what the horses may experience and the control that is inflicted on them. My art pieces show the ways in which control is imposed on horses and how our treatment of them is dominating and exploiting them. I have used processes such as drawing and combined these with printmaking in order to create contrasts between the colors being used and, therefore, emphasize certain aspects of the control in the piece. In addition, I have also used different compositions to create a repetitive and chaotic atmosphere to depict an overwhelming feeling which is often caused by cruelty.
Mathilde C.
Sofia S: 2-D Portfolio
The investigation, "Comfort", explores intangible, abstract sensations through figurative art. Themes revolving around experiences that are distinctively human. Specifically, the comfort we find in each other, through an exchange of vulnerability. This force cannot be physically seen or touched, however, this series attempts to represent it through visual art. My sustained investigation shows evidence of practice, experimentation and revision by taking into account my concept whilst planning. The imagery, mediums, size and other technicalities will all work together to support my concept. The process of making a piece isn’t always the same, but consists of brainstorming, thinking, drafting, redrafting, selecting and refining. After, I may even go back and revisit one of the steps and work from there again. Sofia S.
Nina R: 2-D Portfolio
My portfolio concentrated on common fears that people have, and how these fears would present themselves if they were physical entities.
The portfolio explores fears that I have not experienced, as well as ones that I have. The phobias included in this piece are sociophobia, fear of illness, fear of injury, and the three “main characters” of arachnophobia, agoraphobia, and achluophobia (fear of the dark), as well as an additional, human character, The Victim, who is plagued by his fears and prays for them to be taken away. The portfolio includes two ink drawings intended to appear as encyclopedia pages of agoraphobia and achluophobia, including descriptions of the phobia, and two signicant side details taken from the character costumes. Additionally are the two masks of arachnophobia, and achluophobia made of papier-mache and painted with acrylic paint. They were placed in two separate boxes which I put together, before glueing transparent articles about phobia to the inside. Finally is the acrylic stage painting, which is intended to depict the characters as if they were in a play. red lighting and a spotlight are used to emphasize that the piece is intended to depict a stage.
Nina R.
Greg G: Drawing Portfolio
How can I explore nostalgic childhood memories that are faded and broken?
In order to explore the idea of memory and nostalgia I collected photos of myself, my family, my travels and my experiences from my childhood. I then used these images to create work using media that reflected the broken and faded memories. This choice of media such as print making or pencil and eraser shows a glimpse of these memories whilst also hiding other parts of them by leaving them absent which can then be used as a metaphor for how these memories are faded and broken. The pieces themselves reflect memory and nostalgia through showing the phases of life. For example, in one image you can see a young version of myself proudly holding a sword, showing the imagination and spritely manner of a young child, whilst in another you can see a rather blank expression and a dark background which shows the opposite, showing the bipolar nature of a young child. Greg G.
Aliya L: 2-D Portfolio
I want to explore the turbulent process of growing up and maturity and represent a story about a cat that has suddenly transformed into the body of a human and struggles to live in their new form, especially in terms of gender.
They experience and even perpetuate increasingly toxic relationships as they struggle with their identity and become disillusioned. I would like to tell the story through sequences of images, which show the different facets of the story. My sustained investigation shows experimentation through my numerous brainstorms and concept sketches that happened before each piece. Experimenting with color, composition, and materials throughout the investigation helped me gain a better understanding of how to plan a complex piece. I regularly consulted my original brainstorms and revised my images to best tell the story and stick to themes. I explored some symbolism through the animals and imagery, and used an exaggerated, colorful, wiggly style to communicate emotion. I successfully developed the story enough to give side characters their own stories, because although the story is told from the cat's perspective, the world around them is equally relevant.
Aliya L.
Gabriella D: Drawing Portfolio
I question the effects that unattainable beauty standards have on people and whether ignoring those societal ideals can make people happier.
Through drawing I want to capture the feeling of being cast outside the realm of what is considered “beautiful” by society’s definition, and express the suffering of being forced to conform to a box that is both damaging and unrealistic. Being contorted and forced to fix an ideal that is unreachable can feel painful, and these pieces concentrate around the feeling of being metaphorically distorted and restricted to t an ideal that is forever out of reach.
Gabriellla D.
Michael T-O
My sustained investigation inquiry is an attempt to represent the complexities of the abstract feeling of depression through 3d forms using different structures with paper and other materials. My main question revolving around the fact that with depression there is always two sides to things as it is often hard to identify amongst individuals as it seems to be hidden in people's facades and everyday lives. So my aim is to represent this issue with emphasis on mirroring and contrast as the main theme revolving around the social human issue.By using mirrored and contrasting structures I believe I can shed light on the societal issue.For instance in my fifth, third and second piece I have used pieces of foamcore cut out from the same batch in order to try and achieve equilibrium within the pieces and the structure as a whole.
Michael T-O
Lee S: AP Drawing Portfolio
I investigate the concept of sequential art through the mediums of story boards and 2D animation, analysing the various components that make for an effective and coherent sequence of images which progress through time to convey movement and/or narrative.
My work concerns itself with iconic character design, the 12 principles of animation, sense of time progression, creating believable movement and/or character acting/expression, and environment design. Through experimentation, concept art, character design, and the progression of animated projects, my work displays an investigation into creating believable and visually engaging frame-by-frame character animation. My works also demonstrate an investigation into how to effectively convey animated works as still .JPG files whilst preserving their original sense of movement and ow. Taking advantage of modern digital art programs such as Clip Studio Paint and TV Paint 11, I am able to efficiently and independently create fluid character animation, refining my skills to develop my own individual styles and techniques that will further bolster my portfolio and artistic career.