AP Art Drawing Course Study Guide

AP Art Drawing: Course Study Guide Creator’s Note: The vocabulary will look very similar to each other and multiple terms will have similar definitions, and some terms are even interchangeable. The AP Art and Design Course and Exam Description itself, which is what this guide was directly taken from, is incredibly repetitive in itself. Do not get bogged down on memorizing the vocabulary, as this is NOT tested on the exam. What is important is understanding these terms and allowing them to guide the creation of your work, and how you describe your work to the readers. Using these terms in your description can help your readers gain a better understanding of how you created the piece(s). Remember - your work is what is being interpreted and graded, NOT your memorization skills. Also, it is important to note that the process of creating art is a very fluid, creative process and there is no “right” or “wrong” work as it is up to interpretation, so these terms do overlap as nothing is really “strictly” defined. Big Idea 1: Investigate Materials, Processes, and Ideas Main Goals: ● Shaping the experiences that contributed to the art piece ● Understanding the intention in the placement of specific elements in the piece ● Carefully selecting the specific materials required for the piece ● Applying the various principles of art to establish a cohesive piece ● Connecting your artwork to existing design traditions and well-studied concepts and techniques ● Skillfully utilizing practiced various techniques in different portions of the piece ● Evaluating pieces of work based on multiple components ● Critiquing your own work and the work of others with constructive criticism Essential Vocabulary: Experience - an event or occurrence, interactions with different environments, interactions with abstract and tangible environments and concepts ● Ex: A trip to the cherry blossom forests of Japan can inspire you to create a certain piece. A dream can motivate you to create a specific character. Abstract Concepts - an idea or concept that is imaginative or unable to “pin” down in real life/settings, not able to be explained by scientific terms ● Ex: Emotions such as anger, happiness, sadness that you want to evoke in your piece. Tangible Concepts - Something that is able to be seen, felt, touched, or heard in real life settings, a very clear, definite concept ● Ex: You want to paint a mountain landscape of the Black Hills in South Dakota. Observation - The visible components and understandable portions of a piece of work ● Ex: If you paint a castle, you can make an observation that you used a lot of texture in one portion of the castle. Perception - an understanding of an event or concept and the awareness of the situation, the action behind making an observation ● Ex: You can perceive the background of the piece and be aware of the various components of it. Documentation - the act of recording a piece of information through material samples, images, writing, video, and other sharing formats, used to collect feedback upon a piece of work. Your documentation as a rough draft can be presented as part of your sustained investigation or to your viewers, even though it is not the finished work. ● Ex: Documenting a piece of artwork you made by taking a picture of it and posting it on social media. Viewers - the people who look at and respond to the work ● Ex: As the artist, you are also a viewer of your work because you are observing it. Interpretation - the personal, emotional meaning behind a work based on an individual’s experiences and perspectives ● Ex: You can interpret an image of fire as the depiction of something dangerous, while someone else can interpret the same image as the source of life and warmth. Feedback - the responses and/or constructive criticism of a piece of work, can be formal or informal, structured or unstructured, can be given through written or verbal commentary, non-verbal communication (such as physical reaction) ● Ex: Your teacher can give you positive feedback on a piece of work you did well. Investigation - Engaging the mind to interpret and understand a piece of work through visual analysis and inferencing ● Ex: Conducting an in-depth analysis to understand why Da Vinci used certain colors in painting the Mona Lisa Sustained investigation - Rigorous in-depth study of the materials, processes, and ideas used in a piece over time, it considers the holistic evaluation of the piece beyond what is tangible and the emotional, conceptual intentions behind a work ● Ex: Fully understanding the intention behind using specific materials, what emotion you want to evoke with specific patterns or strokes, receiving and acting upon viewer feedback, etc. Question - an inquiry or phrase used to provoke thought and learn information. Questions can be prompted by asking “who”, “what”, “where”, “when”, “why”, and “how”. Ex: How did the artist employ darker values to create the forms and muscles of the lion’s face? Curiosity - a desire to learn further about a piece and continue to discover new information. ● Ex: In this metal engraving of a turtle, you can see that the artist uses a golden type of metal. What type of metal is it? Why did they use this specific metal? Was it the type of metal most accessible, or was there a deeper intention behind it? Description - the verbal or written statement of a work that captures the piece’s overall message, stylistic elements, and meaning in a few sentences or paragraphs. Ex: (Name of work) was made by (author name) on (date of creation). The piece was inspired by (inspiration, experiences, etc.) and symbolizes (meaning, message). Conversation 1. Can include a physical conversation, as in speaking to someone else regarding the piece. 2. Placing the piece in “conversation” with other pieces in various genres, mediums, concepts, art styles, by comparing and contrasting the two or more pieces ● Ex: Compared to piece 2, piece 1 has more vibrant colors and richer detail. Research - Understanding and exploring the work of different artists working in different fields or disciplines to help you develop understanding of art. ● Ex: Looking at the sculpture of David by Michaelangelo to observe how marble was carved into sculpture. Direct research - Communicating directly with the artists themselves to understand their intentions behind a specific piece and their interpretation of it. ● Ex: Speaking with Michaelangelo (if you could travel back in time, of course) on why he used specific materials or specific colors in a section of the Sistine Chapel. Indirect research - Examining a piece of work and interpreting it using your own views or perspectives, or learning from someone else (besides the artist) what the work might mean or why something was used in a specific way. ● Ex: Discussing with your teacher what inspired Vincent Van Gogh to paint Starry Night. Experimentation - Exploring new ideas, techniques, principles, technologies, methods, and/or different aspects, extending beyond your comforts as an artist. Experimentation does not have to be dramatic, it can just be something new that you’re trying to get a feel for. ● Ex: If you usually do paintings of realism, you can try to create a more organic, abstract piece to go beyond your comfort zone. Components - The different materials, shapes, parts, processes, and ideas in a work. ● Ex: A major component of the piece American Gothic by Grant Wood features the male figure holding a pitchfork. Context - the emotional background of a piece that discusses the information of “who”, “what”, “when”, “why” and “how” the work was created and the situation in which it was viewed by a particular audience. Context changes a viewer’s interpretation of the work by providing richer detail into the intentions behind the work. ● Ex: English painter Henry Wallis’ 1856 work Chatterton depicts the glorified suicide of 18th century Romantic poet Thomas Chatterton, who tragically poisoned himself at the age of seventeen with a vial of arsenic. Wallis painted the suicide of Thomas Chatterton to romanticize the classic ideal of the misunderstood “starving artist”, a talented young man whose artistic potential was tragically overlooked and lost too soon. Physical context - the physical location of the piece itself ● Ex: The Mona Lisa is housed in the Louvre Museum in Paris. The Louvre is a historical landmark that houses some of the world’s greatest collections of art. The fact that it houses the Mona Lisa only adds to its importance. Historical context - the historical situation, events, or external circumstances occurring during the time the piece was created that influenced the creation of the work ● Ex: This is Pablo Picasso’s 1937 painting Guernica. It was inspired by the bloodshed of the Spanish Civil War, and the German and Italian bombing of the Spanish town of Guernica. It was one of the first times an aerial bombing targeted civilians. Biographical context - the character and personality, as well as biographic events, of the artist that impacted the inspiration or creation of the work ● Ex: Salvador Dali was suspected of having schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, which influenced his outrageous and surrealistic work, and could explain his fascination with incorporating Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis theory in his work. Pictured is Dali’s Soft Construction with Boiled Beans (1936). Culture - the shared social human behavior, artistic and intellectual attributes and achievements, and traditions, of different groups and civilizations in American history. Art is a dynamic process that is constantly being inspired and changed by different techniques and cultures around the world. ● Ex: A very popular form of marbling art is the Japanese technique of suminagashi, that inspires many abstract art pieces. In modern society, the suminagashi technique looks similar to paint marbling or geode rock art with its marbling layers. Referencing - the documentation of inspiration from different techniques, artists, or cultures ● Ex: If your piece of work is inspired by the work of Norman Rockwell and you try to emulate his style of work but include your perspectives and experiences in the piece, it is important to establish your credibility as an artist by crediting the influence of Rockwell (in the piece description or where the opportunity is presented). Evaluation - judging the piece and work evidence provided on a specific criteria and scoring guidelines. Your piece is evaluated as a whole considering all the components, materials, inspirations, ideas, and intentions behind it, focusing on one component and understanding the connections between this singular component and the other components in the piece, how strong or weak, loose or clear the connections are between components, the usage of skills and techniques, and how strong or weak the skills and techniques are demonstrated. ● Ex: The AP Art Drawing portfolio is evaluated on the basis of quality and the depth of the connections established between the various components in the piece. Spontaneous selection - the selection of materials based on experimentation, exploration, curiosity, or interest without a particular focus on a specific question or idea. ● Ex: For my AP Art Drawing portfolio, I decided to experiment with scratchboard etching as it was an unfamiliar material I was interested in testing out, but had no prior experience with. ← (One of the pieces I submitted.) Strategic selection - the selection of materials based on careful decision and focus, prior experience, or with a particular goal or question in mind. ● Ex: If you are well-versed in sculpture making, you may stick to clay as you are good at it and you have a specific goal you want to accomplish with the techniques you have learned in your sculpture-making experience. Inherent attributes - observable, tangible aspects that artists consider in their piece, real-life objects. ● Ex: A still life of kitchen objects and food that you directly draw from as you create the piece. Interpreted attributes - abstract, emotional concepts, such as cultural experiences or perspectives, emotions or rough ideas, that the artist considers in their piece . ● Ex: An abstract piece an artist creates could be inspired by the emotions anger, rage, frustration, and uncontrollable temper. Connotation - A feeling or emotion that a subject or piece invokes in addition to its tangible, literal components ● Ex: In a literal sense, this is just a painting of a kitten, but beyond that, the piece evokes emotions of comfort, warmth, adoration, and happiness. Purpose or intention - the motivation behind the piece, the need that the author wanted the piece to fulfill, why did you make this? ● If you paint a Black Lives Matter mural, your purpose is to strengthen the cause of uplifting and protecting black lives and protesting police brutality. Big Idea 2: Make Art and Design Main Ideas: ● Establishing and utilizing essential principles and elements of art and design in your work ● Creating a series of questions or concepts you want to answer or fulfill through your work ● Experimenting with different techniques beyond your comfort zone ● Practicing known strategies to improve technique ● Learning and drawing inspiration from other artists and cultures to create work ● Carefully selecting the proper materials, tools, and processes needed to create the work ● Conceptualizing and visualizing the concepts, emotions, and feelings you want to place in your work ● Anticipating the reaction of your viewers and what sentiments you want to evoke from them The Elements of Art and Design: LINE - A one-dimensional figure with length, includes horizontal, vertical, diagonal, straight, curved, zig-zagged, thick, thin, long, short, etc. lines ● Ex: In Woman with A Book by Pablo Picasso, Picasso uses many thick and thin lines, such as the squiggly line in the sleeve of the woman’s dress SHAPE - an enclosed, two-dimensional area made of a line, includes geometric or organic shapes, large or small shapes, etc. ● Ex: In Cubism - 1937 by Pablo Picasso, Picasso uses several shapes, such as the oval for the figure’s eyes, a curved semi circle for the figure’s nails. FORM - a three-dimensional figure that occupies length, width, height, and volume in the space of the piece, includes spheres, pyramids, cubes, prisms, etc. ● Ex: The temple in this piece appears as a three-dimensional figure with length, width, and height and occupies volume in the dimensions of the piece SPACE - the area inside and outside objects, also refers to the illusion of depth and dimension in a piece, positive space is the occupied space by an object, while negative space is the displaced or external space surrounding an object ● Ex: In Bedroom in Arles by Vincent Van Gogh, Van Gogh establishes depth in the space and the bed and other objects occupy positive space, while the surrounding “air” is negative space COLOR - the reflection of light from an object, color includes many aspects such as hue (the specified color), the value (the lightness or darkness), or the intensity (the saturation of brightness or dullness) ● In this pop art piece, there are many different colors utilized. The hues in the top left are green, pink, purple, and yellow and the saturation of the colors is very bright. TEXTURE - the surface quality that can be seen and/or felt by the viewer, includes rough, smooth, bumpy, silky, scaly, gravely, etc. ● Ex: In Fighting dogs getting wind by Sir Edwin Henry Landseer, you can see the texture of the dog’s fur The Principles of Art and Design: The criteria used to determine how spacial elements will be arranged in a piece of work. Also, the principles serve as criteria to evaluate the work on its understanding and usage of them, and act as a tool to gauge consistency between “good” and “bad” works of art. PATTERN - the arrangement of components in a repetitive or non-repetitive sequence. Can be a sequence of dark and light values, objects, textures, etc. ● Ex: In this painting by Pablo Picasso, Picasso employs a striped pattern in the figure’s shirt and sleeves BALANCE - The distribution and weight of components in the piece of work, the centered-ness of the piece. ● Ex: The blue-gray of the sea, the black- brown of the boat and people, and the brown-tangray of the sky is balanced in this piece to fit with each other. EMPHASIS - placing stress or importance on specific components of a piece of work, what your eye is immediately drawn to in the piece ● Ex: In the piece, the moon is what the viewer first pays attention to due to its contrast with the darkness of the surroundings CONTRAST - the differences and opposing components of the piece, which can include color, texture, shapes, light and dark, level of detail, etc. ● Ex: The bright yellow of the lemon contrasts with the pale lavender of the carpet. The dented, rough textured surface of the lemon contrasts with the soft, wispy tufts of the carpet. HARMONY AND UNITY - how all the various components work together to make a cohesive piece, it follows a logical progression or relationship and the piece is clearly thought out to fit together ● Ex: This is Claude Monet’s The Water Lily Pond. Although there are multiple components in the piece, they work together to create a peaceful scenery. VARIETY - the differences and ranges of objects, textures, colors, etc. to include a wide spectrum of aspects in a piece, ensures that the piece is not too similar or homogeneous ● Ex: In Vincent Van Gogh’s Wheat Field with Cypresses, there are a variety of shades of blue and bluegreens in the sky that make the piece more complex. MOVEMENT - how the piece establishes the illusion of flowing motion, moving the eye across the page ● Breezing Up (A Fair Wind) by Winslow Homer demonstrates movement through the angled brush strokes in the waves and the angling of the boat, creating the illusion of the boat violently rocking on a high tide PROPORTION - the relative comparison of the sizes of parts in the piece, depicting the relative sizes of parts to be as real as possible. ● The Knitting Woman by William-Adolphe Bouguereau features a woman knitting under a tree. The woman is depicted with accurate proportions, as her torso, arms, head, and legs, work together and are the proper relative size to each other to form the image of a human. SCALE - the relative comparison of the sizes of whole objects in the piece, the comparison of figures in a setting. Unlike proportion, scale focuses on the comparison of sizes on objects in the piece as a whole, while proportion focuses on the comparison of the sizes of parts in a singular object. ● The man in the Man of Sorrows by William Dyce is sized correctly in comparison to the larger surroundings, which are the rocks Essential Vocabulary: Practice - the repeated process of using a specific material, technique, skill, or idea over time. ● Ex: You continue to practice your color pastel blending to make the blending as smooth as possible. Revision - purposefully making a change in a piece to bring the actual work to the the state of the desired work, includes spontaneous and methodical revisions Spontaneous revision - making a quick change during the creation of a piece ● Ex: such as fixing a sudden mistake you made or quickly adding another brushstroke of red and orange paint Methodical revision - making a calculated and well-reasoned change after evaluating the piece ● Ex: If this was your piece, maybe after evaluating it, you decide that there should be a greater variety of pinks and reds in the flowers Synthesis - the process of relating, connecting, and integrating different components of the work to create one collective piece ● Ex: The painter might have made sure to synthesize the crowd of people to create the effect of a giant group of people fighting. 2-D skills: the usage of two-dimensional elements and principles, which include: ● Point, Line, Shape, Plane, Layer, Form, Space ● Texture, Color, Value, Opacity, Transparency ● Time, Unity, Variety, Rhythm, Movement ● Proportion, Scale, Balance, Emphasis ● Contrast, Repetition, Figure/Ground Relationship ● Connection, Juxtaposition, Hierarchy ○ Ex: The painting demonstrates skills of lines, shape, plane, layers, form, space, value, proportion, contrast, etc. Note: Your AP Art Drawing piece can include an elevated or three-dimensional component as long as it is part of the rest of the 2-D piece 3-D skills: the use of three-dimensional techniques and principles, which include: ● Point, Line, Shape, Plane ● Layer, Form, Space, Volume, Mass, Occupied/Unoccupied Space ● Texture, Color, Value, Opacity, Transparency ● Time, Unity, Variety, Rhythm, Movement ● Proportion, Scale, Balance, Emphasis ● Contrast, Repetition, ● Connection, Juxtaposition, Hierarchy ○ Ex: The sculpture has line, shape, form, space, volume, mass, occupied and unoccupied space, movement, proportion, repetition, connection, etc. Drawing skills: the usage of skillful mark-making and placing a greater emphasis on lines, surface, space, light and dark, and overall composition ● Ex: In this piece, the artist heavily uses line as the total piece is a single-line drawing. Despite only using one line, the figure still occupies most of the surface and space, and the crowding of lines creates depth and the illusion of light and dark values. Subject - the visible components, the main idea or objects that the viewer sees ● Ex: In this painting, the subject is Jesus Christ’s crucifixion. That is clearly the main idea and focus of the piece, and it is clear that it was also the artist’s intent behind it. Most pieces will not be as clear to interpret as this, but this is a good example of a very distinct subject. Naturalistic - an image that is very realistic and natural, follows elements of realism or is directly true to life ● Ex: This portrait is clearly drawn from a photograph of a real person and copied directly to create the sense of realism in the work. Representation - interpreting or taking a component from another work or societal theme and incorporating it in your own work ● Ex: Angel dress from American Progress (1872 ) - John Gast (left) ● Ex: Angel dress from Virgin of the Angels (1881) - William Bouguereau (right) Both are inspired by and represent the popularized image of a heavenly image with the flowing dress and long golden hair. Iconography - The popular usage of symbols and signs to represent figures, movements, objects, emotions, etc. ● Ex: In Christian art, the halo is a symbol of divinity, purity, and enlightenment above others. It is popularly used in images of Jesus Christ and other religious art. Medium - the material that the art is created out of. Examples of mediums include: ● Paints ● Chalk ● Color pencils or crayons ● Graphite pencils or charcoal pencils/sticks ● Ink or marker ● Clay, plaster of paris, papier mache, etc. ● Newspapers, photographs, magazines, etc. ● Metal, wire, etc. ○ Ex: This bunny is sculpted with papier mache. Pigment - the particles or components that make color, the color also relates to the saturation of color in a medium. You can compare the pigmentation of a color by comparing it to a mark of the same size of a different color. ● Ex: If a color-pencil has a highly pigmented blue, that means that the color pencil is blue, and for each mark of the color pencil, there is a high concentration/saturation of the specific blue pigment. Chiaroscuro - strong contrasts between light and dark in an image to achieve the illusion of form/three-dimensionality ● Ex: The heavy contrast between lights and dark adds to the focus on the woman and the forms in the piece Big Idea 3: Present Art and Design Main Ideas: ● Determining and making choices about how to present your work ● Thinking about how placement affects viewer interpretation ● Understanding the concepts of materials, processes, and ideas and how to describe work in those terms ● Identifying the questions that guided your work ● Identifying the concepts and inspirations that guided your work ● Demonstrating how your work was a dynamic process that underwent experimentation beyond your comfort zone, multiple revisions, and practice of various techniques and styles ● Illustrating a storyline of connection through your work ● Explaining the various relations and connections in the piece as a whole Materials - the physical, tangible substances that artists use to create their piece of work ● Ex: In this scratchboard piece, the artist used a piece of scratchboard, X-ACTO knives, scratchboard tools, and india ink (for patching errors) Processes - the physical and conceptual activities and techniques involved with making the work of art ● Ex: Watercolor requires careful practice and skillful technique, as the process of painting can involve wetting the paper and painting overtop, but the saturation of water and paint needs to be carefully calculated. Ideas - the concepts used to make the works of art Ex: You can take a photograph of a bird you saw at a local park, and your idea is to make a semi-abstract watercolor portrait of the bird. Written description - identifying the materials, processes, and ideas utilized in the piece through strong connections between components and highlighting the deeper meanings behind the visible aspects ● Ex: From College Board: If you draw with a burnt stick and piece of paper to represent a message about burning trees, instead of calling it “drawing”, call it “foraging, recycling, burning, and observational drawing” instead. Comparison - describing the similarities and differences between two different components in a piece, or two different pieces, or two things ● Ex: The left side of the piece is lighter than the right side, providing an element of contrast. Tips to Submit the Portfolio Fine Art Photography: ● Camera does not have to be expensive or professional, but it must be in good workable condition to take a quality photograph of your work (phone camera, small handheld camera, etc.) ● If you are using a professional camera, the settings are important to manage. The ISO is your camera’s sensitivity to light, so the greater the ISO, the coarser the light. A lower ISO of around 100 is recommended. ● Hang up the piece on a neutral-colored (black, white, gray) wall and take the picture directly a few feet away. Taking a photograph of an artwork mounted on the wall allows for better lighting and reduces overhead shadows from your body or your camera. ● Photograph in a room with plenty of natural light. If you are inside, try to open up the windows, or go outside during different weather conditions to get unique lighting patterns, if you would like. Art can be best photographed during indirect sunlight, so when it is cloudy is preferred. ○ If there is no natural light available, you can also use artificial light. You can place angled white sheets between you and the camera to reflect the light towards the piece. ○ Another artificial light technique is using light bulb lamps and angling them 45 degrees between the piece and the camera towards the wall. ○ There are also multiple iPhone apps that can simulate artificial light and increase the illumination indoors. ● If a piece is too dark, edit it to raise the vibrancy and the exposure. On iPhone cameras, the default setting darkens the surroundings and white objects appear closer to gray than white. By raising the exposure, you can accurately capture the bright aspects of your piece. ● Angle your camera correctly to capture the proportions you intended for the piece. Different camera angles can completely distort the piece and can even skew pattern and color appearance. Using the “Grid” feature on your iPhone camera can allow you to better align your camera to the parameters of the piece and take a straight picture. ● Make sure you take the picture from a reasonable distance. The curved lens of the iPhone can start to curve the edges of the picture if you are too close, so if you are far away enough, you can reduce the curvature and align the piece to be as straight as possible. ● Only capture the photo and include as very little background as possible through your cropping process. If you’ve matted a piece, which is to mount the piece on a board behind it, you want to still crop out the matting and submit only the art on the portfolio. ● Use a tripod if possible, as it largely minimizes the blur from shaky hand movement or external forces, like wind. There are bluetooth triggers attached to many tripods that you can purchase, so you don’t even need to touch the phone. Portfolio Tips: ● The AP Art Drawing portfolio consists of two components: the selected works and the sustained investigation. ○ Selected works consist of 40% of the total score and are 5 selected works that are physically sent in to the College Board via a provided mailing envelope. ○ Sustained investigation consists of 60% of the total score and is 12 digital images of works of art that are uploaded to the College Board AP Art and Design portfolio. Selected Works: ● These works are five (5) of your most masterful works that you believe are best represented in-person. ● These works do not have to be related by theme, medium, or any constraints, but works can be fully-related, only partially-related, or not related at all. ● Works in the selected works section can be also submitted in the Sustained Investigation section, so in total you only need 15 works if you prefer. However, it is recommended that you make 15+ in total with 5 that are your best to submit, and the rest to be digitally submitted for more variety. ● Each work that is physically submitted has a prompt that the student must answer about the piece. The prompts often ask about the student’s mastery of the skills applied, and their synthesis of materials, processes, and ideas. ○ The first prompt asks about the ideas visually evident in each piece. The maximum character count is 100 characters. This is less opportunity to share than a Tweet, so every single word must be skillfully chosen. ○ The second prompt asks about the materials used. The maximum character count is 100 characters. ○ The third prompt asks about the processes used. The maximum character count is 100 characters. ● Prompt responses are not evaluated on the basis of grammar (punctuation, spelling, proper tense) or style, but rather their ability to convey the artist’s intended message. Prompt messages can be incomplete sentences and phrases if the artist wishes. ● All work must be completely independent and if there was any assistance, the assistance must be minimal and the student must have been given full decision-making opportunity. ● The selected works section concentrates mostly in Unit 2 and partially Unit 3. Sustained Investigation: ● An in-depth investigation of a particular theme or topic over a period of time, with 12 works. ● Focused around a central concentration and guided questions that help to answer the concentration ● The inquiry can discuss any topic they wish and can be lead by any means the student wishes ● Sustained Investigation emphasizes experimentation and incorporating more new ideas than Selected Works ● There is one large prompt for the entire Sustained Investigation that the student has to answer with a written component, and individual smaller prompts that the student has to answer with written components. ● The written component is 1200 characters maximum and must discuss how the artist used the techniques of practice, experimentation, and revision to improve their work. The written component must also include the questions that the artist sought to answer, and what answers they collected through their investigation. ● For each piece, the artist has to answer questions regarding the materials, processes, and size, similar but not same to the Selected Works. ○ The first prompt asks about the materials used. The maximum character count is 100 characters. ○ The second prompt asks about the processes used. The maximum character count is 100 characters. ○ The third prompt asks about the size in inches (length x width x height). ● Students can also include a documentation of their own ideas as part of their sustained concentration. Documentation can include notes taken, rough drafts, rough sketches, incomplete projects, etc. For these submissions, the size must be N/A. General Helpful Tips: ● Revisit your old work. Over the course of a year, you will improve and practice your skills, so when you look at your art from the beginning, it may not be consistent with your current style and standards. In that case, you can retouch or improve upon your work, or you can incorporate elements from your old piece into a completely new piece. ● Discard work. Sometimes, a project can be really tough and you can constantly try to rework and improve upon it, but the piece may just go nowhere. You may have had a great idea in mind, but you were unable to put those ideas to paper. You may have made a large mistake that is uncorrectable and unsalvageable. You may not feel satisfied or happy about that piece anymore. In that case, instead of constantly trying to push something out of a piece of work that won’t work, discarding it might be the best option to move on. ● Constantly look for inspiration. There are ideas that you think are great that you might have to disband, while there are times where inspiration just strikes. Or if you are feeling unmotivated to continue a piece, outside surroundings can inspire a new addition or the usage of a different technique. You can be inspired by anything in your surroundings, so carry around a sketchbook or your phone to take a picture of something you feel would benefit your composition making skills. ● Choose a passion or something you are really interested in for Sustained Concentration. You will have to do 12 pieces on a singular topic, so make sure it is something that you want to constantly explore for hours on end and an entire year’s worth of work. ● Choose a topic/concentration that is flexible, yet personal. You want the topic to have a backstory or purpose that you can justify through your experiences and inspiration. However, if the topic is too rigid and overly specific, you may not have any room to experiment and venture beyond your comfort zone. You want it to just be general enough where you can draw inspiration from a variety of sources. ● Use a variety of mediums and processes. Do not be limited to one style or medium for the entirety of the piece. You can combine color pencil, graphite, magazine collage, and watercolor to provide contrast, texture, and variety in your work. ● Use a variety of concepts and processes throughout your concentration. You want to present different perspectives and scenes of the same question you’re trying to answer, or the central topic. Feel free to use different subjects and subjects related to the central subject, as long as you are able to ultimately tie everything together to one central point in your written statement.