From now until May 7, you will complete at least one artwork each week for your Sustained Investigation (Depending on the size and complexity of the pieces, you may be required to do more.). 

Complete your first fully-realized, high-quality, Sustained Investigation piece based on your proposal.

Play to your strengths but challenge yourself. Address the concerns of either Drawing & Painting, 2D Design, or 3D Design.

Demonstrate your understanding and skills in: 
- Investigating materials, processes, and ideas that artists and designers use
- Practicing, experimenting, and revising as you create your own work
- Communicating your ideas

Research artists and styles to stretch your thinking about art.

Grading:
You will be assessed on your Studio Habits of Mind.

Assignment

1. Read the full outline for the Sustained Investigation (below) and view the work of others.
2. Create a scrapbook of inspirational art/images for your own mini-Sustained Investigation series
3. Brainstorm five to ten possibilities for your Sustained Investigation. That is, at least five different series/themes (Don't just list; describe them.), and...
4. Write (type) a one-page proposal (Due Tuesday 3/16) for presentation to your peers

OVERVIEW: SUSTAINED INVESTIGATION

The Sustained Investigation is an in-depth exploration of a particular design concern. Studio Art Honors III students will create at least 8 artworks that comprise a series or set, a personalized focus of artistic study on which you will be working for several weeks.  Students will be involved in an inquiry-guided investigation through practice, experimentation, and revision. The emphasis is on a coherent development of an idea through a body of artwork.

You will first write a short essay (2 paragraphs) describing your Sustained Investigation idea and how you plan on exploring that idea. Through the late winter until mid April, you will be completing at least one Sustained Investigation artwork per week. Along the way, you will document and write about your process. There will be mini-lessons and exercises to complete in class as well.

Goals:

• Investigate the materials, processes, and ideas that artists and designers use
• Practice, experiment, and revise as you create your own work
• Communicate your ideas about works of art and design

PREPARATORY STEPS

• View student samples/exemplars.
• Study the work of master artists from the past and from the contemporary art world
• Dig into the books and magazines on art history and contemporary art that are available in the Studio Art Honors classroom.

I. Decide on Your Direction (Drawing, 2D Design, or 3D Design)
​
A DRAWING portfolio will focus on the use of mark-making, line, surface, space, light and shade, and composition. Students should consider marks that can be used to make drawings, the arrangement of marks, the materials and processes used to make marks, and relationships of marks and ideas. Students can work with any materials, processes, and ideas. Drawing (analog and digital), painting, printmaking, and mixed media work are among the possibilities.

• AP Drawing Samples 2020
• AP Drawing Samples Archive
• Kevin Buxton - AP Art Show (BHS 2020)
• Nicole Benjamin - AP Art Show (BHS 2020)
• Sarah Schissler - AP Art Show (BHS 2020)
• Martello Cesar - AP portfolio exam (BHS 2019)
• Marley Gainley - AP exam (BHS 2017)
• Anne Zhang - BHS sustained investigation
• Irina Grigoryeva - BHS sustained investigation
• Pablo Aguilar - BHS AP exam
• Jake Ursino - BHS Sustained Investigation
• ​Toula Papadopoulos - BHS Sustained Investigation

A 2D ART & DESIGN portfolio will focus on the use of two-dimensional (2-D) elements and principles of art and design, including 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, and hierarchy. Students should consider how materials, processes, and ideas can be used to make work that exists on a flat surface. Students can work with any materials, processes, and ideas. Graphic design, digital imaging, photography, collage, fabric design, weaving, fashion design, fashion illustration, painting, and printmaking are among the possibilities.
The Principles of Art (slideshow)
Elements and Principles of Art (glossary)
Color Theory

• AP 2D Design Samples 2020
• AP 2D Design Samples Archive
• Danielle Spinosa - AP exam (BHS)

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A 3D ART & DESIGN portfolio focuses on the use of three-dimensional (3-D) elements and principles of art and design, including point, line, shape, plane, layer, form, volume, mass, occupied/unoccupied space, texture, color, value, opacity, transparency, time, unity, variety, rhythm, movement, proportion, scale, balance, emphasis, contrast, repetition, connection, juxtaposition, and hierarchy. Students should consider how materials, processes, and ideas can be used to make work that involves space and form. Students can work with any materials, processes, and ideas. Figurative or non-figurative sculpture, architectural models, metal work, ceramics, glasswork, installation, performance, assemblage, and 3-D fabric/fiber arts are among the possibilities.
The Principles of Art (slideshow)
Elements and Principles of Art (glossary)

• AP 3D Design Samples 2020
• AP 3D Design Samples Archive
• A Pinterest collection
• Example AP 3D Design portfolio with fashion emphasis - score 5
• Youtube introduction from an AP 3D class

II. Understand What QUALITY Looks Like

Each artwork you turn in for the Sustained Investigation is to be a FINISHED, PORTFOLIO-QUALITY artwork. Refer to the Student Samples above for expectations on quality. Make each drawing, design, or sculpture portfolio-worthy. Concentrate on design principles and good composition, mark-making, technique, and expression. 

As is always expected, spend AT LEAST 2 - 3 hours on each of your projects outside of regular class sessions each week.

Other examples of high quality high school work:

• The AP College Board’s  2020 AP Art and Design Digital Exhibit showcases outstanding artwork created by students who submitted portfolios for the May 2020 exam. Amid a global pandemic, AP Art and Design students worked with diverse ideas, materials, and processes to create incredible, impactful art. The exhibit features student and teacher reflections on these works, providing compelling insights into how artists make choices and approach art making.

 

• The National Scholastic Art & Writing Awards is the nation’s longest-running, most prestigious recognition program for creative teens. Entries are judged on: ORIGINALITY; TECHNICAL SKILL; and EMERGENCE OF A PERSONAL VOICE OR VISION, characteristics similar to what the AP College Board is judging in the exams.

II. Look to Master Artists for Inspiration

To enrich your own art-making, learn about the materials, processes, and ideas that artists and designers use.

Engage with a wide variety of potential sources of inspiration. In the art room, you can access an extensive collection of art magazines going back decades, as well as a small but rich library of books on art history, contemporary art, illustration and other applied arts. Engage with a wide variety of potential sources of inspiration, including:

Visit the websites of or about particular artists and designers to get an in-depth understanding of influences, inspiration, and process.

Explore these websites:    

• Google Arts & Culture. You can use the Art Camera to zoom into famous master paintings, experience culture in 360 degrees, and tour the world’s greatest museums and other landmarks using “Street View”. Or choose categories to discover the most well-known artists and masterworks in history.    
• Art 21: Art in the 21st Century (PBS) - video series on working artists. Art21 is a nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring a more creative world through the works and words of contemporary artists. Click the Artists tab to learn about individual contemporary artists, and the Watch tab to explore by theme:
• Art School: PBS Learning Media - a web video series that introduces contemporary artists who discuss their careers and intentions, then demonstrate hands-on techniques or concepts. Art School provides resources for learning how to draw comic strips, create animations, and much more. Engage with contemporary art and discover new ideas for creativity from a variety of professional artists through this fun and engaging series.
• The Art Assignment (PBS) - A weekly PBS Digital Studios production that takes you around the U.S. to meet working artists and solicit assignments from them that we can all complete. For more, subscribe to The Art Assignment on YouTube: youtube.com/theartassignment.
• Abstract: The Art of Design (2 seasons on Netflix)
• PBS Learning Media: Visual Art

• TED.com: Visual Art

Explore art museums from home:

• Boston Sculptors Gallery
• DeCordova Art Museum and Sculpture Park
• Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art
• Harvard Art Museums
• The Institute of Contemporary Art Boston
• Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
• The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MassMOCA)
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Museum of Fine Arts Boston
• The Museum of Modern Art
• Peabody Essex Museum
• The Smithsonian Museum of American Art

Find more resources on our own websites’ Resources Pages at:

• https://studioarthonorsivap.weebly.com/resources.html and
• https://bpsk12art.weebly.com/remote-learning--enrichment.html

II. Understand What an Artist Statement Is

Visit the following pages to view/read Student Samples (Not all portfolios are meant to be exemplars; note the scores -- 5 and 6 are the high scores.):

• AP Drawing Samples 2020
• AP Drawing Samples Archive
• AP 2D Design Samples 2020
• AP 2D Design Samples Archive
• AP 3D Design Samples 2020
• AP 3D Design Samples Archive

III. Develop Your Own Ideas; Challenge Yourself from the Start

Each artwork you turn in for the Sustained Investigation is to be a FINISHED, PORTFOLIO-QUALITY artwork. Refer to the Student Samples below for expectations on QUALITY. Make each drawing, design, or sculpture portfolio-worthy. Concentrate on design principles and good composition, mark-making, technique, and expression. 

As is always expected, spend AT LEAST 2 - 3 hours on each of your projects outside of regular class sessions each week.

1. PART 1: In your sketchbook, create a scrapbook of art that you find interesting or inspiring and/or that you may like to try yourself.
2. PART 2: Develop a list of possibilities. Brainstorm and write down 5 - 10 ideas for your own Sustained Investigation (That is, at least five different series/themes). Not just a simple list; be as thoughtful and detailed as you can. How would you be challenging yourself by creating each series? What would you be learning? What would success look like for each potential series?
3. PART 3: Decide on and commit to your Sustained Investigation, a personalized focus of artistic study on which you will be working for several weeks. Answer the following questions in a two-paragraph (approximately one page, typed) essay: 

• What inquiry or question(s) will guide your sustained investigation?
• How do you plan to explore that question/idea? (Be as descriptive as possible. See tips below.)

Tips:

• Think about your artistic interests and passions.
• Notice what’s being done in the contemporary art world.
• Make research an important part of your art-making process.
• Brainstorm possibilities.
• Be clear on what you will be learning, how you will be growing as an artist.
• Foresee and plan for problems/challenges.
• Be clear on how you will know when/if you are successful.
• Be prepared to discuss your plans and be challenged by your peers.

​

​Due: One week

​Use gouache to create a Pointillist effect (optical blending) throughout your previously-made watercolor composition.

First, improve the original composition by consciously addressing more of the principles of art, then address Surface Quality, Texture, and Optical Mixing in the style of French Neo-Impressionist painter Georges Seurat.

Learn more about Pointillism and Seurat's concern with Optical Mixing in this Khan Academy video.

Your use of Pointillism and Optical Mixing should cover the whole surface of your painting.

​Project:
On a piece of watercolor paper, create a design that considers the Principles of Art, and use that to experiment with different mark-making using watercolors. Apply your understanding of Unity, Emphasis, Balance, Harmony, and Variety in the design.

What you will need:

• Watercolor set (pan or tubes)
• Watercolor palette / plastic watercolor pan (for color mixing)
• Two cups of water (one for cleaning brushes, one for adding to and mixing colors)
• Sable brushes
• Paper towel
• Watercolor paper
• Pencil (HB)
• (Salt)
• (Crayons)
• (Artist's tape, or masking tape)

Objectives:

• Learn to control the watercolor medium to mix a wide range of specific colors.
• Develop skill with watercolor to paint both larger areas and small details.
• Create depth using atmospheric perspective through color shifts -- More vibrant, and usually warmer, as the objects are closer to you; less saturated, less intense, and cooler as they move away.
• Learn to paint gradations/transitions of color
• ​Experiment with the medium

Process:

1. For inspiration on your composition, look at the work of abstract painters Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky.
   
2. Create a drawing/design in light pencil line that is composed of at least 20 closed organic and geometric shapes. Compose the image by applying what you know about the Principles of Art, specifically Unity, Emphasis, Balance, Harmony, and Variety.
3. Then, paint the design using watercolor so that it includes:

• At least 10 mixed colors (Colors not straight from the tubes, but mixed together.)
• Washes
• Smooth, flat color swatches with crisp edges
• Pale colors
• Intense colors
• Gradations of dark to light
• Gradations of one color changing to another
• Lines, both thin and broad
• Points, dashes, and other marks
• Layers of colors (painting transparent colors over dry colors)
• All other basic techniques described in this handout (Burlington access only)

If you can't fit all these techniques into a single design, create a second design to try out the remaining techniques.

Due:
One Week

Project:
Create an artwork describing what it feels like for you to get up in the morning.

Media: Any (May be 2D or 3D)

Size: Any

Objectives:

• Develop a creative, unique way of visualizing and representing a real experience.
• Challenge yourself to make a finished, well-developed, high-quality showpiece (Not a sketch or rough draft.)

Grading Criteria:

• Creativity - Quality of Idea and Artistic Approach to Representing the Idea
• Expressiveness/Communication of the Idea
• Quality of Design/Composition
• Craftsmanship - Skillfulness with the art technique

As an alternative to this project, you may do one of the following:

This is an artwork that you will submit to The Massachusetts Partnership for Youth, Inc., for their annual poster competition.

Due:
​One week: Friday, January 29

1. Turn in your poster design to Mr. Ratkevich via Google Classroom
2. Submit your poster to the MPY competition using this form

               Posters must be one page and submitted electronically.
               Each poster must have a title.

Project Description:
Create a full-color, well-design, well-crafted poster that effectively communicates the theme described below: We Stand Together (Full description below.)

Size: Sketchbook size or larger

Media: Any

Objectives:

• Develop a creative, unique way of visualizing and representing a personal or social statement.
• Incorporate well-designed, well-crafted text/lettering into your artwork
• Apply your understanding of composition, particularly visual UNITY.
• Challenge yourself to make a finished, well-developed, high-quality showpiece (Not a sketch or rough draft.)

Grading Criteria:

• Creativity - Quality of Idea and Artistic Approach
• Expressiveness/Communication of the Idea
• Quality of Design/Composition
• Craftsmanship - Skillfulness with the art technique

To Start:

1. Read the full text below. Think deeply about the theme and the topics.
2. Consider symbolism, metaphor, and other possibilities of representing these ideals.

​
MPY’s Poster and PSA theme for 2020-2021 is

"We Stand Together"

This theme is inspired by Black Lives Matter at School (https://blacklivesmatteratschool.com), a national committee of educators organizing for anti-racism and racial justice in education. The following suggested topics for “We Stand Together” are taken from Black Lives Matter Guiding Principles: 


Restorative Justice: the commitment to build a beloved and loving community that is sustainable and growing. 

“We know that if you knock down someone's block building, you have to help them rebuild it, you can't just say, ‘Sorry’ and walk away. Another way to say that is ‘restorative justice’ and it's the idea that we have to help people when something happens to them, even if it was by accident.”  

Empathy: one’s ability to connect with others by building relationships built on mutual trust and understanding.

“It’s so important to think about how other people feel, because different people have different feelings. Sometimes it helps to think about how you would feel if the same thing that happened to your friend happened to you. Another way say that is empathy.”                      

Loving Engagement: the commitment to practice justice, liberation, and peace.

“It’s so important to make sure that we are always trying to be fair and peaceful. We have to keep practicing this so that we can get better and better at it. Another way to say that is loving engagement.”

Diversity: the celebration and acknowledgment of differences and commonalities across cultures.

“Different people do different things and have different feelings. It’s so important that we have lots of different kinds of people in our community and that everyone feels safe. Another way to say that is diversity.”

____________________________________________________________________

The deadline for POSTER submissions is January 29, 2021.

Submission form can be found HERE

All students who attend schools that are members of Massachusetts Partnerships for Youth (MPY) are eligible.
Click here for membership information.
​

Due:
Second Wednesday of January (remote work and homework)

Project:
Create a narrative composition that uses subject and color to express a mood. You are telling part of a "story" of some kind. This is to be a completely original, well-designed and well-crafted portfolio piece, rich in color and refined in technique.

Medium:

• Primarily oil pastels, but you may also include paint, color tissue paper, and/or other materials (may include "unusual" materials)
• Work large, up to 18 x 24" - Paper could be white, toned, or color
• First draft with pencil

Objectives:

• Generate ideas/theme for personally expressive artwork.
• Improve your skills with composition to grab and hold people's attention.
• Use color expressively. Create a mood through color.
• Experiment with design, with materials and technique, and with style. Try things out. Take risks.

Tip:
Think about how SIZE and PLACEMENT can help to emphasize the most important things in your narrative.

Learn from the Masters:

Notice how these artists use color expressively. Before beginning your own artwork, look up these artists and read about their work.

(Below) Vincent van Gogh was what we now call a Post-Impressionist painter:

​(Below) These are all oil paintings from Pablo Picasso's Blue Period:

​(Below) These are from Picasso's Rose Period:

​(Below) Oil paintings by Henri Matisse:

(Above) The Kiss, by Gustav Klimt.

​(Below) Oil paintings by Marc Chagall:

The image below is from studiobinder.com, which has informative articles and videos on the expressive powers of color in movies.

And click this link for Part 2 of The Psychology of Color: Movie Color Scheme Cheat Sheet.
​

And here's a quick guide from nofilmschool.com.:
Within each color are a multitude of hues you can break down to specifically hone in on the exact level of emotion you're seeking. 

• RED – anger, passion, rage, desire, excitement, energy, speed, strength, power, heat, love, aggression, danger, fire, blood, war, violence
• PINK – love, innocence, healthy, happy, content, romantic, charming, playfulness, soft, delicate, feminine
• YELLOW – wisdom, knowledge, relaxation, joy, happiness, optimism, idealism, imagination, hope, sunshine, summer, dishonesty, cowardice, betrayal, jealousy, covetousness, deceit, illness, hazard
• ORANGE – humor, energy, balance, warmth, enthusiasm, vibrant, expansive, flamboyant
• GREEN – healing, soothing, perseverance, tenacity, self-awareness, proud, unchanging nature, environment, healthy, good luck, renewal, youth, vigor, spring, generosity, fertility, jealousy, inexperience, envy
• BLUE – faith, spirituality, contentment, loyalty, fulfillment peace, tranquility, calm, stability, harmony, unity, trust, truth, confidence, conservatism, security, cleanliness, order, sky, water, cold, technology, depression
• PURPLE/VIOLET – royalty, nobility, spirituality, ceremony, mysterious, transformation, wisdom, enlightenment, cruelty, arrogance, mourning, power, sensitive, intimacy
• BROWN – materialistic, sensation, earth, home, outdoors, reliability, comfort, endurance, stability, simplicity
• BLACK – No, power, sophistication, formality, elegance, wealth, mystery, fear, anonymity, unhappiness, depth, style, evil, sadness, remorse, anger
• WHITE – Yes, protection, love, reverence, purity, simplicity, cleanliness, peace, humility, precision, innocence, youth, birth, winter, snow, good, sterility, marriage (Western cultures), death (Eastern cultures), cold, clinical, sterile
• SILVER – riches, glamorous, distinguished, earthy, natural, sleek, elegant, high-tech
• GOLD – precious, riches, extravagance. warm, wealth, prosperity, grandeur

GLOSSARY OF COLOR
​
Color Slideshow Presentation

Hue
Classification of a color as red, blue, green, or yellow in reference to the spectrum.

Chroma
1. The purity of a color, or its freedom from white or gray.
2. Intensity of distinctive hue; saturation of a color.