Advanced Placement (AP) Art and Design, formerly known as AP Studio Art, is a series of

course Course may refer to: Directions or navigation * Course (navigation), the path of travel * Course (orienteering), a series of control points visited by orienteers during a competition, marked with red/white flags in the terrain, and corresponding ...

s offered by the

College Board The College Board, styled as CollegeBoard, is an American not-for-profit organization that was formed in December 1899 as the College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB) to expand access to higher education. While the College Board is not an asso ...

as part of its

Advanced Placement Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board. AP offers undergraduate university-level curricula and examinations to high school students. Colleges and universities in the US and elsewhere ...

program. AP Art and Design is divided into three categories: 2-D Art and Design, 3-D Art and Design, and Drawing.

Portfolio

Unlike traditional AP exams that utilize a

multiple-choice Multiple choice (MC), objective response or MCQ (for multiple choice question) is a form of an objective assessment in which respondents are asked to select only the correct answer from the choices offered as a list. The multiple choice format i ...

section,

free response Free response questions (FRQ) or essay questions are a type of open-ended question commonly used in schools to test students' learning, as well as in entrance exams and sometimes as part of job application or screening processes. Description Fre ...

section, and occasionally an

audio Audio most commonly refers to sound, as it is transmitted in signal form. It may also refer to: Sound *Audio signal, an electrical representation of sound *Audio frequency, a frequency in the audio spectrum *Digital audio, representation of sound ...

section, the AP Art & Design Exam is a

portfolio Portfolio may refer to: Objects * Portfolio (briefcase), a type of briefcase Collections * Portfolio (finance), a collection of assets held by an institution or a private individual * Artist's portfolio, a sample of an artist's work or a ...

that encompasses three different categories: Quality, Concentration, and Breadth. Depending on the AP Art & Design exam the person is taking, the components for each of the three categories will vary. Regardless of the exam, all AP Art & Design portfolios have to be turned in by a set date and time.

AP 2-D Art and Design

AP 2-D Art and Design deals with

two-dimensional A two-dimensional space is a mathematical space with two dimensions, meaning points have two degrees of freedom: their locations can be locally described with two coordinates or they can move in two independent directions. Common two-dimension ...

applications such as

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art that involves creating visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdisciplinary branch of ...

photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal ...

, and

collage Collage (, from the , "to glue" or "to stick together") is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assembly of different forms, thus creating a new whole. (Compare with pasti ...

. Contrary to AP Studio Art Drawing, focus is applied on the

design A design is the concept or proposal for an object, process, or system. The word ''design'' refers to something that is or has been intentionally created by a thinking agent, and is sometimes used to refer to the inherent nature of something ...

itself instead of the composition of the artwork.

Portfolio

*Section I: Quality: A student submits 5 actual artwork that represents the student's

quality Quality may refer to: Concepts *Quality (business), the ''non-inferiority'' or ''superiority'' of something *Quality (philosophy), an attribute or a property *Quality (physics), in response theory *Energy quality, used in various science discipli ...

of designing pieces in 2D. *Section II: Concentration: A student submits 12 different slides that demonstrate the student's ability to make a variety of pieces in 2D that relate to one

idea In philosophy and in common usage, an idea (from the Greek word: ἰδέα (idea), meaning 'a form, or a pattern') is the results of thought. Also in philosophy, ideas can also be mental representational images of some object. Many philosophe ...

. These are arranged in a special order on slide coverings from

. Starting in 2009, an online application replaced the use of physical slides and associated documents. *Section III: Breadth: A student submits 12 additional and different slides that demonstrate the student's ability to incorporate 2D

design principle Balance Types of balance in visual design * Symmetry Hierarchy/Dominance/Emphasis Scale/proportion Scale in design Increasing an element's scale in a design piece increases its value in terms of hierarchy and makes it to be seen first compa ...

s that include unity/variety,

balance Balance may refer to: Common meanings * Balance (ability) in biomechanics * Balance (accounting) * Balance or weighing scale * Balance, as in equality (mathematics) or equilibrium Arts and entertainment Film * Balance (1983 film), ''Balance'' ( ...

, emphasis, contrast,

rhythm Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular r ...

repetition Repetition may refer to: *Repetition (rhetorical device), repeating a word within a short space of words *Repetition (bodybuilding), a single cycle of lifting and lowering a weight in strength training *Working title for the 1985 slasher film '' ...

, proportion/ scale, and figure-ground relationship. These are arranged similar to Section II. Starting 2009, an online application replaced the use of physical slides and associated documents.

Grade distribution

AP 3-D Art and Design

AP 3-D Art and Design is a

three-dimensional In geometry, a three-dimensional space (3D space, 3-space or, rarely, tri-dimensional space) is a mathematical space in which three values (''coordinates'') are required to determine the position (geometry), position of a point (geometry), poi ...

(3-D) art course that holds many similarities to the 2-D course. The course deals with 3-D artistic applications such as

metalworking Metalworking is the process of shaping and reshaping metals in order to create useful objects, parts, assemblies, and large scale structures. As a term, it covers a wide and diverse range of processes, skills, and tools for producing objects on e ...

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

computer model Computer simulation is the running of a mathematical model on a computer, the model being designed to represent the behaviour of, or the outcome of, a real-world or physical system. The reliability of some mathematical models can be determin ...

s, and

ceramics A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porce ...

. Like AP Studio Art 2D, the focus is on the

of the artwork itself as opposed to its composition.

Portfolio

*Section I: Quality: The actual work for this exam is

and not flat, so transporting it directly to

The College Board The College Board, styled as CollegeBoard, is an American not-for-profit organization that was formed in December 1899 as the College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB) to expand access to higher education. While the College Board is not an asso ...

could cause damage to the artwork and the pieces would most likely not fit in portfolios. Because of this, five pieces of artwork are shown in ten slides to showcase the

of the student's

pieces. *Section II: Concentration: 12 different slides are submitted to demonstrate the student's ability to produce a variety of pieces that relate to a single

. The slides are arranged in slide coverings in an order designated by

. Starting in 2009, an online application replaced the use of physical slides and associated documents, and the student was allowed to determine the order of the works in their concentration. *Section III: Breadth: Eight different works are shown in 16 slides which are meant to demonstrate the student's ability to incorporate a variety of different 3D Design principles, including unity/variety,

, emphasis, contrast,

, proportion/ scale, and figure/ground relationship. Similar to Section II, this section's slides are also arranged in an order designated by

. Starting 2009, an online application replaced the use of physical slides and associated documents.

Grade distribution

In the 2012 administration, 3,840 students took the exam with a mean score of 3.00.

AP Drawing

AP Drawing deals with basic

painting Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

and

drawing Drawing is a Visual arts, visual art that uses an instrument to mark paper or another two-dimensional surface, or a digital representation of such. Traditionally, the instruments used to make a drawing include pencils, crayons, and ink pens, some ...

. Focus is applied on the

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography * Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include ...

of the different lines/

color Color (or colour in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) is the visual perception based on the electromagnetic spectrum. Though co ...

shape A shape is a graphics, graphical representation of an object's form or its external boundary, outline, or external Surface (mathematics), surface. It is distinct from other object properties, such as color, Surface texture, texture, or material ...

/etc... of the painting instead of the design itself. Originally called AP Studio Art, it was later changed to AP Studio Art Drawing.

Portfolio

*Section I: Quality: A student submits 5 actual

artwork A work of art, artwork, art piece, piece of art or art object is an artistic creation of aesthetic value. Except for "work of art", which may be used of any work regarded as art in its widest sense, including works from literature ...

to the AP College Board that represent the student's

of technique and their design concepts. *Section II: Concentration: A student submits 12 different slides that demonstrate the student's ability to paint and draw a variety of pieces that relate to one idea. These are arranged in a special order on slide coverings from

techniques and issues that include drawing from

observation Observation in the natural sciences is an act or instance of noticing or perceiving and the acquisition of information from a primary source. In living beings, observation employs the senses. In science, observation can also involve the percep ...

, work with inverted or nonobjective forms, effective use of

light Light, visible light, or visible radiation is electromagnetic radiation that can be visual perception, perceived by the human eye. Visible light spans the visible spectrum and is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400– ...

and

shade Shade, Shades or Shading may refer to: * Shade (color), a mixture of a color with black (often generalized as any variety of a color) * Shade (shadow), the blocking of sunlight * Shades or sunglasses * Shading, a process used in art and graphic ...

, line quality, surface manipulation, composition, various spatial systems, and expressive mark-making. There are arranged similar to Section II. Starting 2009, an online application replaced the use of physical slides and associated documents.

Grade distribution

In the 2016 administration, 18,407 students took the exam with 21 students earning a perfect score of 72/72.

References

{{reflist

External links

AP Studio Art at CollegeBoard.com

Advanced Placement Visual arts education