Kaitlyn's AP Studio Art

My experience in AP art has let me grow so much as an artist. It helped me develop my own art style and express major issues I believe in. It has helped me realize how much of a procrastinator I am. And has taught me not to give up on a piece you’ve been working on for a long time. AP art has given me a chance to make new friends and strengthen my art abilities as well as myself. I loved this experience and will never forget it. 

For my concentration I wanted represent losing your innocence. Everyone knows as you grow up you lose that innocence you had as a child. As you grow up you find out what the real world is like. Disappointing. Not all your dreams will come true, there will be obstacles, and getting what you want is going to take a lot work. For some people growing up is a lot harder for others. You are no longer in that fairy tale world of happiness and pretend.

As a child we are seen as innocent and that we can do no wrong. But unfortunately we are not. Grown-ups influence what we learn, and we all learn how to lie and tell secrets. Since we are so young we don't know that what we are doing is wrong. But as we age we continue to do it, the only difference is that this time we know it's wrong and that it can hurt people. When we are a child we use our imagination to make us happy. To pretend we are a king or queen, or to make best friends. But as we grow, we lose our imagination. I chose to represent this with the unicorn stabbing a boy’s head, killing his imagination.  As we grow into the teen years we learn how mean people can be. People get bullied daily because they aren't as pretty as other girls, or because they don't have as many muscles as other boys. Society has set standards on how you are supposed to look and act. So people try to fit those norms just to stop the bullying. But for a lot of people it doesn't go this way and the bullying goes too far. Causing depression and anxiety. I myself struggled from depression and anxiety for years because of rumors and lies that can be told. People who struggle with this problem turn to terrible things such as drugs to numb the pain, and self-harm to distract from the pain caused by other people. Sometimes the words and torture get to be too much, and these people think the only way to escape it and be happy again is to end their own life. Escaping to their fairy tale book once again.

Angela's AP Studio Art

This has been a crazy year for me. A lot of personal things happened in the beginning of the year. It was pretty hard to get through. Ap art allowed me to express how i was feeling through my art work. My artwork shows the changes i experienced with myself throughout the year. It also shows how everything has effected me in different ways. Ap allowed me to grow and test my skills with a variety of different art styles. It also allowed me to figure out who i am and who i want to be. It showed me that even though everything around me may suck at the moment it gets better with time. My concentration was the main focus of what i was experiencing throughout the year. It shows everything i was battling by myself in my own ways. It also helped me develop my new art style that I have today. Life may suck at times but never give up.

When you look at someone can you see all they have been through? Is their act pretty well put together? Can you see past their fake smiles and see how deeply they are hurting inside? I’ve always had to put up a front with others to save myself from more hurt, from dealing with how others react to my appearance, seemingly never ending depression and anxiety, to putting others problems onto myself. This broke me down and built me back up, always trying to please the world but not myself.

You can change for the better or worse, depending on how you react to it. i always keep things in & hiding my true feelings, wearing different masks every day just to get by to the next day. Simple anxiety can be very crippling, making simple everyday things seem almost impossible. Like having someone behind you saying “you aren’t good enough” or “Their just lying again”. There’s a little monster inside my head feeding me lies. Making me believe things that aren’t true, making me over think everything & everyone.

Depression, never ending pit of sadness & anger. Fills you up inside until you can’t take it anymore. Having random break downs. Taking it out on the people you love the most without really seeing it yourself. Makes you do things that you normally wouldn’t but you. Sometimes it comes without reason & stays like a leach slowly sucking you dry.

Being a wolf in a world of sheep isn’t easy. Always trying to fit in when you really don’t fit in at all. Trying to please others while destroying yourself. Becoming the complete opposite of yourself. I always tend to put others problems onto myself to make it easy for them. I’m to loving & caring, they just take advantage. Taking everything I have to give but giving nothing in return. It’s a never ending cycle but the world is already bad enough so I try to put good into it.

Katt's AP 2D Studio Art

AP has been a very interesting learning experience. I learned more about myself as an artist and I feel I have improved a lot over the year. Not only in terms of my abilities but also as a person. I still am a perfectionist and a bit of a procrastinator, but I have become more accepting of my mistakes and instead of giving up right away, I have gotten better at trying to solve the problem and incorporate it into the piece. All in all I think AP was a very fun experience and one that taught me a lot and strengthened my friendships with my fellow APers.

My concentration is based on stories. These stories were passed down orally until they were written down after being told and retold for generations. These storytellers would often edit the endings to make them less violent for children. But take Grimm’s fairy tales for example, they didn’t censor themselves; they left the brutal endings as was intended. Not everything has to have a happy ending. I took the child-friendly stories and twisted them back to include the darker themes.

When I was younger I loved to read fairytales and myths. The vivid imagery they brought to mind has continued to inspire my art as I got older. I wanted to explore this passion while taking it in a new direction. I intended to give a darker take on my favorite stories while exploring them through a variety of mediums. Images 2-4 were inspired by watercolor illustrations often found in children’s books. They have a child-like feel to them. As I continued my exploration my lines became harsher and more defined as I explored colored pencil as a medium in images 5-7. Skeletons are also a more prominent symbol from image 7 on. I felt they added a sinister element, contrasting with the rich colors of the acrylic paint. I feel image 8 especially is an exceptional example of this. Several stories are repeated throughout my concentration as I delved into different themes. Image 1 shows Rapunzel turning into her tower from waiting so long, while image 12 shows her having died during the wait. By the end of my investigation I’m pleased with the variety of poses, colors, and mediums I’ve included. I chose each subject matter and composition carefully based on what I intended to convey to the viewer.

Kayla's AP Studio Art

AP has been an amazing experience. It has allowed me to have freedom in the work I do. I have learned a lot about how to work with the images to get them exactly how I want them. AP has given me the chance to see what I am capable of doing in certain amounts of time. Being the biggest critic of my work, it is hard to get things done as quick as they should be because I work with my things more than I should because I want them to be just right. In the end AP has made me realize how fun it is and how much of a reward it is to be in a class like this.

My concentration focuses on my childhood memories of growing up in a small town. The images show places I enjoyed while growing up and who I have become as a person today because of them. This project gave me a chance to reflect on my favorite memories while capturing the essence of those memories through the medium of digital photography. My childhood memories of experiences have shaped who I am today.    

My images show important memories and their effects on me as I transition into who I am today. My first image is of great importance because girl scouts helped my at a young age learn how to be a young lady and helped me become part of everyday life around me. The next few images are places form my childhood that I enjoyed playing at and remember with fond memory. Being outdoors is a big part of my life and always has been. These places taught me that it’s okay to just relax and have fun. It is the simplest of things that sometimes matter the most. Whether it is camping, fishing, or simply just being outside, I always found a way to have fun. That all has made me realize that we don’t need electronics and things society deems important just to have fun. The fifth image is a transition into who I am today. Everyone goes through their share of ups and downs to get to where they want to be.  That is exactly what I did. I believe this image portrays that very well. The last few images show me and the struggles and happiness in my life and within myself today.  I know I am a better person because of my experiences.

Nick's AP Studio Art Blog

At the beginning of the year, I experimented with other mediums like drawing and layering. Although I had some mild successes with my experimentation, at the end of the year I chose to come back to photography. After being inspired by various street and candid photographers I took my camera and went out to Madison and downtown Beaver Dam to capture the urban scenes that dot the country. My breadth was a collection of random street scenes that played with different geometries and positioning. My quality showed off my special attention to color in a photo. Finally, my concentration was about the geometry of urban scenes. I showcased the different lines and textures that work collectively to build the marvel that is the American city. Together my AP portfolio works as a grandiose collective of different patterns and themes, to magnificently pay homage to the American urban scene. Here is a snippet of my AP concentration write-up:

The geometry of urban landscapes is all around us, but the inhabitants of these cities take the awe-inspiring lines and shapes for granted. I took it upon myself to document the art of urban biomes with my camera. The lost treasure of the American city is the alleyways. These rustic lanes are overwhelmed with metropolitan detail work that uses parallel and perpendicular lines to give the city motion. The vivid oranges and browns of rust on the iron metalwork make brilliant contrast with the faded colors of the backsides of antique domiciles. Powers of metropolitan landscapes come through in the repetition of simple patterns that create ominous cityscapes. The delicate angles and busy structures move me to more simple scenes. Textures of the omnipresent walls and walkways become the main attraction against the monochromatic backgrounds, outlining the elegance of these urban mystiques...

I'm hoping to pursue photography as a hobby in the future. I find taking pictures very enjoyable and I believe I have a good eye. Though I am not going to pursue a career in art, I am glad that I had the opportunity to take AP Art Studio, because It has definitely helped me learn and grow as a young artist.

Emily N's AP Studio Art Blog

It's been a long year in AP Studio Art. It was all worth the worries, all the things that we've had to do and all the projects. This has been one of the best classes that I've had it was well worth taking. It's made me a stronger photographer adn I've learned a lot of new things along the way through this journey. My pictures all have a story behind htem. I love taking pictures of old things outside. I never thought you could capture such good pictures from just the simple little things you find laying around. Something that was fun was finding things I liked and that I wanted to take pictures of. I found that I love weird angles and that my images come out better that way that thats my way of expressing myself in them. I also found out that I have to take pictures alone, I cant have anyone around.  I like the old rustic things and barn wood and the color that it is. All my photos have to do with things that are around me everyday and things that I see all the time. I'd like to keep photography in my life after high school. Maybe as a side job or as a full time job, you never know.

Kaley's AP Studio Art Blog

This year has been crazy for me. Between juggling 3 jobs, 4 AP classes and a boyfriend, the one thing that has kept me sane through these past 9 months has been my artwork. Photography has taught me a great deal about life. I see things better through a camera and I feel so accomplished after reviewing my work at the end. I started off with just taking pictures of anything and everything I could find. Macro photography was a big hit for me. Everything just seems so much more interesting up close or when you can't see the big picture. When I was asked to do some family pictures for a friend, my confidence in my work sky rocketed. I went from nervousness to excitement within an hour! I had never taken a lot of people pictures, but they had faith in me so I knew it would be okay. Since that family shoot, I've done quite a few other family portraits as well as portraits for seniors, weddings, babies, and couples. I learn something new every time I pick up my camera. I enjoy telling stories with my work and showing things as they progress. I hope to continue learning more as I venture through college. My goal is to major in Digital Design and minor in Photography. Who would have thought?! I can't wait to see where my future takes me.