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.

Emily's AP Studio Art

AP has been a roller coaster ride for me over these 9 months. Although we had some assigned projects, I really liked the freedom to explore what I really wanted to capture in my pictures. Taking art this year helped me grow as an artist and kept my stress level low.

My concentration focuses on a teenage girl who is suffering with depression. My goal was to show her story and battle with self-harm with each picture. The project gave me the opportunity to match a face to a reoccurring problem that many teens face.

My concentration is a PSA to raise awareness about self-harm and that what you say to people could leave a damaging effect. With the help of my subject, I showed the physical effects caused by hurtful words said out of ignorance. Even though she is in the process of healing, she is still shy to tell her story and feels alone. She is not only scarred physically, she is scarred mentally. I tried the pictures in color, black and white, and sepia. I felt that color did not fully capture the emotions I wanted to portray. The black and white edits made the subject look nonhuman, or monster-like. The sepia edit captured the emotions and still kept the human quality. This project is a journey throughout perception…from pencil sharpener to a resource…from clean to scarred…from how you see a person to how they in fact see themselves.

Cheyenne's AP Studio Art

AP has ended up being something I never expected. Along with having some assigned projects to make me think,  I enjoyed having the freedom to photograph whatever I wanted for the most part. The most encouraging part of this course is that I will get college credit for free for doing what I love and photography is exactly what I am going to school for, so everything I have learned with my AP class as well as my two other photography classes I took this year have most certainly prepared for continuing on with my photography and expanding my knowledge of the art form.

Most everyone has an inner struggle. Whether it be confusion, depression, hatred of one’s self, or any other emotion; ergo, that is what I decided to focus on. My concentration focuses on those inner struggles through my self-portraits and the help of Photoshop. I photographed myself in states in which I have personally experienced as well as those of other people. Though very abstract, I have expressed emotion, in most cases deeper ones, to show the true struggle people face in life.

Having chosen to focus my concentration on emotion and one’s inner struggles, I was guided to show the inner feelings but have also shown the faces of those who hide those emotions with a less concerning facial expression. A smile is one of the most common facial expressions used to cover up any inner distress, although not everyone is so strong as to put on that smile to hide it. Through the series of photos, I had used Photoshop to my advantage as it gave the photos more meaning when it came to expressing the emotions in a stronger fashion. The layering of the images showed the different layers of emotions within someone. Starting off with a single, black and white image, I feel, opens the viewer up to what is in store throughout the rest of the series. Regarding the next photo, I layered several images to portray the feeling of paranoia or being trapped and not being able to get out. Continuing, many different emotions were layered to express the feeling one may have as they struggle to fight though the feelings. Being relieved with some layered images of a smiling faces portrays the smile someone can put on to hide what is deeper within. I feel this all relates to me and my inner struggles, creating this made me realize that I can relate to others as I too hide my deeper emotions with a smile.

Stress Free Handing in, Organizing, and Grading Digital Images

I know I have mentioned schoology.com as a great secure resource for your paperless artroom in the past. However, I think it warrants mentioning again. This site is awesome! Over the past two years I have found schoology.com to be a life saver for handing in, organizing, and grading digital photography images.  

Here are the basics of schoology albums so you can try it for yourself. 

*Just to be safe I used older albums for the images since the students have graduated and the codes have been disabled.

I create courses for my classes.  

Within each course I create an album for each student within the course.  The course has an access code that allows students to join. Once the students have logged in they find their albums and upload their photographs.  

As the students upload their photography a date appears at the bottom to let me know if it when it was posted. This feature eliminates "But I turned it in on time, really!" 

I have the students write the name of the project in the caption so it shows up with the photo in their album.

I love having access to my schoology.com account from anywhere. I can grade over weekend or in the evenings easily.  The students love the fact that they can hand in their photography outside of the school day too.

And yes...there is an app for that too  

The students can only see the albums from their class.  I have them critique each others work by adding comments. 

 schoology.com has made handing in photos and grading stress free! I could go on and on but my lunch is almost over, so time to go! There are many more great features to this site...a discussion for another day. Checkout schoology.com for yourself.

Savannah L's AP Art Studio

I have always had an obsession with putting my thoughts down into an art journal. My concentration focuses on my journey through journal pages I have made throughout the year. It is a reflection of my year as a whole through my personal journal and photography. I started with the idea of a blossoming young love and continued through the representation of that relationship. Which then leads through the ups and downs every person feels when they are experiencing that tremendous first love.

My idea in my pictures was to showcase and emphasize the feeling from the journal page. When you look at the photo and the journal separately, there is no real uniformity, it doesn’t make sense. Layer them together and you can honestly see what the intent is. It’s not a picture you’re looking at, it’s a feeling. My intent is for the viewer to feel what I felt or sympathize with my emotions. Image twelve displays this, the girl, isolated and lonely underneath a journal page about sadness and how serene it is. Each page I have made reflected all of the emotional challenges I have faced through the year. Such as image six, the theme of freedom and flying away shows just how I felt stuck and wanted to be free. Followed by image seven which has that air of acceptance and knowing that while you may not be the happiest you’ve ever been right now, you know you are free. My emotional rollercoaster through the year in a few photos doesn’t completely show everything I went through, but reflects it best.

FREE Online Photo Editing Resources for Class

Here is the list of free online editing resources that my students found and presented to their classmates.
Check them out and find the one that works for you.
Online photo editing sites:
www.gimp.org
www.befunky.com
www.picmonkey.com
www.pixlr.com
www.lunapic.com
www.fotoflexer.com
www.fotor.com
www.ipiccy.com
www.phixr.com
www.ribbet.com
www.pizap.com