...more beautiful work.

I ran across the work of Kenne Gregoire, a contemporary Dutch artist and couldn't help connect the detailed work to that of the art of Jan Van Eyck in the 15th century.  Art history is everywhere...

Keene Gregoire

Jan Van Eyck - The Arnolfini Portrait, 1434

Thinking visually outside the lines:

Horses by Cynthia Brants

More thoughts on your AP Portfolios and Scholastic...

I thought I'd post a few images I thought might be inspiring along a with a few words of encouragement.  I appreciate the images some of you have posted but am still, as usual, looking for everyone to post.  Please comment on each other's work as well - that really is the strongest connection you might have to get you thinking in a number of directions.

Please comment on EVERY site - send me a notification that you have done just that.  I will be tracking what you say with each of the pieces you comment on.

Deadlines are in sight...

The deadline for ALL work and sketchbook/masterwork postings will be next wee, November 7th.  I will be grading your sites, your posts and your work.  At that point you should have the following:

1.  6 Concentration pieces (3 from the summer and three so far this year).
2.  4 Breadth pieces

You might have THIS combination:

1.  7 Breadth (3 Summer pieces and 4 from this year so far).
2.  3 Concentration pieces.

I suspect this is going to be a shock to all of you even though I have been trying very hard to get you on top of the schedule.

Please be mindful that the date of the decision regarding "to AP or not to AP" is getting close.

I still believe you can do this but I need to see the work.

Period.

The look.

Keep Looking at Art - Mathilde Roussel

Installation

I see cool stuff brewing...

I look at your sites fairly often (especially around grading time) but most often I watch how all of you interact, what you do and talk about to each other - in class and off periods.  You have a bond that can't be duplicated on a site and I realize that more and more.  Here's what I see:

Anastasiya's determination and beautiful images.

Brooke's constant posting, always working but never discussing in class.

Cheyenne's amazing ability with depiction of her people - and never talking in class.

Chloe's love of art when she has an idea she's excited about.

Josh's fantastic idea of altarpieces (and love of AH!) - coming soon if I hear the rumbles correctly.

Katherine's sketchbook ideas coming to life - with thumbnails if I can persuade her...

Lily's strong sketchbook concepts - just waiting to be realized in finished pieces.

Michael's well-designed characters that seem to have come from another part of him.

Sofia's serious art side (and organizational skills) that is appealing and producing.

The deadlines seem unrealistic.  The time is short and you have very little to devote.  I ask for excellence and that will never go away - I care too much to settle or let you settle.  I know you can do this think called AP Portfolio.  I still believe in you.

Egon Schiele loved drapery, too.

Deadline Today for Concentration #5.

Please post your next piece.  It should be a Concentration.  Post the title, size, medium, and a reflection as well as your accompanying sketchbook material.

So just how much fun WAS ACL?

Carne Griffiths

Things will happen when you are ready to accept them.

A bit of my personal Kuntz philosophy:

Struggle with ideas and they will fight back.  Release the desire to control and you will overcome the obstacles that you've placed before you.  When you stop searching in panic for an idea to come, it will come of its own accord.  Life is a wonderful mystery and you are the detective.  Stop trying to be great and you will be, by default.  I believe in all of you.  Give this thing called art the time it needs to develop and you will be paid back ten-fold.

I promise.

...stop using only black and white.

Class today...

I tend to go on a bit - passion for teaching and art carry me away.  Just a few more thoughts...

1.  The real world will not be kind to you.  Be ready for it and don't miss deadlines now.

2.  Deadlines are meant to be respected.  While there may be wiggle room, treat them as if your life (and your next job/client) depended on making them.

3.  Change is scary.  Embrace the fear.

4.  Remember the shell and celebrate your knowledge of it.  You were where the Art 3 kids are now.  Look how far you've come.

5.  Scholastic is around the corner.  You're going to New York.  End of story.

You can do this, too.  It's just a grown up shell.

Where is the work?

Looking...still looking...and I need EVERYONE to have the capability of allowing comments to their sites.  Please be mindful of the deadlines.  Regardless of whether I'm in class or not, you need to have the work ready and available.  

Post your sketchbook ideas soon, please.

AP Masterwork Sketchbooks:

Let's get to the point about the sketchbooks and what is expected so I can clear up any confusion (I admit even I'm a bit confused!).

1.  I want to see posts on your personal sites for the work you are doing in your Masterwork sketchbooks related to the concentration pieces you WILL be creating.  It makes no sense to show the sketchbook AFTER the piece is done.
2.  You should have many thumbnails, color ideas, font studies, whatever relates and inspires for the piece you are working on.  You could also show the piece in its progress state along with the sketchbook as they relate.
3.  You should be posting often - for the concentration pieces at any rate - so we can see the thinking you are doing (and the "we" here is "me").

Please let me know if this makes sense and if you have other suggestions.

See you in class!

Due this week:

Reminders brewing...don't forget the critique for Breadth #2 on Friday, September 14th.  It needs to be a NEW breadth piece I have never seen before, portfolio quality, with a reflection.  Size, medium, title, etc.  Yes, post it and bring it to class.  

Also due this week - your concentration statement posted on your blog by September 15th (Saturday!). I would like it to be at the top of your page so I can see it when I look at the work.  You will be altering it as you go along, and as your work begins to take on its own life as a concentration.

Kristina Lahde - beauty in things we rarely notice - old envelopes.

Comments, anyone?

Good morning children!  I just spent a lovely half an hour or so looking at your sites and posting comments (when I could) and sending comments (when I could) to each of you.  I'm not certain how often you are visiting this site but I need to have you make it a habit at least a few times a week.  I saw one comment from one of you to another but that was all.  I saw one concentration statement and know I'll see the rest by the 15th.  I am seeing some nice work but now I need to have you take a SERIOUS look at what you have up and ask yourself the most important question:  Is it portfolio ready?  If not, alter, re-work, re-think, remove and put up a piece that is.

The sketchbook you are all maintaining - that hasn't changed and the "Masterwork" chapters should be evident.  I would like to have you create, if you haven't already, a link to that sketchbook and I would like to see the work you're doing on your concentration pieces.  You can keep this as private as you like with only me seeing the link (I know you all know how to hide what you don't want the world to see!).

I also want to see/hear comments from ALL of you - I need to know you're out there working and listening.

This is going to be a great year.

...overdone, I know but relevant to all of us...

Keep looking:

Jenny Morgan portraits

Work to look at - Jenny Morgan.  While the eyes are definitely arresting and grab hold, not letting go (isn't that what art is supposed to do?), the treatment of the hands is amazing.  What about YOUR work grabs the viewer and doesn't let go?

The deadline for posting Breadth #1 and creating your AP blog is now one day late.  

Get on it, please.

Deadlines are serious things...

Your blogs are due on Wednesday.

Think.

Sometimes the questions are complicated 

and the answers are simple.

Aluminum plate monoprints on Rivas BFK by Eben Goff

What to post on your student site:

Thank you to the few of you who have created accounts and have actually posted on your sites.  I'm beginning to wonder why I didn't think of doing this a LONG time ago!  What a great way to see what you think (ha, if you thought I couldn't get in your brain, now you are SADLY mistaken!...).  Here's what I need to have you do with the blogs:

     1.  Post your work BY THE DEADLINES and include the title, size, medium, date, and a
          REFLECTION about the piece.
     2.  Tell me (us) if it is concentration or breadth.
     3.  Include research if you want to - you will be posting your masterwork sketchbook pages    
          eventually.
     4.  Do not use your site as another social media location.  This is for me, for you, and for the class.
          Period.  It may be hard to not put up everything you're interested in, but it makes the task of
          figuring out what IS your portfolio and WHAT IS NOT much more difficult.
     5.  Try to photograph your work as if it is the final piece you are submitting to AP College Board.
     6.  Post your comments to the other student sites and copy me, please, if you need to.

Have fun!

Just a reminder - concentration ideas you may have forgotten to think about...

Car part ads

Portraits detailing emotions

Portraits detailing odd body positions

Extreme abstract close ups

Extreme abstract close ups of nature

Normal things using alternate colors

What people throw away

Family heirlooms

Variations of one thing

Seasons

Recreations of famous art pieces

Close ups of person - abstracted

Designing shoes/shoe close ups

Portraits of things broken or ruined

Opposites (ie: something hot as cold)

Textures

Animals.insects in environment

Close ups of sports equipment

Close ups of art supplies

Distortion

Optical illusions

Where has it been? (ie: the dollar)

Items upside down or backwards

Items missing something vital

Images inspired by songs

Cause and effect

War and its effect

Landscapes: day and night

Perspective

Significant buildings

Accessories

Sunglasses and faces

Scenes from dreams

Scenes from books

Self portraits with traits exaggerated

Illustrate a story

Line drawings of objects

What will the future be?

Past and present

Modern and historic

Odd, interesting people

A day in the life of...

One object 12 different views

Technology

Different cultures

The Heavens (planets, stars, etc.)

Aerial views

Stages of growing up

Things whole, broken up

Surrealism paintings

Real to life with surreal background

Hands doing things - different media

12 different parts of a face, together creating a whole face again

People who are angry (happy, sad)

Buildings

City scenes

People in motion

Innocence

Nature scenes

One person, portrait young to old

Areas of concern in America

Old photographs

Polaroids

The act of protest

Shape (altering with diet/weights)

Triumph

Using trash to create

Teenage life

Monochromatic (life?)

The game of life

Childhood mementos

Family vacations

Family members

A friend’s different moods

First day of school pictures

Elderly

Playgrounds

Door handles

Bathrooms

Scenes from a music video

Beach scenes

Undersides of desks and chairs

Insides of things

Jewelry

Zippers

Metamorphosis

Close ups of favorite foods

Sweat

Beauty of hands - how they are used

Generations

Things we desire

Love/friendship

Vulnerability

Change

Hope

Appropriation

Helping others

Picking up after hard times

Newspaper headlines

Natural disasters

Human emotion

Leaving things behind

Adventures

Nonconformity/individuality

Conformity 

Sameness

Comfort zones

War and peace

Diversity

Beauty in simplicity

Where have you been?

Forever young

Evolution of objects

Light

Sound

Motion

Abandoned buildings

The smallest parts of a whole

Media impact

Parts of the body to represent different emotions

Necessary objects

Communication tools

Different scenes through broken glass

Famous speeches (...to be or not to be...)

Photographs telling part of a story

Windows/mirrors

Fire

Water

Earth

Wind

Comic strip

Parties

Skeletal structure

Wood

Walking on the ceiling

Through the eyes of animals

Life as a napkin

Life as a paperclip 

Life as a ____________

No skin, just the inside

Negatives

Pure line

Overconfidence

Fashion designs

Illustrate a book

Night scenes

Opposites

Same place, different time

Decades

Fruits inside and out

Produce

Sleeping people

Patterns

What is art to you?

School life

Your surroundings

Refuge

Current issues

Death

Abstraction of every day life

Different rooms - what makes them interesting

Hats

Fear

Poverty

Interiors and Exteriors

The figure in space

Abandoned houses

Deterioration - the body, a structure

Morning rituals

Shadows - extreme

Reflections in surfaces

Interpretations of one object

Creating a drawing for every line of a song or poem

Decaying objects

Illumination with candle light

Drawings/paintings in different artistic styles

Daily Routines

People and their pets

Jobs

Horses

Trash versus treasure - who decides?

Bedrooms

What’s in your closet?

Child labor

Poster events (rodeos, carnivals, etc.)

Homelessness

Unfinished things

Assemblages

Boxes

Boxes as a metaphor

Stages of Life

Paths

Unusual environments

Colors as influences

Seeing color where others don’t

Chairs

Art and text

Illustrate Shakespeare

Illustrate a famous historical event - (JFK assassination, Harvey Milk and SF gay rallies)

Body language

Drawings of reflective materials

Dolls

Drawing over time (one setting adding a new element every day)

Drawing in each color scheme (warm, cool, analogous, etc.)

Pop Art analyzed personally

Organic materials used non-organically (clothing? transportation?)

Changing landscape (Monet)

Emotions through abstraction

Temporary art - graffiti, sand on sidewalk, dust on car windows)

Toast

Clouds

Light fixtures

7 Deadly Sins (lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, pride)

Kitchen objects

Focus on Vermeer (friends set up in famous positions)

Fauvist style landscapes of favorite places

Human influences on environment

Close up of machines

Emulating artists’ styles

Braids

Interior of moving things

Unusual landscape alteration

Portraits with your mother

Portraits with your art

27 dresses

Concentration - "moving things".

I have never spent so much time looking - REALLY LOOKING - at art than I have this summer.  It used to feel like I was cheating, looking at instead of doing art, but I have come to realize that so much of my inspiration in the studio comes from bits and pieces I have gathered in my visual brain.  I'm excited about the year and can't wait to see what you all have produced this summer and the wonderful ideas you have come up with.

See you in a week!

The AP Studio thought for the day...
...just sayin'.

Beautiful line.

Fresh work created by artist
Cathleen Rehfeld

So my question is this - are you all looking at art?  Are you using your sketchbook every day?  Every other day?  How often?  Are you passionate about what you see and how you want to express it?  I found myself painting - oddly almost every day!  I saw work by an artist who paints very small (6 x 6") very fast (one hour each) paintings and they are amazingly fresh.  I was inspired.  What inspires you?

Beautiful work by artist Benjamin Cohen

Now THIS is painting...just a thought...

And don't any of you forget it...

Amazing Wire Portraits

AP Art Deadlines for 2013

AP Studio Art deadlines are demanding and must be adhered to.  The timeline is explicit and must be followed in order to create a strong portfolio to be turned in to the CollegeBoard on May10th.  

1. Concentration 1, 2 & 3 - Summer Assignments - due 8/27 - CRITIQUE
2. Breadth 1 - due 9/5
3. Breadth 2 - due 9/14 - CRITIQUE
4. Breadth 3 - due 9/24
5. Concentration 4 - due 10/4 - CRITIQUE
6. Concentration 5 - due 10/15
7. Concentration 6 - due 10/25
8. Breadth 4 - due 11/5
9. Concentration 7 - due 11/15 - CRITIQUE
10. Concentration 8 - due 11/26
11. Concentration 9 - due 12/6
12. Breadth 5 - due 12/17 - CRITIQUE
13. Concentration 10 - due 1/8/13
14. Concentration 11 - due 1/18/13
15. Concentration 12 - due 1/28/13 - CRITIQUE
16. Breadth 6 - due 2/7/13
17. Breadth 7 - due 2/19/13
18. Breadth 8 - due 3/1/13
19. Breadth 9 - due 3/18/13 - CRITIQUE
20. Breadth 10 - due 3/28/13
21. Breadth 11 - due 4/8/13
22. Breadth 12 - due 4/19/13 - CRITIQUE

The weeks of April 22 - 26 and April 29 - May 3rd, all work is to be photographed, blogs with sketchbooks are to be finalized, written concentrations are to be finalized and submitted to me, registration for submitting portfolios is to be completed and work uploaded to your AP site.  This year there will be NO EXCEPTIONS.

May 10th - AP Portfolios are submitted.

Congratulations.  You did it.

AP Studio Summer Work

AP Studio Drawing/Painting and 2D

Summer Homework

Summer work is required.  Your “AP” status will be evaluated by having the work done by the first day of class.

1.    Make a sketchbook.  Find an interesting book you can turn into a sketchbook or make one of your own.  Not only should you be recording your ideas and sketches of your work and everyday thinking but I will be grading summer sketchbooks based on the summer assignments you have done.  Due the first day of school.

2.    Begin making a list of your concentration ideas.  This may be the most important thing you do all summer and needs to be clear, concise and thought-provoking.  If you can’t think of 15 individual artworks for the idea you have, think of another concentration to do.

3.    Go to the College Board website and see what has been done and what portfolios have received high scores.  Make a list of those ideas that intrigued you for a discussion on the first day of class.  The sites for both AP Studio Drawing and AP Studio 2D are:

http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/courses/teachers_corner/7881.html

http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/courses/teachers_corner/3987.html

4.    Make three works of art, complete and portfolio-ready, using the concentration idea you like the most.  We will be discussing concentration ideas at the beginning of the year.  Your work should be interesting, relate to each other, be of any materials as long as they remain 2D, and be ready to be photographed.  Photography and computer generated work is only acceptable if you plan on created a 2D portfolio.

5.    Look at art.  Look at art even more.  Now go make art.

A true addict...

AP Summer Work 2012

Ahhh.  Summer.  A time to relax, regroup, think about what you like and have no one telling you what to do.

Think again.

I've found yet another way to get into your head.  This is the blog you will be using and turning to for assignments, critiques, messages, field trips (both group and solo...) and posts you need to be paying attention to.  While most (if not all of you) will not know about this blog until school begins, you will learn to turn here for any questions, remarks or general "what do I do now" information.  The first thing will be your summer work...

Have you begun the pieces for your concentration yet?

I will be posting the school schedule of critiques and work due as well so you will know wht this year is going to hold.

Happy summer!

Mrs. Kuntz