About the Studio Arts Pathways
The Drawing and Painting program is designed to develop our students' fine art skills. If students are aiming to complete the Fine Art pathway, they will begin in Exploration of Art and work up to Advanced Drawing & Painting or AP Studio Art. Students who are looking to have a career in the arts, should think about completing the drawing and painting program as a pathway, taking all 4 levels of art in the high school career.
Exploration of Art (EoA) is an entry level class where students are either introduced to new techniques in art or will begin to enhance what they already know. Students who take this class will be taught about the elements or art and techniques with various mediums such as paint, colored pencils, graphite, and so on. Students are ALWAYS welcome to "take on a challenge" within a project. This a portion of the project that is aimed to challenge the technical skill the more experienced art students may have.
Drawing and Painting (DP) is a second level fine arts class that hones in on the student's technical skills and begins to develop their conceptual process. Students are introduced to building concepts and challenging their creative problem solving skills. Students will still need assistance with technical skills, but should know the basics along with perspective, craftsmanship, and several other skills that are demonstrated in the EoA course.
Advanced Drawing and Painting (Adv DP) is a third level fine arts class that focuses on the student as an individual and begin to build their portfolios. Students will be provided a prompt, but are given complete freedom to be as complex and as creative as possible. Students will have access to all materials in the classroom, but are encouraged to bring their own. Students who graduate this class will have 7-10 pieces they will be able to add to a general college portfolio. Be advised: All colleges ask for different pieces, please complete your research on their requirement prior to building the portfolio in class.
AP Studio Art is a fourth level fine arts class where students will be required to take the College Board AP test. Students are to focus on one specific inquiry throughout the year and develop a 15 piece portfolio that will be submitted towards the end of April. Students are required to keep all their sketches, drafts and redos for the process submission of the test. Be advised: Students are not always able to use these pieces for a college portfolio. College portfolios are based on what the individual colleges require.