<p>Hi, I'm an upcoming senior and I'm planning on taking AP Studio Art offered at my school. My teacher has told us about what has to be submitted for the portfolios, but I'm still confused on the difference between the two. Does the drawing portfolio necessarily have to be all drawings? (done with pencil, charcoal, etc) Or can it be paintings too? Another question: what is 2D Design Portfolio about? Since I'm planning on going for either graphic design or animation, which one should I do?</p>
<p>Oh, and am I allowed to submit these artworks as a part of my portfolio for college? (concentration works, breadth works, quality)</p>
<p>The way I understand it is that the drawing portfolio has to be completely made up works made by “marks.” This could be done with pencil, paint, or even digitally, as long as everything is done by hand. On the other hand the 2D design portfolio can include photos, collage, type, etc… There also is a difference in the way the two portfolios are evaluated.</p>
<p>I would say which ever you are more confident in, most likely any art program will have at least a 2D and drawing class as part of its core. So it doesn’t really matter. To answer more directly, the 2D design portfolio is intended to show that you understand and intentionally use the principles of design (gestalt, color, etc…) in your work.</p>
<p>Yep, this is probably the best reason to take this ap, its a great way to strengthen your admissions portfolio.</p>
<p>Wow. Everything seems so clear to me now…Thank you so much for your reply ^^ I hope I can make a good portfolio…and one last question that I have is if I were to make a collage of some sort out of magazines and other images that I find, but I paint it surrealistically, that would that be categorized as part of the 2D or the drawing portfolio? And adding onto that, would it be bad if I did 2 or 3 paintings from a photograph of some things I just can’t capture through direct observation?</p>
<p>Not really sure, in theory a drawing and 2d portfolio could be made up of the same pieces. The main difference is in how the portfolio is being judged, which makes this not as feasible. As well as extra limitations the drawing portfolio has a far as possible mediums.</p>
<p>I think working from a photograph should be fine as long as you don’t confine yourself to the reference, in other words still show some vision and creativity of your own, not just duplicating that of the photographers.</p>
<p>This web site might help answer your questions better than I can:
[AP:</a> Studio Art](<a href=“College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools”>AP 2-D Art and Design Portfolio – AP Students | College Board)</p>
<p>Im actually doing it self-study this year, so i’ve been researching it quite a bit of late.</p>
<p>Ohh great website, thanks I’ll analyze it today~ And I’m on the same boat as you since I’m doing it all on my own too…and sorry for asking so many questions although you’re probably busy too, but what if the photographs were all taken by me and I decided to paint them (I’ll probably add some of my own flair if possible)? </p>
<p>And your answers are very much appreciated 
It’s so much better than some of the yahoo answers or my teacher’s vague replies when I ask…</p>
<p>I’d say it’s fine to work from photos, especially if you take them yourself. Reference is good as long as you don’t become a slave to it, there are so many things as a painter that you have at your disposal that the photographer just doesnt. Use them, and you should do fine.</p>
<p>And I’m happy to answer any questions. =)</p>
<p>If you’re doing graphic design, 2D is pretty much the only way to go. Drawing and 2D are essentially the same, but Drawing focuses more on markmaking (the product of you as a human being putting down a medium–in my case, my scribble), and 2D focuses on composition and allows photography and much more digital play. I took both courses senior year–I finished 24 pieces by january–and I got a 4 on drawing and a 3 on 2D. If you’re working mostly off the computer, it is very difficult to do well on 2D but definitely possible.</p>