What It Means To Be Human | AP Art Portfolio

Instructions

Its finally over. After years of wondering if I should bother taking such a class. After finally coming to a decision, one that lead to both excitement and regret. After walking into that class room. After brainstorming and brainstorming and finally putting pen to paper. After restless days and sleepless nights. After finally drawing that last stroke. I've finished my AP art portfolio, and its time to bear my year of work to the world. Anyway that was a bit dramatic BUT I DESERVE TO FEEL COOL!! T0T I've shown some pieces from my portfolio already but its been a good while. And it was mainly because I thought why not wait until I can make a project showing all of them! And its time!! I know I'm being dramatic but it makes me so happy I not only finished this (there were times I thought I wouldn't) but that ultimately, I'm happy with it! So happy with it and maybe I should wait until after its all graded but I don't want to. I wanna talk about each one and the process and stress and everything! So yapping ahead be warned!! Its far from the best, trust me one thing I've gained from AP art was imposter syndrome, and there's definitely so much I would change given more time. But this is the end and that's ok. Even with all its faults, I present to you my portfolio, 10 pieces all coming together to answer the question, "How has humanity stayed the same throughout history and culture?" Or more simply, What does it mean to be human? 1. The Human Affinity to Create - How could I, an artist, not make my first piece on art itself? From the stone architecture of the Aztecs to modern day pixel art, I wanted to show as many styles and ages of art I possible could. All so different in their subject, medium, time, or place brought together in a digital collage. And they all lead to me in my humble corner creating art, the same as humans did thousands of years before me, only because of their foundations. I honestly don't know how I made this and I still love it. This acts as sorta the foundation of my portfolio, as style emulation and meshing of different stories become constants in the many pieces. All in all, this is one of my favorites (and I hope its a few of your favorites too! :D) 2. The Human Affinity to Gossip - Funnily enough the last piece was really ambitious and took way too long. I wanted my next one to be simple, easy, so I could catch up. And I made a simple concept (one that comes back later) but I wasn't feeling it. Then, all of a sudden I borrowed my friend's pastels ("How do you even draw with them? Lemme try!") made, trust me, the worst sketch of my life, that somehow inspired me to make my next piece about historical (and 2 mythological) women gossiping at a spa day like besties! And for some reason I made it a 3D diorama, cuz I definitely had time for that and its totally not a 2D drawing class!! Anyway I twisted it to represent how the spread of oral tradition and rumors has been a human constant, shaping our perspectives on history and each other. Between you and me, I just wanted draw some girlies hanging out! From left to right: Queen Moremi of Nigeria, Marie Antoinette of France, Cleopatra of Egypt, Helen of Troy, Joan de Arc, and Queen Nzinga of Ndongo (plus her manservant). Explaining all their character design choices would take way too long and I'm only on , but do a wiki deep dive!! All these women's lives are so interesting and I loved incorporating all the things I learned into each figure! 3. The Human Affinity to Love - Not my favorite, but its more because of what it could have been more than what it actually look like. The tree is a reference to Adam & Eve, the first lovers. Even if you don't believe that, they are the only creation story from all the religions I researched that begin with marriage and thus love at its core, and I just had to include that! From them, sprouted countless other love stories, each represented by a fruit. That's where the disappointment comes in. This was my first oil painting, and I overestimated how much detail I'd be able to show with it. I wanted to engrave a couple on each fruit, but I just couldn't manage to make it look good and had to scrap it all together. Now I feel the fruit choices look random and empty, but even so, I think I did the best with what I had. Guess which couples I wanted to draw! Or tell me your fave historical/mythological love stories!! 4. The Human Affinity to Thrive for the Impossible - Zoom & use the arrows to see the whole thing! Has humanity not always yearned to break past its mortal bounds? From the people of Babel, wishing to build a tower to the heavens, to scientists harnessing the power of lighting! From humans planting their flag on the peak of Everest to planting it on the moon, and then what next? Our timeless desire for more might not always end in victory, but that never stopped Icarus from touching the sun, so why let it stop us? Psst! Icarus's design is just my OC, don't tell anyone! XD