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any AP classes on campus find themselves at the center of student-bred rumors: the infamous Calculus midterms, the dreaded and now “extinct” APUSH outlines. AP Art is no exception. Surrounding the class is a cloud of mystery; it doesn’t help that only eleven seniors know exactly what happens in AP Art.

According to Taylor Cripe, the AP Art teacher and an artist himself, a major requirement of the class is the completion of a 24 piece portfolio, a mix of experimental and comfortable. The catch is that they get less than two weeks on each piece, and the expectation is nothing short of exceptional. AP Art alumni Sarah Kim, now a freshman at Stanford considering a career in art, immediately brought up the time-crunch when asked about the difficulties of the course.

“Because the class is pretty unstructured, you really need to keep yourself accountable. If you fall behind on your pieces, it’s really hard to catch up. I would guess that the same is true for certain careers in art,” Kim said.

Cripe said he shares a similar opinion as former student Kim.

“As an AP Art teacher, I talk a lot about efficiency. I take the skills that my students already have and speed them up,” Cripe said.

Even when pressed for time, the artwork that the students produce is worthy of praise, and it is obvious that Cripe feels tremendous pride in his student’s work.

“I love being on the ground level of discovery, I have all this built up knowledge and energy when it comes to art and I like throwing stuff at my students: do this or try that! They take it in and take their art 30 different directions!” Cripe said.

Brenden Koo and Hannah Oh are just two of the few students enrolled in the class. They, just like the typical art student, are passionate, driven, and, ironically, atypical. They both have their individual styles they are working on improving.

“I’m more focused on my own styles of artwork than when I was younger. That was the time for me to explore the professionals, but now is when I’m looking at my own work,” Koo said.

Both Oh and Koo hope to take their unique styles with them as they go on to major in art-related fields, the same way Kim did a year ago. Whatever they do, they will remain artists.  They will remain the kids that never stopped drawing, never gave it up for other things.