What makes AP 3-D unique?

AP 3-D is very different from AP 2-D and AP Drawing. This class explores your 3-D abilities in an art portfolio. There are many categories to this:

  AP 3-D Art Mediums

• Figurative or nonfigurative sculpture, Architectural models, Metal work, Ceramics, Installation, Performance, Assemblage, 3-D fabric/fiber arts

Cited from CollegeBoard: https://blog.collegeboard.org/differences-between-ap-2-d-art-and-design-ap-3-d-art-and-design-and-ap-drawing 

Although all art portfolios look for your inquiry/investigation, the readers want to see how these mediums develop your ideas through practice, revision, and experimentation. This is the primary focus of your portfolio!

Overview

The AP 3-D Exam is composed of 3 sections:

• Written Evidence - Sustained Investigation (SI)

• Sustained Investigation - 15 Pieces (SI Works)

• Selected Works - Best of 5 (BO5)

In this review, I will be covering in this order: SI Works, BO5, Written Evidence -SI

The three parts are graded through the College Board Rubric found here:

https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap-art-and-design-portfolio-scoring-rubrics.pdf 

Sadly, there is no score calculator. Recently, the new rubric has weighed drawing and art skills more. Before, the SI weighed a larger part of the total score.

I'd recommend that students look at the Chief Reader Report from the previous years. This PDF documents what readers look for and helps identify weaknesses in portfolio submissions!

https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap24-cr-report-art-and-design.pdf 

After you’ve selected an inquiry for your portfolio, you can start working on your pieces! It’s okay to stray a bit off your inquiry or try something new. Your initial plan may not be your final one, and that’s perfectly fine.

Preparation

Some tips and brainstorming before drawing :)

THINK ABOUT YOUR INQUIRY.

Before you dive into the AP Digital Portfolio, you should think of a common theme you'd like to explore. This subject matter is composed as a question. Your theme is also known as your inquiry.

For example, my portfolio had the question:

Using a fish as a metaphor [for] my identity, how can I examine the separation and hybridity of differing thought processes that shape my every decision? 

Your portfolio can have multiple questions, but you should ask yourself how each piece relates to the inquiry/question. This inquiry/question is known as your sustained investigation (SI). VERY IMPORTANT.

DON'T PLAN ALL YOUR PIECES BEFOREHAND.

Your pieces should almost be a collection strung together. Drafting out all your pieces limits your journey of exploration as you move from piece to piece. 

TRY NEW MEDIUMS.

Have fun and try new mediums! It's okay to have a medium preference, but you also want to show your graders that you're capable of stepping out of your comfort zone. 

DO NOT SIGN YOUR PIECES.

You won't be able to submit them, or you'll have to crop that section. You can sign on the back of your piece if you'd like.

BE INSPIRED!

Be inspired by famous artists!! With the new citation section* being added, you can include inspirations to show your knowledge of art. It helps when you draw something purposely non-traditional. For example, if you decide to spill water on your piece for an effect, you could cite The Bay by Frankenthaler. Don't do this for every piece, but it will help during the written evidence's second question*.

COPYRIGHT.

Collegeboard is very serious when it comes to copyright issues. You cannot copy drawings that you see online and/or other drawings. Even if you slightly alter the reference photo, they may still flag you. This is why using your own photos as a reference is the best way to avoid possible issues.

SAVE EVERYTHING ON GOOGLE DOCS.

Create a Google Doc to keep all your writing because the AP Digital Portfolio page can crash, and will (personal experience). Always refresh the page every few minutes, BUT HIT SAVE FIRST. This saves you from accidents and helps keep track of character count.

PHOTOS, PHOTOS, AND PHOTOS

Last and most important thing: take lots of photos. Taking photos of your process or your reference images will save you time. Process photos with notes can make a whole piece by themselves. Self-referenced photos save you from citing images. You avoid copyright issues and the worry of trying to remember which sources you used.

*Will be reviewed in-depth later

Sustained Investigation Works (SI Works) 

This is the longest section of the portfolio. In this part, you submit 15 works with descriptions. As mentioned previously, your pieces are like a collection. Each piece ties into the next or the overall inquiry. The goal is to have around 10 or more completed art pieces. The other 5 can be notes or process pieces. In AP 3D, it's okay to go for 8 completed pieces because 3-D is generally more time-consuming. Additionally, it is important to make process notes for the ideas/processes that led up to the creation.

Your pieces will be part of 4 categories:

• Practice: Pieces that are usually a collage of notes. There is written and/or pictorial evidence of a medium study or a composition study.

For example:

• Revision: These take a practice or experimentation piece and expand upon it with either a deeper meaning or improved exploration. 

For example:

• Experimentation pieces are where you explore a new medium/process or artistic element. This can be trying new forms of 3-D, like architecture, or maybe even totems. There are plenty of different approaches for this category.

ORDERING YOUR PIECES 

The order of your pieces is essential to creating a strong showcase. There are a few methods, but I will be talking about the sandwich method and the story method. My AP 3D Portfolio used a mix of both.

SANDWICH METHOD

This method begins with the 3 best pieces in your portfolio. If any of them were a revision, then keep that separate. Put your 2nd or 3rd best piece in the beginning and then your 1st best piece at the end. If it’s a revision, then you can include the unrevised piece at no. 14, with no. 15 being the revised. Excluding the prior scenario, put your 2nd best in the beginning and then your 1st best at the end.

The remaining pieces should be wedged between these two. You’d like your worst piece (subjective to you) to be around the middle. Stronger pieces don't necessarily mean the best-looking; it could also be the ones with the best process or idea, too.

Here’s a chart to best understand how this method works:

You'd like to go from best to worst and then back to best. Your reader will be hooked on the portfolio by an amazing piece. Since graders skim the majority of portfolios, they'll pass through your less-strong pieces. When finished, they’ll see your best piece and a great portfolio.

*This method is great if you have only a few strong pieces that are generally in the SI category. Additionally, this is the best method for your BO5.

If you'd like a portfolio example of this method, check out the AP Drawing "Ordering Your Pieces" section.

STORY METHOD

This is a great method to use if you understand your inquiry. Your pieces' content connects easily with the next. 

The first step in the story method is to think about your inquiry. You can start introducing your story by asking yourself, "What is the context of this piece?"

For example:

• First, you introduce an issue that is affecting you.

• Next, you follow up with the reason why.

• Third, you see how those issues play out in your life.

• Lastly, you could introduce how you've resolved this conflict or a new perspective on it.

If you'd like a portfolio example of this method, check out the AP 2D "Ordering Your Pieces" section.

SI Pieces Writing

Congratulations! You finished making your pieces and ordering them. Now it's time to write about each piece. Grammar and complete sentences are not as important here. Using phrases helps convey ideas in the least amount of characters. This is going to take the most time during the uploading stage. Some advice here: you can do this writing before you order your pieces. There isn't one correct way to tackle your portfolio, so do what's best for you! I prefer writing my pieces before ordering them, so I can understand how I want my pieces to flow from one another. Again, it's up to you. There's nothing wrong with trying different approaches. The submission page has a gallery section where you can drag pieces in your desired order.

Each piece you submit will need some general information: (*Means required) 

Measurements:

A ruler or meter stick should be able to do the job well. If you're measuring, and the width is 10.9 inches, just round to 11. Only round when the height is within reason. 

Materials:

It's okay to include the brands of the material you're using, but only use full names if you have the space. Additionally, you can use this section to add information about why you chose to use certain mediums. This provides more context to your reader. (Super helpful if the written questions didn't give you enough space to express your full inquiry.)

Process:

Why? Ask yourself this question when tackling the process section. Talk about something unique you did to create this piece or why you used certain elements. This shows the niches of your investigation and provides additional context. In this section, you will also use the words "practiced," "experimented," and "revised" to convey your approach to these pieces/investigation.

I noticed many students answering questions with a head-on approach. There's nothing wrong with this if you're low on character count or it fits your portfolio; however, you can take advantage of the extra space to provide more context. I'll use my portfolio, for example.

Height: 11.5 in.

Width: 18 in.

Depth: 19 in.

Material(s): Cardboard, hot glue, colored pencils, sharpie to create comic-like line quality: represents a story

Process(es): Board layers create falling effect; I'm losing my culture as I avoid traditional expectations

Citation(s): NA

Written Evidence

This is the first section of the AP 3D portfolio; however, this doesn't mean to start this section first. You should start your writing and uploading approximately one month or two weeks before the submission deadline. Additionally, I start the written evidence section after I've uploaded all my pieces and writing into the SI Works section. This depends on how good your writing skills are and/or how many pieces you have. If you're a faster writer, then you can spend more time refining your pieces. In these examples, I will use my full response from my portfolio. :)

*Since Collegeboard publicly revealed these questions, I can too.*

These are the two questions presented on the exam: (2024)

1. Identify the inquiry that guided your sustained investigation. (600 characters)

Let's start with the first question:

This section should have two parts: the context of your inquiry and your SI questions.

• A good frame of reference for this section is to start with around 2 to 3 strong sentences about the context of your pieces. For example, in my AP 2D portfolio, I talked about how I wanted to better understand my cultural heritage. 

• Following these statements, around two questions about your exploration will complete the first question. A key tip here is to reference commonalities within your portfolio. 

• None of these rules or sentence structures is absolute. It depends on how much context your inquiry needs or how in-depth your questions are. The goal of this first question is to understand what this portfolio is about and how you approached the topic.

FOR EXAMPLE:

My life is filled with tension between adhering to traditional rules and the desire for freedom of expression. This led me to believe that success only comes from instructional ideology–muting my own values and self-discovery. My sustained investigation delves into the juxtaposition of beliefs as a Vietnamese American and an artist. Using a fish as a metaphor of my identity, how can I examine the separation and hybridity of differing thought processes that shape my every decision? How can I explore this conflict through self-portraits, architectural models, and repeated fish motifs?

-Minnow

Second question:

2. Describe ways your sustained investigation developed through practice, experimentation, and revision. (600 characters)

• This is the harder of the two questions. Before you begin writing this section, classify all your drawings into 4 categories*: practice, revision, experimentation, and SI. The SI category puts all the pieces that don't relate specifically to the other 3 categories. It is essential that you finish the SI Works category before writing this. This question will be around 3 to 4 sentences long.

*I'll elaborate on these categories in the SI-Works section.

• After organizing, notice certain things that are common between pieces. For example, there may be signs of symbolism and motifs in multiple pieces. Some pieces are inspired by certain artists, and/or there is a unique composition/perspective. When identified, make sure to put the respective piece numbers next to the category.

• In this section, it is essential to make "I" statements (I experimented... or I practiced...). Although this rule isn't true for all, make sure to include the words "practice," "revision," and "experimentation" in your sentences. This helps explicitly answer the question.

FOR EXAMPLE:

Using fish motifs through sculptural models, I explore an identity shaped by beliefs and experiences. I experiment with paper mache, cups, and cardboard (1,3,4,6) to better understand how my cultural identity shapes my journey. I practice drafting architectural blueprints and their real-life interactions (9,11,14) to propose how harmony can be found through contrasting ideas. I revise pieces (5,13) to merge my yearning for self-expression and the conventional outlined beliefs for success. Pieces (10,12,13) were influenced by Brutalist architect Le Corbusier and dynamic architect Zaha Hadid. 

-Minnow

Some more general tips!

• PAY ATTENTION TO CHARACTER COUNT! Don't go for unnecessarily elaborate terms if there's a simple way instead. Sometimes, I see people intentionally misspell words (not super misspelled) to save character count. Don't do this unless necessary.

• It's okay if you don't get all your ideas across! There are plenty of areas to elaborate on during the SI section. It's important here to get the general inquiry and art terms for the grader to understand your concentration and how you executed it.

• This is a little personal tip. My teacher was busy helping lots of students, so I didn't always have someone who could read my writing. Occasionally, I would throw my writing in ChatGPT to read over and find grammatical mistakes and/or ideas I missed. If the AI gave me a rating of around 9 or higher out of 10, I'd be satisfied and move on. Don't use AI to write your paper. It's a great tool to find the small mistakes that you may miss.

MORE COMING SOON!!