What makes AP Drawing unique?

AP Drawing wants you to focus more on your artistic abilities through certain mediums. Surface manipulation is a key part of your pieces. Unlike AP 2D, you can't use photography, fabric weaving, etc., as full pieces. 

AP Drawing Mediums/Focus

• Drawing (Analog or Digital), Painting, Printmaking, Mixed Media Work

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 processes and materials, AP Drawing focuses on elements of art and your abilities. They still want to see how you develop your ideas through practice, revision, and experimentation. However, there will be more focus on demonstrated art skills in your portfolio. 

Overview

The AP Drawing 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:

How can I gain a balance between immersion and deprivation? 

Your portfolio can have multiple questions, but you should ask yourself how each piece relates to the inquiry/investigation. 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 theme. The goal is to have around 10 or more completed art pieces. The other 5 can be notes or process pieces.

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:

Here is one of the old practice pieces. I liked to collage my pieces with the notes to show the execution and planning. The investigation in my 2023 portfolio was about cultural understanding; thus, I gained a deeper understanding of cultural architecture through research and decomposition.

I will detail some tools for collaging and tips for submitting/uploading the portfolio in a separate section.

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

For example:

Here is the revised piece of 13. I expanded upon the architecture by using a photo of a temple I took in Vietnam. I also wanted to investigate my inquiry by incorporating the idea about "fading"—the fading of tradition and structure.

• Experimentation pieces are where you explore a new medium/process or artistic element. This can be trying bird's eye perspective or spilling tea on paper as a background. 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.

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.

I personally used this during my Drawing portfolio!!

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.

I'll use my portfolio as an example in this section:

P.S.: My portfolio is personal, so there will be some cut-out sections. There are embarrassing sections in my concentration, but that's the fun of these portfolios! 

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.

This will also matter when you go from a practice/experimentation piece into a revision piece:

Height: N/A

Width: N/A

Depth: N/A

Material(s): Pencils and Microns to form architectural analysis of traditional buildings.

Process(es): Practice studies of decomposition of important cultural architecture.

Citation(s): (Not introduced yet)

Height: 19 in.

Width: 24 in.

Depth: 0 in.

Material(s): Pencil and Microns to create a fading and also a revealing effect of the temple.

Process(es): Revision of 13. The details of atmospheric perspective reveal my sharpening view of my culture.

Citation(s): NA

• It's important to establish which piece you're revising. Saying things explicitly helps avoid miscommunication with graders. 

• Here, I made sure not to say cultural expression twice. Although Piece 6 mentions culture, the revised version focuses more on the meaning of the architecture rather than the understanding.

• For citations, they generally ask for a link and the subject. If it's a long link that can't be copied and pasted, I try putting in the name and artist instead. If there is more information on this, I'll link it later.

I know that was a lot, but it's important here to keep trying. With consistent practice, the writing should start to flow naturally. You got this!!

Selected Works (Best of 5 -BO5)

This section is one of the easiest! You pick five of your strongest pieces and showcase them here. I recommend using the sandwich method to order your pieces here. There is only one additional element in this section. The goal of BO5 is to show your strongest 2-D design elements. These pieces don't have to be part of your SI-Works. Keep in mind, the reader of this section does not read your SI-Works or Written Evidence. This section is completely separate.

You have an additional idea section here to elaborate on the concept of your piece. This idea can provide specific niche information or even be part of the inquiry you're trying to explore. Make sure not to repeat ideas as you start answering ideas, materials, and processes.  

Example:

The BO5 is a great way to show your skills, and that's what the readers are looking for. The next section will be the last one! You're almost done!

Written Evidence

This is the first section of the AP Drawing 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.

*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 Drawing Portfolio, I talked about my new viewpoint after visiting the motherland—immersion in and deprivation from my culture. 

"Through my art I want to investigate this fascinating infusion I witnessed in the country of my ancestors." -Minnow

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. 

For example:

"How can I gain a balance between immersion and deprivation?" -Minnow

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.

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:

"I practiced composition (5, 9, 11) to show balance and duality and practiced techniques in (7, 13) to represent differing ideologies that conflict with one another." -Minnow

If you'd like a full essay response, head to the AP 3D "Written Evidence" section.

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.

SUMMARY (for low-attention span)

I know this review is lengthy, but here is a shortened version with fewer niche details and personal experiences. In AP Drawing, the goal is to test how you express your inquiry and artistic abilities through your drawing skills.

AP Drawing has 3 parts:

• Sustained Investigation Works - These are the 15 pieces you will be submitting that surround a certain inquiry/investigation. The pieces can be separated into categories of practice, revision, experimentation, and SI.

• Selected Works (Best of 5) - These are 5 of your best pieces that showcase your drawing abilities to a separate grader. 

• Written Evidence - There are two main questions here. One is about what your inquiry/question you're exploring is, and the other is about how you executed it with practice, revision, and experimentation.

There are submission requirements for each section mentioned in the full review. This, however, is the overview of what this AP covers and requires in a full submission. Good luck to you all!!

UPLOADING TIPS AND TOOLS

Uploading all the images and collaging everything can take hours, but with these tools, it shouldn't be as difficult.

IPAD + PROCREATE

• I used Procreate to collage all my photos. It's helpful because Procreate allows exports in JPEG, PDF, and many more formats. You can also write your notes and erase parts of a drawing to give the piece a finished look. Procreate costs $10, but I heard other similar art platforms also work. A few would be Krita or Ibis Paint (I haven't tried these out).

• Using the camera functions on my iPad saved me so much time. Being able to crop, angle, tilt, and rotate my images helps when the photo taken isn't the best. AirDrop was also helpful when moving images from device to device. If you use Android (I had Android when making my AP Drawing portfolio), email works just as well for transferring photos.

• For photo taking, I recommend using natural sunlight!

COLLAGING

• Collageable is a free app, though exports include a watermark unless you upgrade to premium. If you're looking for free tools without watermarks, Canva and Pixlr are great alternatives.

• Canva: This is my personal favorite because I even use these to make posters. It's an amazing free resource and exporter.

• Here are some I've heard of but have never used: Fotor, Pixlr Photo Collage, PhotoJoiner, and FotoJet.

SNAPCHAT

• This is a weird recommendation, but Snapchat is actually a lifesaver when your images are too large in file size. If you send the photo to yourself on SC, it will be the correct size for uploading! If you can't get SC, there are plenty of file shrinkers online.

FAQs

Can I use AI?

• No, you cannot use AI for drawing. You could use AI to help generate ideas, but I do not recommend this. AI for grammatical issues is okay!

What if my inquiry changes halfway?

• That's okay! You'll just have to tie in another question that connects your themes. This also allows you to make strong revision pieces and possibly a more story-like investigation.

How many mediums should I know how to use?

• I'd recommend being proficient with at least two mediums. I used Microns and alcohol markers the most, but through these courses, I learned how to use Prismacolor colored pencils and graphite! You don't have to know how to use every medium (I touched paint only twice through all 3 AP art classes), but just one or two to create strong pieces. AP Studio is about growth and exploration!

Can I use filters on my self-taken photos?

• No filters can be used. This is a new rule that was introduced in 2025.

What should the size of my pieces be?

• There is no perfect size, but too-small pieces may cause issues. If your pieces are larger, the readers tend to understand that they will take longer to create. Small pieces are associated with less time. Experiment and mess with different sizes! My personal favorite is 24 in. by 19 in. Bristol Board :)

Resources

There aren't many resources that I know of. I mainly looked on YouTube or Instagram to see people's example pieces.

Collegeboard AP Drawing Examples 

• This is a perfect way of seeing people's pieces, both good and okay. A few key things to note, though: First, try not to compare yourself to these artists. There is a reason why these portfolios are displayed on the main website. Second, don't copy people's response structure word for word. Every artist has a style to them; it is up to you to find out what writing best suits you!

https://www.youtube.com/@caamileon 

• You could honestly look up AP Drawing on YouTube and find a bunch of example portfolios, but I like to watch Camileon. She posts great content, and she has a very distinct style. 

Critique

• This isn't a page resource, but it is essential as an artist. Most AP Drawing classes have a "critique day" where students put their pieces on the board to be presented. It helps you track how much progress you've made in a given time frame. Additionally, getting outside opinions about your art helps find appealing and unappealing parts that can be improved. 

I hope you all enjoyed this section and its resources!!