International Baccalaureate · IB Diploma
Visual Arts · HL
Papers, samples and curriculum documents for this course.
Handouts, exercise sheets and slides
Shared topic documents retain their source course and topic titles. Use your chosen board’s specification for coverage, tier and exam requirements.
Handouts · AP 2-D Art and Design (6)
Exercise sheets · AP 2-D Art and Design (40)
- 1.1 Line
- 1.2 Shape and Form
- 1.3 Value
- 1.4 Color
- 1.5 Texture
- 1.6 Space
- 2.1 Balance
- 2.2 Emphasis and Focal Point
- 2.3 Contrast
- 2.4 Movement and Rhythm
- 2.5 Pattern and Repetition
- 2.6 Proportion and Scale
- 2.7 Unity and Variety
- 2.8 Composition
- 3.1 Drawing Media
- 3.2 Painting Media
- 3.3 Printmaking
- 3.4 Collage and Mixed Media
- 3.5 Photography and Lens-Based Media
- 3.6 Digital Art and Design
- 3.7 Graphic Design and Illustration
- 4.1 Inquiry and Asking Questions
- 4.2 Sources of Ideas and Experiences
- 4.3 Materials, Processes, and Ideas
- 4.4 Art and Design in Context
- 4.5 Evaluating Art and Design
- 4.6 Documentation and the Process Journal
- 5.1 The Sustained Investigation
- 5.2 Practice, Experimentation, and Revision
- 5.3 Synthesis of Materials, Processes, and Ideas
- 5.4 Demonstrating 2-D Skills
- 5.5 Composition and Craft in Making
- 5.6 Developing Ideas Over Time
- 6.1 The AP 2-D Art and Design Portfolio
- 6.2 Sustained Investigation: Images and Written Evidence
- 6.3 Selected Works: Demonstrating Skills
- 6.4 Writing About Your Work
- 6.5 Presentation and Image Quality
- 6.6 Understanding the Scoring Guidelines
- 6.7 Academic Integrity and Citing Sources
Course units and learning goals
These lessons teach selected course objectives. Check the remaining coverage gaps; the material is not a complete preparation programme.
Comparative study · Visual analysis, context and comparison
- Analyse formal qualities, function and cultural significance
- Compare at least three artworks by at least two artists with reliable attribution
- composition
- Organization of visual elements within an artwork.
- formal qualities
- Visible and material properties such as line, colour, form and space.
Process portfolio · Material inquiry and iterative development
- Experiment with media and document development
- Evaluate how research, trials and reflection change artistic intentions
- iteration
- A repeated trial informed by the result of an earlier one.
- material investigation
- Purposeful exploration of a medium's possibilities and limits.
Exhibition · Resolved artworks and curatorial rationale
- Resolve works that communicate coherent intentions
- Plan an exhibition and justify selection, arrangement and audience relationship
- curatorial rationale
- An explanation of selection and arrangement for an exhibition.
- resolved artwork
- An artwork developed to communicate its intended meaning.
HL connections · Comparative research and own practice
- Connect comparative-study findings to personal art-making
- Evaluate transformation rather than imitation
- negative space
- Space around and between the main forms.
- artistic influence
- A researched idea or practice that informs another artist's decisions.
Preparing for this qualification
- Current SL/HL: comparative study 20%, process portfolio 40%, exhibition 40%. No written examination. First assessment 2027 replaces these with art-making inquiries portfolio, SL connections study/HL artist project and resolved artworks.
- Current SL exhibition selects 4–7 works; HL 8–11. SL process portfolio 9–18 screens, HL 13–25; comparative study 10–15 screens plus 3–5 HL screens linking own practice. Use school-selected artists and licensed/credited images.
Teaching coverage still needed
- Credited real artist/artwork studies, art-making-form guide requirements and actual portfolios/exhibition remain; 2027 course needs separate package.
- Reviewed runtime bank remains unavailable; no practice registry promotion.
Specifications and sample documents
- Visual Arts — Subject brief · 2016 ↗
First assessment: 2016
- Visual Arts — Subject brief · 2027 ↗
First assessment: 2027
Course materials
Course preparation
Documents are available. Board-specific notes, assessments and interactive past-paper practice are not yet available for every course.
Lessons →