Present: Communication and the AP Portfolio

Big Idea 3 is about presenting your work. The AP exam is a portfolio 作品集 — not a written test. It has two sections, both submitted digitally.

The portfolio is a 15-image Sustained Investigation plus 5 Selected Works, submitted as digital images

• The Sustained Investigation 持续探究 section: 15 images showing inquiry, practice, experimentation, and revision, plus written evidence.
• The Selected Works 精选作品 section: 5 works that best show your 2-D skills, with written information.
• Works may be physical or digital, but all are submitted as digital images. There is no timed exam — the portfolio is built across the whole course.

The Sustained Investigation (15 images, plus written evidence) is weighted more than Selected Works (5 pieces)

The Sustained Investigation is judged on the inquiry and the practice, experimentation, and revision it shows.

• Submit 15 images — works and process documentation that show the investigation over time.
• Provide written evidence 书面材料: identify the guiding questions 引导性问题, and describe how the work shows practice, experimentation, and revision.
• Images should tell the story of the inquiry, not just show finished pieces. Detail and in-progress shots are allowed.

The Selected Works section shows your best evidence of 2-D skills 二维技能 and synthesis of materials, processes, and ideas.

• Submit 5 works (physical or digital) as high-quality images.
• For each, give the materials, processes, and ideas used, plus the size.
• These works are judged mainly on the skilful use of the elements and principles; they need not belong to the sustained investigation.

Writing communicates your inquiry, processes, and ideas to viewers who cannot ask you questions.

• Written evidence must fit within the College Board character limits 字数限制 — be concise and specific.
• State the guiding question(s) of the sustained investigation clearly.
• Describe how the work shows practice, experimentation, and revision — use evidence, not vague claims.

How work is presented affects how viewers interpret it — image quality is part of the grade.

• Photograph work with even lighting, sharp focus, true colour, and no distracting background.
• Crop to the work; avoid glare, shadows, and tilted edges (keystoning 梯形失真).
• Follow the required file formats and sizes; keep resolution 分辨率 high. Poor images can hide real skill.

Both sections are scored against published scoring guidelines 评分标准 — knowing them helps you build the portfolio.

• The Sustained Investigation is scored on inquiry and on evidence of practice, experimentation, and revision.
• Selected Works are scored on 2-D skills and the synthesis of materials, processes, and ideas.
• Readers use visual evidence in the work plus your writing to apply the criteria. Design your work with the criteria in mind — not to a formula.

Portfolios must be your own work; using others' work without permission or citation is a serious violation.

• Work based on published or photographic sources 参考来源 you did not create must move far beyond duplication and cite 注明出处 the source.
• Never present another artist's work — or an AI-generated image — as your own.
• Citing influences shows integrity 诚信, not weakness. When in doubt, work from your own photos, observation, and imagination.

Worked example (portfolio written evidence). For the Sustained Investigation you write a short statement about your inquiry and how the work developed. A strong statement links idea, materials, and change: "My inquiry asked how repetition can show the passing of time. I began with pencil grids, then moved to printmaking so I could repeat one image with small changes, revising the spacing in later prints to slow the visual rhythm." One or two sentences that connect idea → process → revision score far better than a description of the finished pictures alone.

• Know the two sections: the sustained investigation (15 images) and selected works (5 works).
• Use images for process, not only finished pieces, and name the guiding question in the writing.
• Write specifically and within the character limits — point to visible evidence.
• Photograph well: even light, true colour, avoid keystoning, and keep resolution high.
• Keep it your own work: transform any sources far beyond copying and cite them.