The AP Art and Design portfolio, explained with examples

01The structure, for each course

All three AP Art and Design courses (2-D Art and Design, 3-D Art and Design and Drawing) use the same two-part portfolio. The differences are in the skills each emphasizes and how many images the selected works need. Figures are from College Board's assessment pages for each course.

02The Sustained Investigation

This is a body of work driven by a question you set yourself. College Board asks for written evidence of the inquiry that guided it and of how the work developed through practice, experimentation and revision. Process images count toward the 15, so it is not 15 finished pieces: sketches, tests and revisions are part of the evidence.

College Board publishes scored samples with rationales. In its 2023 samples, a Drawing investigation that scored the top mark on the skills row was described as showing substantial evidence of advanced drawing skills, while a 3-D sample scored lower because its applied skills could have been more varied and evolved through the investigation.

• Start with a question, not a theme: "How can I show the passage of time in a single image?" beats "Time".
• Show change: the work should develop, not repeat one solution 15 times.
• Include process: tests, failures and revisions are evidence of inquiry.
• Write plainly: the written evidence should say what you asked, tried and changed.

03The Selected Works

Five works that show your strongest skills and ideas. They can come from the sustained investigation or elsewhere. For each, you write a description of your ideas, materials and processes, and cite any sources of ideas or pre-existing images; College Board notes formal APA or MLA citations are not required.

Choose work that shows synthesis of materials, processes and ideas, not just technical polish. Images may not be duplicated between portfolios, and portfolios cannot be combined.

04Scoring and deadline

Components are scored separately against published rubrics, and the scores combine into the final 1 to 5 AP score. The rubrics are in College Board's scoring rubrics PDF; reading them before you start is the single most useful thing you can do.

Portfolios are submitted through the AP Digital Portfolio. For 2027 the AP Program deadline is Friday May 7 at 11:59pm ET, and three components must be submitted as final: Sustained Investigation images, Sustained Investigation written evidence, and Selected Works. Your teacher or coordinator may set an earlier date.

05Using it for college applications

An AP portfolio makes a strong start on a college art portfolio, but colleges often want more range than a single investigation. Add observational drawings and a few pieces in other media. Art portfolio examples covers what art schools ask for, and a simple portfolio site can hold everything for interviews; what makes a good portfolio website covers the build.

06A month-by-month plan

Photograph work as you make it. Recreating process images in April is hard and usually shows.

• September and October: read the rubrics and choose your investigation question.
• November to February: make work, photographing process as you go.
• March: review the 15 images as a set; replace the weakest and fill gaps in the story.
• April: write the written evidence and selected works descriptions; get teacher feedback.
• Early May: upload, check every image and submit as final before your teacher's deadline.