1.1 Inquiry-Based Practice

Art as inquiry

AP Drawing centers on inquiry — you develop a guiding question or idea and investigate it visually across a body of work, letting each piece build on the last.

Sustained Investigation

The portfolio's Sustained Investigation (15 works) shows this inquiry: practice, experimentation, and revision guided by your question over time.

Personal direction

Your inquiry should be genuinely yours — driven by your interests and questions, not a set assignment. A strong question is open enough to explore in many works.

Key terms

Inquiry-based practice

develop and investigate a guiding question visually

Guiding question

an open idea explored across many works

Sustained Investigation

15 works showing practice, experiment, revision

Personal direction

the inquiry is genuinely your own

Revision

reworking pieces as your inquiry develops

Try an AP-style question

In AP Art & Design, an inquiry is…

1. an assignment given by your teacher
2. a finished artwork for the portfolio
3. a famous style that you copy
4. a question that guides your artmaking