Students nominate the aspect of Visual Arts they would like to engage with at the beginning of the course. This is particularly important for students that need a Portfolio for university applications. Students can choose the content of the course in line with each of these disciplines to create a high-quality Portfolio from their study in the Visual Arts.

IBDP Visual Arts embraces a wide variety of expressive approaches. Students investigate and see themselves within a historical/cultural context. They learn to extend their use of materials and concepts beyond traditional boundaries. Both intellectual and emotional learning are developed through the study of visual arts. While students are introduced to advanced processes and materials, the media they choose to use throughout the two years of the course is at their discretion. Through the investigation and experimental phases, students discover the most appropriate media and approach. The course rapidly becomes very personal.

The course encompasses a wide range of activities designed to encourage students to explore and discover new possibilities in the visual arts. 

Students develop ideas and themes for their studio work and refine their skills in the Visual Arts Journal. New art processes and concepts, the use of media, and learning research techniques that yield many possibilities for studio works are the driving force for work in the Visual Arts Journal. Gallery visits, drawings, experiments with materials and approaches, and historical and critical analysis are included. Divergent and convergent strategies are employed. In the studio, students develop an exciting and highly personal portfolio of work in preparation for their exam/show. 

The portfolio of work serves a second purpose for those who choose to attend post-secondary education in the visual arts; it can form the basis of their university admissions portfolio.

In studio work the examiner is looking for evidence of: 

• experimentation and the development of ideas in artwork leading to successful resolution 

• the selection and use of a variety of artistic and cultural strategies, media and styles 

• an ongoing process of review, modification and refinement 

• inventive approaches to experimentation and exploration using diverse strategies, ideas, techniques and media 

• the ability to select and employ materials appropriately leading to coherent use of materials 

• the development of a sense of self in relation to other people, places and times 

• cultural and historical sources being used appropriately to inform and construct artwork 

• knowledge of how to make informed reflective, critical judgments, and use them when evaluating their own studio work (HLA/SLA) or the ability to pose questions and work towards solving their own problems (HLB/SLB)

In the visual arts journal is not externally assessed. The teacher examiner is looking for evidence of: 

• depth and breadth of ideas in relation to exploration of arts in historical and cultural contexts 

• coherent, focused and individual investigative strategies into visual qualities 

• the use of diverse strategies for investigating artworks through theory and practice, examining visual qualities, ideas and contexts 

• the ability to use vocabulary and language accurately in relation to discussing art and art-making 

• clearly communicated ideas presented via text and image in an effective and aesthetic manner 

• work presented articulately, thoughtfully, coherently and comprehensively 

• a range of primary and secondary sources included in the sample pages and fully referenced 

• practical use of varied skills, techniques and processes, using experimental and sustained approaches in order to develop artmaking ideas VISUAL ARTS communicating in context methods 27 

• the application and use of a variety of skills, techniques and processes when writing, discussing, interpreting and responding to artworks and presenting reasoned opinions 

• the practical application of studies of selected topics both in depth and in breadth 

• connections between the student’s work and the work of others 

• a variety of skills, techniques and processes that demonstrate the relationship between investigation and studio

• visual literacy and observation skills 

• visual research and in-depth investigation 

• the ability to experiment with a range of visual solutions for communicating their intentions 

• critical analysis of artwork 

• to consider the social, historical, geographical and cultural influences on art

External assessment – 60%

Comparative study (20%): to complete the task, you are required to present a comparative study of at least three artworks by at least two different artists from different and contrasting cultural contexts; the work should be selected from work you have investigated as a part of your independent coursework, and will be explored further and presented as a series of screen-based slides 

SL 

• SL students submit 10–15 screens, which examine and compare at least three artworks, objects or artifacts, at least two of which need to be by different artists 

• the works selected for comparison and analysis should come from differing cultural contexts 

• SL students submit a list of sources used

HL 

• HL students submit 10–15 screens, which examine and compare at least three artworks, objects or artifacts, at least two of which need to be by different artists 

• the works selected for comparison and analysis should come from differing cultural contexts 

• HL students submit 3–5 screens, which analyse the extent to which their work and practices have been influenced by the art and artists examined 

• HL students submit a list of sources used

Process portfolio (40%): to complete the task, you are required to present documentation of your experimentation, exploration, manipulation and refinement of a variety of visual arts activities during the development of your body of work over the two-year course; the documentation may include carefully chosen samples, which may be extracted from your visual arts journal and other sketchbooks, notebooks and portfolios, as well as preliminary and developmental artworks that have not been included in the exhibition task; the work is submitted as a series of screen-based slides

SL 

• SL students submit 9–18 screens, which evidence their sustained experimentation, exploration, manipulation and refinement of a variety of art-making activities 

• the submitted work must be in at least two art-making forms, each from separate columns of the art-making forms table 

• the submitted screens must not include any resolved works submitted for part 3: exhibition internal assessment task

HL 

• HL students submit 13–25 screens, which evidence their sustained experimentation, exploration, manipulation and refinement of a variety of art-making activities 

• the submitted work must have been created in at least three artmaking forms, selected from a minimum of two columns of the art-making forms table 

• the submitted screens must not include any resolved works submitted for part 3

Internal assessment – 40%

Exhibition: to complete the task, you are required to present an exhibition of your resolved artworks together with accompanying exhibition text (which states the title, medium, size and a brief outline of the original intentions of each selected artwork) and a curatorial rationale; you will need to document your exhibition electronically

SL exhibition internal assessment task 

• SL students submit a curatorial rationale that does not exceed 400 words 

• SL students submit 4–7 artworks; (you are permitted to submit up to two additional photographs in support of each submitted artwork; these additional supporting photographs or screenshots are intended to enable you to provide an enhanced sense of scale or specific detail to the submitted artwork; these additional photographs are optional) 

• SL students submit exhibition text stating the title, medium and size of the artwork and short (maximum 500 characters) explanation of intent for each selected artwork 

• SL students may submit two photographs of their overall exhibition; they will not be assessed or used to assess the individual artworks

HL exhibition internal assessment task

• HL students submit a curatorial rationale that does not exceed 700 words 

• HL students submit 8–11 artworks (you are permitted to submit up to two additional photographs in support of each submitted artwork; these additional supporting photographs or screenshots are intended to enable you to provide an enhanced sense of scale or specific detail to the submitted artwork; these additional photographs are optional) 

• HL students submit exhibition text stating the title, medium and size of the artwork and short (maximum 500 characters) explanation of intent for each selected artwork 

• HL students may submit two photographs of their overall exhibition; they will not be assessed or used to assess the individual artworks