AP Drawing Units Explained

Last updated

30 November 2025

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If you are getting ready to take AP Drawing, you may be wondering about how you will build a strong portfolio. It can seem a little overwhelming to everyone at first.

AP Drawing isn’t like most of the other AP classes, where you study chapters and take a final AP exam to test your understanding. In AP Drawing, you’ll work on an art project over the school year, and your portfolio is your exam.

It’s easy to feel unsure about where to start, what to create, or how to make sure your work fits what the College Board wants. This guide breaks everything down so you can understand the course structure and plan your portfolio step by step.

Key Takeaways

AP Drawing has two main parts: Sustained Investigation (SI) and Selected Works (SW)
You’re graded on how you explore your idea, how you grow through practice, and how well you communicate visually through your drawing
Planning your work early helps you avoid last-minute panic and gives you time to grow as an artist

Overview of the AP Drawing Portfolio

Your AP Drawing portfolio (opens in a new tab) is made up of two different parts. Each of these will allow you to showcase different aspects of your artistic abilities. The Sustained Investigation and Selected Works portions will help you develop as an artist as you work through the processes.

AP Drawing (opens in a new tab) doesn’t have a final exam to test your knowledge. Instead, your portfolio becomes your final assessment. Each portion will be “graded” on specific criteria.

1. Sustained Investigation (15 Digital Images)

The SI portion of your portfolio will be made up of 15 digital images. These 15 pieces will show how you explored guiding questions or a theme over time. Sustained Investigation will be 60% of your score. Your images will show:

Your continued investigation via practice, experimenting, and revising
Continued exploration of different materials, processes, and ideas
How you bring your materials, processes, and ideas together
Drawing skills

You’ll also have to document your processes in writing by:

Explaining how questions guided your investigations
Showing how you continued to develop your work over time.

2. Selected Works (5 Finished Artworks)

You’ll choose five of your best works and present them in a digital format for the SW portion. Select works that show your strongest technical skills and your ability to communicate ideas clearly through your drawing. This will make up the other 40% of your score.

Artwork choices should demonstrate:

Your drawing skills
The processes you use to bring materials and ideas together

For each of the five pieces, you’ll need to describe in writing:

Your ideas
What materials you used
What processes were used
Citations for any ideas or other works you used in the process

You may select works from your Sustained Investigation section, but you do not have to. You can combine a group of related works, or they may not be related at all. It’s all up to you.

Unit-by-Unit Breakdown of AP Drawing

Unit 1 – Investigate Materials, Processes, and Ideas

This unit lets you explore how artists choose what to draw and the processes they take to make it. You’ll look at a variety of materials to help you choose what to use on your projects.

You’ll get to practice:

Exploring a variety of materials, ideas, and processes
Evaluating different types of art
Thinking about what you want to use to enhance your own work and designs
Exploring how art is influenced by tradition and culture

Unit 2 – Make Art and Design

The second unit focuses on various techniques and processes that artists use to create their works.

In Unit 2, you’ll practice things like:

Asking yourself questions that can help guide you as you create
Practicing, experimenting, and revising
Choosing and combining materials and processes
Using the basic principles and elements of art and design

Unit 3 – Present Art and Design

In your final unit of AP Drawing, you’ll look at various ways artists choose to display their artwork. This helps you decide how to create visual displays for viewers.

In Unit 3, you’ll practice:

Explaining how you use your ideas, materials, and processes to create your work
Describing how your work demonstrates your artistic abilities
Identifying thoughts and questions that guided your work
Pointing out how your artwork shows your experimentation, practice, and revision processes

How AP Drawing Is Assessed

What Evaluators Look For

You’ll submit both sections digitally. The two sections are graded separately. They will be viewed by experienced AP Art and Design teachers or faculty from higher education institutions.

Evaluators are called “AP Readers,” and they use a scoring rubric to determine each section’s score. You can check out previous student samples and scores (opens in a new tab).

Multiple readers will look at each section. If there is a huge difference in the two scores, your work will be sent to reading leaders for further review. What are they looking for?

Visual Evidence: Skillful use of ideas, materials, and processes
Synthesis: How you brought everything together into a single work
Technical Ability: Your mastery of drawing skills
Continued Investigation: How your artwork developed and deepened over time

Written Evidence: How clearly you can communicate about your visual works and explain your processes.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many units are in AP Drawing?

The College Board lists three official units. Your teacher will help you work through the units. These units may overlap a little as you work through the processes.

What’s the difference between Sustained Investigation and Selected Works?

The Sustained Investigation (opens in a new tab)part of your portfolio will contain pieces that show your question-based investigation of the art processes. It contains 15 images that document your questions, materials, ideas, and processes.

The Selected Works (opens in a new tab) part of your portfolio features five completed works that show how you used various materials, ideas, and processes to complete.

Can I use digital art?

Yes! All AP portfolios are submitted digitally. You’ll submit them through the AP Digital Portfolio (opens in a new tab). You’ll also need to list the specific digital tools you used, such as Photoshop or Procreate. You are not allowed to use any AI tools.

Do I need a theme?

Not exactly a theme, but you do need an inquiry question for your SI.

Your Selected Works can be about anything, they don’t need to match your inquiry. You’ll want to show the materials you investigated, but you can choose any topic that lets you explore and develop your artwork.

Final Thoughts

AP Drawing is your chance to explore what you care about while you grow as an artist. The units in this guide help you stay organized and build your portfolio step-by-step. Start experimenting early, pick an inquiry that matters to you, and don’t be afraid to take risks.

Evaluators want to see real exploration, they are not looking for perfection. If you plan ahead and work consistently, you can create a portfolio that both scores well and represents your artistic voice.

As you work through your AP courses, you can benefit from useful sources like the ones you will see on Save My Exams. We are on this journey with you to help you find the study aids you need to succeed.