IB Visual Arts SL study plan

Select three works from three different cultures or periods, at least one non-Western, and write a formal analysis of each covering composition, medium handling, scale, colour and spatial structure in 250 words per work

Annotate each selected work with a contextual fact file recording artist, date, place of production, patron or function, and intended audience, citing at least two sources per work

Build a comparison grid across the three works using shared formal and contextual criteria so that later conclusions rest on consistent evidence

Draft a working comparative-study question that your three works can actually answer, and test whether each work supplies evidence for it

Identify the strongest two connections and the sharpest two contrasts between your works, and write each as a claim supported by specific visual evidence rather than a general observation

Compare how medium and technique shape meaning in at least two works, explaining what the maker gained or lost through those material choices

Interpret one work through the function it served in its original setting and judge how that function changes your reading of its form

Revise your comparison grid after research and log every change with a one-line reason so the development of your thinking is visible

Write an informed conclusion that answers your comparative question and states what the comparison reveals that studying either work alone would not

Evaluate the reliability of each source you have used, flagging any claim you cannot verify and either removing it or marking it as uncertain

Check that every interpretive claim in the draft is anchored to a described visual detail, and cut or evidence any that are not

Restructure the draft so analysis, context and conclusion are clearly signposted for an examiner reading quickly

Run four timed material experiments of 45 minutes each, testing at least two unfamiliar media or processes and recording what each medium resists or allows

Photograph or scan every experiment and annotate each with the process, the variables changed and the observed outcome

Write a critical reflection on one experiment that failed, diagnosing the cause and stating what you will change next time

Research two artists whose processes relate to your experiments and note one technique from each that you can adapt

Develop your strongest experiment into a sustained inquiry across three successive iterations, changing one variable per iteration

State your artistic intention in two sentences and test whether each iteration moves closer to it or away from it

Refine one work by reworking a specific formal decision such as edge, surface or colour temperature, and document the before and after

Prune your portfolio to the experiments that genuinely advance your inquiry, archiving the rest with a one-line reason

Draft a shortlist of eight to ten resolved works and rank them by how convincingly they realise your stated intention

Test three different groupings of the shortlist and note what each arrangement makes the viewer notice or miss

Resolve two unfinished works to exhibition standard, addressing presentation, framing or mounting as part of the work

Write a first draft of the curatorial rationale explaining your selection and sequencing decisions

Finalise the selection to the required number of works and justify each inclusion and each exclusion in one sentence

Sequence the works so the viewer's path through the space builds a coherent argument, and sketch the hang with sightlines, heights and lighting noted

Revise the curatorial rationale so it explains the relationship between works and viewer rather than merely describing the works

Check each work against exhibition criteria: resolution, technical control, consistency with intention and quality of presentation

Install or simulate the exhibition and photograph it from a viewer's entry point to check the intended reading survives contact with the space

Run a full timed review of comparative study, process portfolio and exhibition against assessment descriptors, and list every gap

Fix the three highest-priority gaps identified in the review and re-check them

Proofread all written components for consistency of artist names, dates and terminology across the three components