NZ Scholarship Visual Arts study plan
NZ Scholarship Visual Arts · Give each week a clear focus.
8 weeks · About 6 hours per week
Design
Audit the Design achievement standards and identify the specific evidence required for each, such as the workbook, the portfolio of drawings, and the final outcome.
Deconstruct three high-achieving Design exemplars into their component parts: research, ideation, development, and resolution.
Establish a working digital or physical workbook system with dated entries that track concept development from initial brief to final outcome.
Write a one-page brief for a self-directed Design project that names a real audience, a purpose, and a measurable outcome.
Your checkpoint
A dated Design workbook containing the project brief, three annotated exemplar deconstructions, and at least ten initial concept sketches.
Design
Produce a suite of at least twenty thumbnail layout studies that explore typographic hierarchy, grid systems, and colour relationships.
Select and refine three distinct design directions, documenting the rationale for each in the workbook.
Test one design direction across three formats (for example poster, social asset, and packaging) to demonstrate systematic thinking.
Solicit and record critical feedback from a peer or mentor, then annotate how that feedback will change the work.
Your checkpoint
A refined Design workbook section containing twenty thumbnails, three developed directions, cross-format tests, and annotated feedback.
Painting
Analyse the Painting standards to distinguish between the requirements for a portfolio and those for a systematic body of work.
Conduct a colour-mixing study that produces at least fifteen documented swatches with written notes on transparency, opacity, and temperature.
Complete three rapid observational paintings (under 90 minutes each) that prioritise composition and value structure over detail.
Write a 200-word artist model comparison that identifies specific technical decisions in two painters' works.
Your checkpoint
A Painting workbook containing a colour-mixing reference sheet, three timed observational studies, and a written comparison of two artist models.
Painting
Develop one sustained painting (minimum A2) through at least three documented stages, photographing each stage and annotating the decisions made.
Demonstrate control of at least two distinct painting techniques or media within the sustained work.
Produce a critical self-evaluation that identifies one strength and one unresolved problem in the sustained painting.
Map a plan for a series of three related paintings that extends the sustained work's central idea.
Your checkpoint
One resolved sustained painting with a three-stage photographic record and a written self-evaluation and series plan.
Photography
Review the Photography standards and list the technical and conceptual evidence required for each grade band.
Shoot a minimum of 150 frames across three distinct lighting conditions, then edit down to twelve selects with written justification for each.
Demonstrate mastery of manual exposure by producing a test strip that shows the effect of varying aperture, shutter speed, and ISO on the same subject.
Analyse the sequencing logic of a published photobook or gallery hang, noting how images create meaning in relation to one another.
Your checkpoint
A Photography workbook containing a technical exposure test strip, a contact sheet of 150 frames, twelve justified selects, and a written sequence analysis.
Photography & Printmaking
Edit and sequence a portfolio of eight to ten photographs that communicates a clear conceptual through-line, with a written artist statement of 150 words.
Research three printmaking processes (for example intaglio, relief, and screenprint) and produce a comparison chart of their technical constraints and expressive possibilities.
Produce three small proof prints using one process, documenting ink consistency, registration, and paper choice.
Write a 200-word reflection connecting the sequencing decisions in the Photography portfolio to the conceptual possibilities of Printmaking.
Your checkpoint
A sequenced Photography portfolio with artist statement, plus a Printmaking comparison chart and three documented proof prints.
Printmaking & Sculpture
Develop one resolved Printmaking edition of at least five consistent pulls, recording registration and ink variables for each.
Analyse the Sculpture standards and identify the specific evidence required for spatial, material, and conceptual understanding.
Produce a maquette or small-scale Sculpture study that tests one structural or material idea, with annotated photographs.
Compare the role of materiality in your Printmaking edition and your Sculpture maquette in a 250-word written analysis.
Your checkpoint
A resolved Printmaking edition of five pulls with process notes, plus a documented Sculpture maquette and a written materiality analysis.
Sculpture
Complete one resolved Sculpture work that demonstrates intentional decision-making about scale, material, and site or viewer relationship.
Document the resolved Sculpture from at least four viewpoints and annotate how viewpoint changes the work's meaning.
Compile a final portfolio across all five domains, selecting the strongest evidence and writing a 300-word curatorial rationale.
Conduct a timed mock submission review against the Scholarship criteria, identifying two remaining weaknesses and a plan to address them.
Your checkpoint
A complete cross-domain portfolio with curatorial rationale and a written mock-review action plan.
Milestones
Week 2: Design workbook demonstrates a complete cycle from brief to tested directions, with at least twenty thumbnails and annotated feedback.
Week 4: One sustained Painting is resolved through three documented stages, and a written self-evaluation identifies a clear next step.
Week 6: Photography portfolio of eight to ten sequenced images is complete with artist statement, and three Printmaking proof prints are documented.
Week 8: All five domains have resolved evidence; the final portfolio includes a curatorial rationale and a mock-review action plan.