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The Writing Part:

1) Identify the inquiry that guided your sustained investigation.

  • State the question(s) you investigated. (A theme is not an inquiry. Write it as a question!)
  • Explain the idea(s) you investigated/explored/developed.
  • Describe what you explored and discovered over the course of your investigation.
  • How did your inquiry ideas develop or change through your investigation?

 

2) Describe ways your sustained investigation developed through practice, experimentation, and revision.

  • What/how did you practice?
  • What did you learn through practicing, or how did your skills develop?
  • How did you experiment? What risks did you take?
  • How did these experiments lead to discoveries that developed your investigation?
  • What revisions or changes did you make?
  • Why did you make those revisions?

List of Example Inquiry Questions

Examples 1

AP 2D Art & Design Inquiry Questions

1. How can individual experiences and pressures affect a teenager’s subconscious thoughts and actions?
2. How can I bridge traditional Chinese calligraphic processes and modern technology to make art accessible to the masses?
3. How does emotional suppression of young Black girls manifest in art and what are the detrimental effects?
4. How can I contrast strict and loose interpretations of the Bible to reflect how Christians behave toward others?
5. How does race influence how the artist is viewed and how they view themselves?
6. What role does political opinion play in shaping a person’s voice and how can art explore the silent majority?
7. How can stereotypes about listeners of certain music genres be expressed visually?
8. How can a socially anxious girl’s fear of being talked about behind her back be portrayed using mouths as a symbol?
9. How can social anxiety manifest when standing in line and confronting receptionists?
10. How can the fear of going to the gym due to social anxiety be depicted through thought clouds or dark expressions?
11. How can the fear of being watched during an interview illustrate social anxiety?
12. How can being called on in class and the pressure to answer correctly depict social anxiety and fear of judgement?
13. How can I depict the rough upbringings and harsh realities of a Mexican immigrant household using everyday scenes and symbolic imagery?
14. How can I use a character representing my experience with autism to explore communication, socializing, and daydreaming in different settings like school and home?
15. How are our childhood toys changing as technology develops?
16. How does the practice of parents doing their child’s hair hold cultural significance and reflect a transition from dependence to independence?
17. How can cultural costumes be creatively constructed entirely from balloons to explore identity and tradition?
18. How can sculptural rings emphasize positive and negative space?
19. How can spiculums and formed metal techniques inspired by Finnish metalsmith Heikki Seppä’s book be used to explore form emphasis?
20. How can altered books be used to express the metaphor of love gone sour, incorporating imagery of a human heart?
21. How can commercial labels and stereotypes be challenged by using commercial bags as canvases for portraits that reveal each person’s unique personality?
22. How can the impermanence of manmade objects be documented by photographing weathered train tracks, rusted cars, and graffiti?
23. How can mannequins and the nude figure be drawn or painted to explore form, wrapping brushstrokes, and value scale?
24. How can portraiture emphasize Latino strength by incorporating symbols, words, and imagery that celebrate personal goals and achievements?
25. How can flight be depicted in technical drawings and paintings, from sinking helicopters in jungles to birds on wires and UFOs over the Southwest?
26. How can winged creatures like moths, bats, and bees be drawn in high detail to explore patterns and forms?
27. How can longboards be portrayed from multiple perspectives to study perspective and motion?
28. How can digital photography capture color and form in manmade play structures?
29. How can landscapes from a daily route home be documented to reveal personal narrative and environment?
30. How can simple subjects like bottles, groups of friends, and telephone poles be used to create successful AP 2D portfolio pieces?
31. How can snakeskin patterns inspire surface textures on ceramic pottery using wheel throwing?
32. How can birds in flight be constructed from found objects with exaggerated scale?
33. What do fences divide, and how can 2D or 3D artworks explore concepts of division and connection?
34. How can old stories be retold by repurposing old books into sculptural forms?
35. How can multiple views of a person playing different musical instruments be drawn using varied media to explore relationships of saturated, analogous, complementary and contrasting colors?

AP Drawing Inquiry Questions

1. How can I demonstrate my growing consciousness of surroundings in the self‑exploration of my emotions through the use of light and dark?
2. How can I capture one’s loneliness in desperation and the struggle to escape the predicament of modernity while exploring implicit connections between individuals?
3. How can gloominess and the depressed state of society be expressed through the formal qualities of art, such as spatial depth, chaotic lines and distorted figures?
4. How can I use visual language to communicate the confrontation between human destruction of the natural world and the despair inflicted on animals?
5. How can I explore personal intimacy and self‑discovery as a gay man and international student, connecting racial and gender identities through drawing?
6. How can I use elemental forms and natural materials like sediments, coffee grounds, and water to depict God and the boundaries between the physical and spiritual?
7. How can I portray isolation and personal anxiety through narrative scenes using light‑dark contrast and symbolic imagery?
8. How can the concept of home be explored through various media and textures, capturing both physical spaces and intangible feelings?
9. How are teenagers losing social connections as they become addicted to technology?
10. How can fire, as the beginning of civilization, symbolically represent progress and our relationship with nature?
11. How does an apple alongside plastic objects symbolize the lack of nature in an artificial society?
12. Why do teenagers desire freedom and opportunities but feel trapped?
13. How do teenagers aspire to change themselves to fit in while unique individuals make a society?
14. How can the fragile and broken heart of a desperate person be expressed through stitches and cold waves?
15. How can an invisible person lost in a distorted and fragmented world be represented with smoke blocking vision?
16. How can the act of stretching a hand to seek brightness and hope at the end of complete darkness be depicted visually?
17. How can countless restraints in a chaotic world pulling two lovers apart be portrayed through composition?
18. How can various materials compose a complex and disturbing social environment that confuses our eyes?
19. How can I represent my daily experiences living as a type 1 diabetic?
20. How does a plant or animal change as it grows, and how can this transformation be captured artistically?
21. What are the inappropriate choices teenagers make in life, and how can these decisions be depicted to inspire reflection?
22. How can reflections of my face in everyday objects be used to explore identity and perception?
23. How can the movement of water be captured through dynamic drawing or painting techniques?
24. How can beauty be found in an impoverished environment, such as an inner city, and communicated through art?
25. How can image and text be melded to create story images that engage the viewer?
26. How can people’s shoes reveal unique personalities, and how can this be portrayed in a series?
27. How can close‑up studies of body parts reveal form and texture to convey meaning?
28. How can I develop a new character based on myself and create an environment for that character through manga‑style illustrations?
29. How can I depict diverse cultures, including ethnic cultures and tourists, to explore identity and environment?
30. How can feathers inspire artworks exploring texture and form?
31. How can the theme of loneliness or estrangement be conveyed through expressive drawing?
32. How can micro views of objects, becoming abstract forms, reveal unseen worlds?
33. How can body language communicate emotions and stories without words?
34. How can art explore the loss of a father and the missing presence at significant events?
35. How can environmental consciousness be communicated through drawing to address ecological concerns?

AP 3D Art & Design Inquiry Questions

1. Can repairing something make it more beautiful?
2. How can texture and color influence the perception of life and death through 3D works of art?
3. How can art reveal the hidden truths behind human decisions and their negative impact on the environment, exploring the struggle between nature and human destruction?
4. How do emotions develop, and how do individuals perceive and cope with them, and how can contrasting materials (soft and harsh) represent these emotional journeys?
5. How can emotional allegory relating to the intimacy of landscapes and the transitions of youth be explored through 3D textile paintings?
6. How can exaggerated garment designs address the school dress code rules while highlighting the restrictions placed on female students?
7. How can miscommunication be employed to break apart the rigidity of language, find alternative ways to communicate beyond spoken language, and use language to one’s advantage?
8. How do my relationships with friends and my religious uncertainties intersect with the concept of home, and how can I represent this visually through projections on objects?
9. How can I experiment with shape and texture using yarn, twine, plastic mesh, and porcelain to mimic dead and alive coral?
10. How can I create a wall hanging with more color and added porcelain texture to further explore the contrast between life and death?
11. How can a functional pitcher be created while experimenting with contrasting textures, small details, and glazes?
12. How can fabric and porcelain be combined to mimic zoanthid textures and use bleach to transition colors?
13. How can a series of orbs be inspired by zoanthids and fleshy textures transitioning into bright matte white through death, using felt, fabric, and porcelain?
14. How can phobias and fears be illustrated through 3D design?
15. How can 3D artworks explore the interaction of man and nature and the resulting environmental impact?
16. How can piles and stacked objects be used in 3D design to create compelling compositions and commentary?
17. How can crime scenes or forensic still‑lifes be abstracted through positive and negative space in a 3D installation?
18. How can the theme of abandonment—of places and people—be explored through sculptures or photographic installations?
19. How can the evolution of illness, such as Parkinson’s disease, be illustrated through photographic collage, stitching, and layered images to convey memory and physical decline?
20. How can identity and the roles women play be explored through photography or mixed media, focusing on masks and the concept of hiding behind roles?
21. How can the theme of kissing—from sacred to erotic to familial—be explored through 3D artworks?
22. How can images of urban angst, inspired by Allen Ginsberg’s poem “Howl,” be conveyed through 3D assemblages?
23. How can birds in flight be constructed from found objects with exaggerated scale to convey movement?
24. How can fences and the divisions they create be explored through sculptural forms?
25. How can retelling old stories by repurposing old books translate into sculptural forms that reinterpret narratives?
26. How can snakeskin patterns inspire the surface design of ceramic pottery using wheel throwing?
27. How can rings or circular forms emphasize positive and negative space in a 3D sculpture?
28. How can spiculums and formed metal techniques be explored in 3D to emphasize form?
29. How can cultural costumes constructed entirely from balloons be translated into 3D wearable art?
30. How can architectural details from European cities inspire 3D sculptures exploring structure and ornamentation?

“How have the expectations of others impacted the way I present myself to the world?” The student designed fashion pieces that showed inward reality vs. outward image.

“How does God show his glory and beauty through Earth’s domain? The student took photos of different landscapes, animals, and plants to show the overlooked brilliance of God’s creation.

“How can I illustrate the impacts of my insecurities using web patterns I associate with self-doubt?” The student used several mediums to draw evocative portraits all using webs to communicate different types of self-doubt.

Encounters, Experiences and Meetings

  • The meeting between mother and child / adoption / birth;
  • The clashing of those who despise each other;
  • Friends in a bustling and crowded restaurant;
  • Forbidden encounters in a teenage world;
  • The shields we put up in our brains: the filter between ourselves and those we meet;
  • The joining (or meeting) of two halves;
  • Meetings between strangers…The million people we pass on a daily basis, but never connect with;
  • Encounters with god;
  • Online encounters and the changing social landscape of the world;
  • The clashing of cultures;
  • Meeting someone who has suffered a great loss;
  • Shameful encounters / those you regret;
  • A meeting room, filled with business people who go about their daily lives in a trance;
  • A boisterous meeting between children;
  • A birthday party;
  • Meeting at a skateboard park;
  • Reunion at an airport;
  • Meeting for the last time;
  • A life-changing moment;
  • Focus on the senses (an event experienced through sight / audio etc);
  • Something that made you cry;
  • A deja vu experience;
  • Remembering an experience a long time ago: the passing of time / generations;
  • The meeting of truth and lies;
  • The meeting of fiction and reality;
  • Encountering animals: the interaction between human and animal kind and our influence upon them (for good or bad);
  • Meeting your childhood self or yourself fifty years in the future;
  • The meeting of land and sea;
  • Physical meetings between two things: the boundaries and edges, perhaps at a cellular level (plunging into / stabbing / tearing apart);
  • The meeting of theory and practicality;
  • How our own biases, backgrounds and modify/influence every experience we have: the influence of the mind;
  • Truly seeing yourself as you really are;
  • Conception;
  • The aftermath of a meeting that never happened;
  • Meeting temptation: the battle of wills;
  • The meeting of technology and nature;
  • Ancient man meeting the modern world: the conflict between genes and the modern environment;

Combinations and Alliances

  • A young child holding the hand of their mother;
  • Bad influences (combinations of friends) and peer pressure;
  • A family unit, in alliance against the world;
  • The butterfly effect (how a combination of actions / behaviours leads from one thing to another until every tiny moment in a life is interwoven with all the moments that came before);
  • Political alliances;
  • How ‘good’ people can complete horrific acts when lead on by the wrong situation and the wrong company;
  • Still life combinations: salt and pepper, sweet and sour, fish & chips, apple and cinnamon; peanut butter and jam; the literal combination of ingredients used to make a meal;
  • Unpleasant combinations we would rather not be reminded of: chocolate and obesity; that cute lamb and the juicy steak;
  • The legal binding (combination) of lovers: marriage / civil unions;
  • Combination of genes: Darwin’s theory of evolution – how traits are passed on etc;
  • A study of two people (or animals), or people who care about each other;
  • A person and something that they use to embellish their identity (i.e. fast car, makeup, fashion accessories, label clothing, iPhones);
  • You and the one thing that defines you;
  • Twins;
  • Siblings;
  • Mismatched couples;
  • Unfortunate combinations: drugs and celebrities; childbirth and pain; cats and water; sugar and tooth decay;
  • Discipline and being cruel to be kind;
  • Combinations of exercises / sets / routines;
  • Mixing of light (light streaming through coloured glass windows etc);
  • Lock combinations;
  • Combinations of numbers – gambling, addiction;
  • An uneasy alliance: a dog about to break its chain;
  • Things that depend on each other for survival: a plant growing in dirt trapped in a hole in the rocks; tiny creatures that live in on the fur / skin of others – ticks on cows / hair lice / germs;
  • Vaccinations and the alliance of ‘good’ germs fighting against bad…
  • Eco-systems – the interconnection of water / life etc;
  • A trusted alliance: horse and rider; blind person and guide dog;
  • Business networks that rely on one another;
  • Uniting against a common enemy.

Fossils

  • Highly accurate, scientific records;
  • The layering of time;
  • Disintegration and memory;
  • Bones: the structure of life – the architecture of a living form;
  • Fish skeletons;
  • Archaeology and the documenting of fossils;
  • Unexpected items as fossils (i.e. a fossil of an iPod or other contemporary object – remnants of a modern existence);
  • Dinosaurs / extinction.

Note: this topic lends itself perfectly to printmaking, rubbings and layered, mixed media works.

Society Today

  • Modern diet / processed food;
  • Digital technology and the impact it has on our lives;
  • Soaring depression levels / the psychiatric torment of modern man;
  • Soaring caesarean rates;
  • Drugs and mind-numbing forms of escape;
  • Slowing down;
  • More, more, more: ever increasing consumption;
  • The mechanised processes involved in the production of meat: pigs in tiny cages / battery hens / images from an abattoir;
  • Disconnection from the whole: i.e. a factory worker who spends his/her whole life assembling one tiny part of a product, without having any input into the big picture: disillusionment with life purpose.

Inside / Outside

  • Framing / windows;
  • Blurring of the boundary between inside and out;
  • Prisons / loss of freedom;
  • Breaking in the exterior barrier of things i.e. injuries in flesh resulting in the spilling out of insides;
  • Autopsy;
  • Opening a can of preserved fruit;
  • Pregnancy /birth;
  • Shelter from the rain;
  • The inconsistency between what is going on in the outside world and the inner turmoil of someone’s brain;
  • The change in state as something moves from outside to inside the human body (i.e. food > energy);
  • An environment that is devoid of ‘outside’ i.e. fluorescent lights / poor ventilation…lacking in plant life…unable to see nature outdoors…the dwindling human condition etc;
  • Apocalyptic future: what will happen if humans destroy the outdoor conditions; or a wall is erected to keep an infected virus-ridden population ‘outside’;
  • The peeling back of interesting things to expose what is underneath (inside)…i.e. banana skins, seedpods, envelopes.
  • Vegetables or interesting fruit sliced through to expose the insides (things with lots of seed / pips / bumpy skin etc);
  • Something opening to reveal something unexpected (i.e. inside a cardboard box);
  • The Impossible Staircase: indoors blending into outdoors in an indeterminable fashion / a blurring of dimensions;
  • Inside the human body: complex, organic form: the miracle of life (human anatomy drawings / x-rays;
  • Inside an animal carcass;
  • The human ‘outside’ – an exterior presented to those around us. The fixation we have on creating the best exterior possible: weight control/dieting; makeup; cosmetic surgery; latest fashions;
  • Inside the earth: minerals / geology / the underworld;
  • Sectional views through a landscape (i.e. showing a slice through the ground / inside the earth): mines / slips / erosion / quarries, with trucks and machinery taking soil and rocks away;
  • The soul: inside / outside – leaving the body;
  • Plays upon storage and scale, i.e. miniature ‘scaled down’ items inside other items, like large wild animals stored inside tiny jars;
  • Castings of the insides of objects – things you don’t normally think about – that are then exposed for all to see;
  • Walls / divisions / outsiders;
  • Deterioration that has occurred to something as a result of being left outside (i.e. an ice sculpture that is left in the sun or a decayed, rusted, weathered structure showing the long term effects of the elements);
  • Light streaming in a window from outside;
  • Kids in a daycare facility looking longingly outside;
  • Animals in a small enclosure: a sorry life in comparison to those wild and free outside;
  • Looking outside from an unusual perspective, i.e. as if you are a mouse looking through a small crack into a room;
  • Inside a bomb shelter;
  • Inside is meant to equal haven / shelter: what if inside is not this at all: a crime scene / an inside that has been violated;
  • In the palm of your hand;
  • The contents of something spilling out;
  • Shellfish or snails inside their shells.

Harmony and Discord

  • Love and hate relationships / fighting between families and loved ones;
  • The human mind, swinging from joy to misery and despair / schizophrenia / the meddling mind: our own worst enemy;
  • A whole lot of similar things, with one different thing that clashes with the rest;
  • Disturbing of the peace: a beautiful scene which is rudely interrupted (i.e. a hunter firing a bullet into a grazing herd of animals or someone pulling out a gun in a crowded shopping mall);
  • Musical interpretations: jazz bands / instruments / broken instruments;
  • Money: the root of good and evil;
  • The broken family / divorce / merged families;
  • The clashing of humans with the environment;
  • Something beautiful and ugly;
  • Meditation to escape the discord of modern day life;
  • Prescribed medication (happy pills) to minimise the discord in life – but eliminates the harmony?
  • A visual battle: a mess of clashing colours;
  • Things in the wrong environment: placing objects unexpectedly in different locations to create discord (or at least alertness and aliveness) a scene of apparent harmony.

Changed Landscape

  • Erosion;
  • Changing seasons;
  • The impact of human waste / litter on the environment;
  • Urban sprawl;
  • Forests cut down to make way for new developments;
  • The pattern of crops, farming and paddocks on the land.

Sky High

  • Sky High: Aerial views of swirling motorways by New Zealand painter Robert EllisBlack holes / stars / solar systems / the big bang;
  • Skateboarders or snowboarders;
  • A drug induced high;
  • Cloud formations / the science of rain;
  • Flying in sleep;
  • Views from an aeroplane window;
  • Sky High: Aerial landscape by Wayne ThiebaudPatterns humans have made in the landscape – i.e. motorways / city grids;
  • Hang-gliding / hot air balloons / free fallings / parachuting;
  • Insects / birds flying;
  • Wing structures;
  • Airports;
  • Aftermath of a plane crash;
  • Superman / superheroes;
  • Things blowing into the air (old newspapers / an open briefcase / seed pods / dandelion seeds);
  • Falling off a high rise building;
  • Paper aeroplanes;
  • Giants / over-scaled items;
  • A inner cityscape of high rise buildings – glimpses through windows to people living lives contained in tiny capsules in skyscrapers;
  • Athletes / sports people leaping through air.

Shade

  • A beautiful photograph of a skateboarder and his shadowAn intricate still life that creates shadows which become an integral element of the composition;
  • Translucent sculptures;
  • Images containing only shadow (without the source object);
  • Woven shadows;
  • Overlapping shadows from multiple light sources;
  • Crumpled pieces of paper: manipulation of shadowShadows that are not of the object shown;
  • A dark alleyway or other location where the lighting conditions are dramatic;
  • Photographs of paper sculptures: artificial manipulation of form to explore light and shadow;
  • Skin colour;
  • A monochromatic subject, with the emphasis on tone (light & shade) rather than colour;
  • Sunhats and sunscreen / skin cancer;
  • Buildings with visible shading screens built into the facade.

Icons

  • Symbols in airports with crowds of people of multiple ethnicities (i.e. icons communicating without language);
  • An absurd aspect of a pop star’s life;
  • The worship of a pop star by an ordinary teen (posters peeling off a crowded bedroom wall etc);
  • Religious icons – relevance in a modern world;
  • Someone using icons to communicate;
  • The lie of the icon: a pop star with a public image that is nothing like they really are;
  • Sex symbols: the disparity between ‘real’ bodies and those portrayed in magazines…

Memorabilia

  • An obsessed fan’s memorabilia collection relating to a particular famous person;
  • Objects related to something negative that you don’t want to remember: i.e. a night out on the town (cigarette butts, empty beer bottles);
  • Memorabilia related to a famous wedding (i.e. Prince Charlies and Diana);
  • A collection of tacky plastic characters from a particular film, that lie forgotten and dusty in the bottom of a box;
  • War memorabilia, interspersed with photographs.

Neon

  • ‘Sleazy’ signs from a dodgy part of town…with litter / other traces of human life / dark alleyways underneath;
  • A inner cityscape crowded with brightly lit signs – perhaps exploring things to do with the clutter of human life / overpopulation of space etc;
  • An decrepit sign (on an entertainment park or tired motel, for example) with broken bulbs / peeling paint;
  • Disassembling old neon signs and reassembling different signs together in tongue-and-cheek ways;
  • Inspiration drawn from the Neon Boneyard – where old neon signs go to die;
  • Focusing on the eye-catching aspect of neon colour to draw attention to unexpected subjects…

Playing

  • Young children playing with toys;
  • A family playing a card or board game;
  • Playing in water – or at the beach, with a bucket and spade in the sand;
  • Sports – competitive playing;
  • ‘Playing the field’;
  • Dress up games;
  • A young child putting up make-up in the mirror (playing at the imitation of adults);
  • Wendy houses;
  • An early childhood education scene;
  • Playing gone wrong: an injured child / fighting children etc…

Folding Structures

  • A graphite drawing of a paper aeroplane by Christina Empedocles. Drawings of folded paper provide ample opportunity for practising the rendering of form.Origami;
  • Paper aeroplanes (see Christina Empedocles and Ali Page)
  • Paper bags (see the painting below by Karen Appleton)
  • Architectural models;
  • Folding architectural structures;
  • Tents;
  • Beach chairs;
  • Weaving.

Journey

  • A physical journey from a particular destination to another (i.e. the mundane drive between your home and school…seeing beauty in the ordinary etc; your first visit to see something that moved you);
  • The transformational journey from old to new (old structure demolished for something new / old technology making way for new etc);
  • A journey through time, such as a person aging / physical changes, or a record of memorable occasions in a life;
  • Childhood to adulthood;
  • Getting through an emotional circumstance, such as a loved one passing away or overcoming illness;
  • Conception/pregnancy/birth;
  • A miniature journey  (i.e. walking down your garden path – with viewpoint at your feet etc; brushing your teeth in the morning – the journey from arrival at the sink to bright white smile);
  • Achieving a goal;
  • An academic journey – through school etc (ambition / academic goals / failure / success / test papers / assignments / grades etc…as in the hurdles you need to get to university);
  • On a bus or a plane or a train;
  • Memorabilia related to a particular journey (i.e. an overseas trip);
  • A still life made from tickets, maps, timetables;
  • The journey of an animal (i.e. a bird or fish, swimming upstream);
  • The journey of an insect walking a short distance over interesting surfaces;
  • Terrorism and the journey you will never forget.

Domestic

  • dishwasher drawing by artist Jo BradneyA family argument;
  • Domesticated cat or other animal;
  • Domestic chores – focus on a mundane ordinary task such as doing the dishes (see Sylvia Siddell and Jo Bradney);
  • Housewives / the female role / feminism etc;
  • Wild versus Domestic;
  • The ‘perfect’ home situation illusion and what bubbles below the surface…
  • Domestic versus foreign / invading / other;
  • Domestic goods = items made in your own country…a still life featuring country-specific items…

Facades

  • A dripping painting of a building facade by Uwe Wittwer.Deceptive facades, and the walls we put up to hide our true emotions;
  • Decaying wall surfaces / peeling away;
  • Reflective windows, mirroring a busy street or some other interesting scene (fragmented reflections);
  • A decorative facade – old church walls etc;
  • Old fashioned shop fronts / signage;
  • Secrets hidden behind facades / the things nobody talks about;
  • Sunshades / light streaming through facades / window openings;
  • Masks / dress-ups;
  • Abstraction of a building facade (see work above by Uwe Wittner).

Digital Dreams

  • The merging of reality and our ‘online’ lives;
  • The fictional online persona (the person we craft in our Facebook profiles and so on);
  • iPods / digital devices and brightly lit screens;
  • Cyber dating / online love;
  • Brain waves and digital imaging of human brains while dreaming.

Looking Through

  • Windows / frames – from unexpected locations / unexpected angles or in places where the outside scene contrasts the inside scene;
  • Transparent layers / glass / distortion / interesting views through things;
  • X-rays;
  • Old overhead projector transparencies;
  • Flicking through an old recipe book or photo album;
  • Looking through small gaps between leaves in the foreground at a natural scene;
  • Trains / tunnels;
  • A child looking through cracks in a jetty at the water below;
  • Invisibility, and the feeling you get when someone ‘looks through’ you – i.e. doesn’t notice you at all;
  • Kids playing hide and seek, peeking out from a hiding place;
  • Inappropriate snooping through someone else’s personal belongings…

People – Ordinary and/or Extraordinary

  • People engaged in ordinary mindless actions, i.e. brushing teeth, doing one’s hair, eating breakfast;
  • Scars / tattoos / deformities that are out of the ordinary;
  • The vices of ordinary people (cigarette smoking, alcoholism, food addiction etc);
  • Portraits of really ‘plain’ people – seeing the beauty in the ordinary;
  • The facades / layers people build up around themselves to make themselves seem extraordinary – make-up, fashion accessories etc;
  • A person of extraordinary importance in your life (your mother or grandmother etc);
  • Ordinary people who have extraordinary roles (i.e. a firefighter);
  • The extraordinary;
  • Merging images of people with other objects to make fantastical creatures;
  • A portrait of an ordinary stereotype: the gossip or the cheerleader etc;
  • The desperate attempts or lengths someone will go to become extraordinary;
  • Depictions of ordinary people, so that they look eerie and extraordinary, like the awesome artworks by Loretta Lux;
  • Sculptures of the ordinary, at extraordinary scales, like Ron Mueck (viewer discretion advised).

Old and New

  • A grandmother or other elderly person holding a baby;
  • Meeting your childhood self or yourself fifty years in the future;
  • Ancient man meeting the modern world: the conflict between genes and the modern environment;
  • Ancient artefacts, alongside modern instruments;
  • Discarded outdated computers / technology, to make way for new (things that become rapidly obsolete);
  • Fresh fruit alongside rotted and decaying produce;
  • Plastic surgery: an attempt to make old into new;
  • A decaying structure alongside a new, contemporary form;
  • New posters overlaid onto an outdoor wall layered with old, peeling posters;
  • An old architectural form demolished for something new / old technology making way for new etc).

Here and Now

  • The impact of digital technology on modern lives;
  • Advances in preventative health and medicine;
  • The prevalence of natural disasters in recent times;
  • Terrorism;
  • Time;
  • The mechanics of an old clock;
  • A topical issue, such as food addiction.

Arrival / Departure

  • Birth;
  • Death;
  • Train stations / Airports / Looking out windows at that which is left behind;
  • Divorce / departure of a parent;
  • Parents who leave their children;
  • Recovering from a departure / coping mechanisms;
  • First day at school (or some other place);
  • Feet walking away;
  • A decaying, decrepit building after the departure of the occupants;
  • A look at building entrances and exits;
  • Motorway exits;
  • Maps / subway routes / directions for travellers…

Fruit, vegetables and gardening tools placed in a setting of your choice

  • A freshly harvested outdoor setting;
  • A farm-like scene with wooden crates / indoor wooden shed;
  • Vegetables stored for animals;
  • Vegetables hanging to dry, i.e. onions / garlic with tools leaning nearby;
  • A kitchen scene;
  • A fruit and vege shop;
  • A bustling marketplace;
  • Preserving fruit – knives / chopped fruit / preserves in glass jars;
  • Fruit, veges and tools in an unexpected location, i.e. hanging in plastic bags;
  • Abstract works derived from the patterns on the skin of fruit and vegetables or the interiors that have been sliced open with knifes;
  • The brutal smashing of a watermelon or some other fruit or vegetable with a hammer;
  • The hanging of decaying fruit and vegetables.

Time-Honored

  • Wedding traditions;
  • Birthday celebrations;
  • Religious rituals;
  • Guy Fawkes;
  • Christenings;
  • Coming-of-age rituals;
  • Graduation ceremonies.

1. Altered books based on love gone sour…(the image of an actual human heart was in each piece)

2. Altered Books/ Handmade Books with an actual image/ shape of Human Heart as Unifying theme. Personal narrative and relevant imagery focused on how love can lead to immense pain as well as the feelings of suffering, abuse, and betrayal. Other books dealt with healing and strength that resulted from heartbreak.

3. Commercial Labels and Stereotypes: Commercialized bags were used as the canvas to a series of portraits expressing each person’s personality. Bags were gessoed over or drawn over to obscure the commercial image that the “preppies”, “goths” select to wear to fit in with a stereotypical group. Her concentration dealt with capturing who the subject is as a person. To personally express the drawn/ painted person’s unique characteristics, the artist sometimes chose to include wording from the student himself on the portrait, or descriptions about the person.

4. Impermanence: The effect of weather and time on manmade objects. Student photographed train tracks (metal with patina), railroad equipment (peeling layers of paint and graffiti), rusty cars, etc.

5. Mannequins and the Nude Figure: Student painted and drew from mannequins in real life. She also drew her friends and family members in bathing suits and relied on photographs of them. Emphasis was on “wrapping” the form with brushstrokes of color in the paintings. In her drawings, she achieved a very strong value scale with her crosshatching that also wrapped the human form.

6. Portraiture Emphasizing Latino Strength – Student drew Latinos in the school and community, and incorporated symbols, words, and imagery that celebrated personal goals, achievements that the subject discussed with her.

7. Flight ( these were extremely technical drawings and paintings which included sinking helicopters in the jungle as well as birds on a wire and UFO’s over the Southwest.

8. Winged Creatures- drawn in high detail – moths, bats, bees, etc…

9. Longboards – seen from 1 pt, 2 pt, 3 pt and 5 pt perspective

10. Color and Form in manmade play structures (digital photography)

11. Landscapes from my route home from school.

13. Groups of Friends

14. Landscapes with telephone poles

15. Fences-What they divide

16. Abstract and realistic portraits focusing on color saturation: analogous, complementary, contrasting, etc.

17. Different signs of luck: Good & Bad, series of studies that included stepping on a crack, walking under a ladder, cracked mirror, black cats, umbrellas in the house

18. Mannequin thru the ages: Painted a series of designs from art history beginning with the cave paintings thru postmodernism that were all centered on the drawing wooden mannequin.

19. How something (like a plant or animal) changes as it grows/ages

20. Reflections of my face in everyday objects

21. The movement of water

22. Finding beauty in an impoverished environment (such as inner city)

23. People’s shoes can describe one’s unique personality

24. Portions of the human body seen close up, as studies of form, texture, etc.

25. Abandoned things (photography)

26. Figure drawings, with an emphasis on foreshortening

27. Musical instruments and the people playing them Fantasy places

28. Imaginative surreal portraits of friends with personal meaning

29. Fortunes and fortune telling

30. Bridges line and shape

31. Carnival

32. Masking who we are

33. Cultures – began with ethnic cultures expanded to include tourists, homeless, etc.

34. Feathers

35. Loneliness/estrangement

36. Microscopic views – which become abstractions

37. Body language

38. A white T shirt and a cap

39. Loss of father – the missing person at seminal events

40. Environmental consciousness

41. Capturing the mood of music

42. Capturing the rhythm of music

43. Fabric textures

44. An examination of what is real or mirage using faces and masks

45. Illustration of a story about a girl building a sailboat, losing it, and buying it back

46. Freedom of expression: what it looks like

47. Portraits of the everyday moods of my dog

48. Overcoming depression

49. Photos about human gestures and the expression of emotion

50. Anime-style self-portrait drawings

51. Street photography and architectural elements emphasizing composition with geometric forms

52. Photomontage to portray events of short duration

53. What I do before I get to school

54. Painted abstractions derived from microscopic cellular structures

55. Oil pastel drawings of plant material juxtaposed with man-made objects.

56. Abstractions derived from still lifes of household objects.

57. Ink drawings based on photographic portraits

58. HAIR – focused on doing a series of portraits of friends and himself with a variety of hair styles, mullets, mohawks, scrolling, and even an Afro from the 60’s and early 70’s.

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