I initially chose my inquiry based on what I thought would make the most personal, emotionally complex pieces, and I started on a portfolio based on my sexual identity. However, halfway through the year, when I got bored of such a concept, I turned to my biggest passion project: my D&D game. I’ve always been interested in creating fantastical worlds and narratives and making art for them. D&D was no different, and I was extremely excited to show my players what I envisioned after I wove the story together with just words. I wanted them to feel like their character was appreciated and their story was told. Thus, my inquiry became a collection of the pivotal moments in each character’s lifetime. The palpable emotions were what I wanted to best replicate in my works, and so with the piece featured, I tried to convey a feeling of emptiness.

The artwork was intended to capture the aftermath of a character sharing information he shouldn’t have with a person he thought he could trust. It resulted in their religious organization raiding the home where he and his partner lived and the capture and killing of the partner. Thus, in his overall story, the character had difficulty trusting anyone again, sharing very little about their life in case it risked loss.

Initially, my inquiry was supposed to be about the moments and little things that were meaningful to me in the broader story, but I changed my questions to be more precise about emotions and character arcs. Precise language was of the utmost importance, so I spent a lot of time brewing over the best vocabulary. Not only did my language evolve, but my use of media and the environmental storytelling of a piece grew more concise. I added more extensive backgrounds and subtle narrative hints tossed around, such as the religious symbol of the character in "The Guilty Man" hidden in the corner of the room. I became more intentional in the media I chose and soon sought to better capture the character in my materials. The scene's essence was the emotion on their face, the colors chosen, and the lighting. In several works, I used elements of desaturation and an extreme cast shadow to imply a dreary tone.

With pieces about the same characters, I tried to keep a consistent material between them. Using charcoal for the featured artwork was due to the dark values you can achieve with this material and the similarly dark aspects of the character’s life. They had little to be happy about, so dramatizing the image was necessary. I didn’t have an artmaking inspiration in most pieces, but I did have some influence from the older, 2nd edition D&D art, with their semi-realistic style and interesting penwork.

When it came down to deciding between AP 2-D and AP Drawing, my art teacher, Mrs. Quick, was extremely helpful. She highlighted the differences, and while creating my portfolio, she helped guide me in making decisions and using new materials. When it came to me and my other classmates being indecisive about our inquiry questions, she was patient. She helped get us back on track to completing everything by the end of the year, and it never felt like I didn’t have enough art due to her consistent schedule. If I have any advice for AP Art and Design students, pick an inquiry question you already visually daydream about and are passionate about. It seems obvious: pick something you have a very palpable connection to, but I think it’s easy to pick something personal from which you don’t have that much creative inspiration. Sure, it should take some brainstorming for pieces, but you don’t want your well of ideas to run dry. And one essential thing: do not procrastinate. Since I changed my portfolio halfway through the year, I was left making up half the pieces, but I put those off longer than I should’ve and was stuck drawing into the late hours of the night to complete my last couple of pieces. Please don’t do that; save yourself some stress, space it out better than I did, and have fun.

Our AP Art and Design class strives to bring out the individualism of our students while building technical skills. We focus on the creative process and push each student to find their unique artistic voice. We are a small school in a small town that, with the help of a great community, reaches for something bigger than ourselves.