IB Visual arts selected resolved artworks (HL): structure and steps

Some details on this page are still being checked against the IB guide.

At a glance

The structure, section by section

1. Rationale

Required by the IB · Criterion: Coherence of body of selected artworks, Conceptual realization, Technical resolution

The intentions behind the body of work, why the 5 works were selected, how they relate and how the intentions evolved, within 700 words and up to 3 screens including the selection chart.

1. State the intentions behind the body of work.
2. Explain why you selected these 5 works.
3. Show how the 5 relate to each other.
4. Note how your intentions changed.
5. Stay within 700 words and 3 screens.

2. Selection chart

Required by the IB · Criterion: Coherence of body of selected artworks

The 5 selected works and 3 resolved or mostly resolved works not selected, at relative scale where possible, on 1 screen.

1. Gather images of your 5 selected works and 3 unselected ones.
2. Arrange them at relative scale where you can.
3. Mark which 5 are selected.
4. Explain the selection in the rationale.

3. Artwork texts

Required by the IB · Criterion: Understanding of artistic context

Each selected work placed in a wider artistic context and in the student's own practice, in 5 texts of at most 1,000 words in total.

1. Write 1 text per selected work, about 200 words each.
2. Place the work in a wider artistic context.
3. Place it in your own practice.
4. Cite every artist or source you refer to.

4. Artwork files with details

Required by the IB · Criterion: Coherence of body of selected artworks, Conceptual realization, Technical resolution · Submitted separately

5 image or video files, each with its title, medium and size.

1. Photograph or film each work clearly.
2. Enter its title, medium and size.

5. List of sources and AI assistance

Required by the IB · Outside the word count

Every source or AI tool used, at the end of the PDF and left out of the count.

1. Log each source when you first use it.
2. Place the list at the end.

What counts toward the limit

Every word visible on a screen counts, typed or handwritten, including words inside scanned material; title pages, artwork details (title, medium, size), words that are part of an artwork, citations, and the list of sources and AI assistance do not. The counter cannot read images, so you declare the words visible in each image yourself, after cropping, blurring or covering any text you want left out.

The limit: A PDF of at most 8 screens with a rationale of at most 700 words and 5 artwork texts of at most 1,000 words in total. The rationale takes up to 3 screens, 1 of them the selection chart, and the texts up to 5 screens. Examiners stop reading at the limit. Artwork texts (5 texts): up to 1,000 words, counted apart from the rest.

Graphs and visuals

• The student's own resolved artworks Image, very common
  Required in the internal tasks: 5 artworks, each with title, medium and size. Time-based work goes in as a video of at most 3 minutes, submitted as a file.
• Selection chart Image, very common
  Required at HL. A grid of 8 works at relative scale, with 5 marked as selected.

The frequencies are our estimates, from what the IB guide expects and what teachers advise. We did not count them in marked work.

Citations

The IB prescribes no style and your school chooses; MLA 9 is a common choice for artworks. Sources and any AI assistance go at the end of the PDF.

The workspace keeps your sources and writes the bibliography in MLA 9th to start with. You can switch to APA 7th, Chicago author-date, Chicago notes (footnotes) or Harvard at any point.

Pitfalls

• A rationale over 700 words, or artwork texts over 1,000 words in total.
• A selection chart that does not show 8 works with 5 marked as selected.
• Artwork texts that describe the work and leave out its wider artistic context and your own practice.
• Leaving out the lists of sources and AI assistance at the end of the PDF where either was used.
• Forgetting to state both word counts in the work.

The workspace is free with an account, and it never writes or rewrites your text. What we will and will not do with your coursework →

Sources

• IB, Visual arts guide, first assessment 2027 (published Feb 2025)
• IB, Visual arts subject brief, first assessment 2027
• IB, "Study visual arts" course page
• IB, "Read curriculum updates" (page last updated 24 March 2026)
• Visual arts guide, first examinations 2017 (published 2014, updated Feb 2017)

The IB documents behind this page, checked 29 October 2026. The linked ones are on ibo.org; the others are IB documents we read in copies hosted elsewhere, so we name them without a link. Everything above is in our own words: the official wording is in your subject guide, which your coordinator can give you. LimeAdmissions is independent of the International Baccalaureate Organization, which has not endorsed this page. Every coursework structure →