How would you go about starting an art portfolio?
I'm interested in applying to an art school but my school doesn't provide me with a drawing class or any of that type of art class and I don't know what kiinds of things would go into my portfolio. I know it's a collection of your work but I don't know any more than that. #art #school #projects #college-readiness #portfolios
2 answers
Tina Miller
Tina’s Answer
I asked a young friend of my son who is currently attending art school for recommendations. He actually gave me a link to an article by a Director of Recruitment for UCLA.
http://artschools.com/resources/preparing-your-portfolio-for-college-admissions/
Being you don't have art classes available in your school, the advice given to reach out in advanced to some of the schools you are interested in seems very wise. This will give you a chance to see what they may specifically want to have you include and also give advice on how to handle the absence of school-related work.
You may also want to look into available classes at a local community college or evening classes in the area or a arts center. Sometimes these classes can be free or relatively inexpensive and may give you the opportunity for class-driven projects to include in your portfolio.
Hope this helps
Thank you for the link! I will definitely start looking into some classes I could take. Thanks again!
Gabby
Jan’s Answer
I faced the same question when first applying to a college program in Illustration & Design. I had no idea what to include, how it should be presented, and what they would be looking for. As a result, I just sent off a folder containing an assortment of different drawings that I had completed over the past year. Thinking back, it was really not very professional and I wasn't accepted. Fortunately, the college offered an evening 'portfolio development' class focusing on creating a mix of portfolio pieces and how to assemble a professional portfolio for submission. Everyone that took that class was accepted into the program, so my recommendation would be to see if you can find such a class.
If not available, here are a few suggestions that come to mind:
- Contact the program leads at the college to discuss entry requirements and ask if they have any recommendations that will help you assemble what is needed. Most colleges assemble a small portfolio review panel to go through all submissions and narrow down the selection, ideally making the final recommendations of who should be accepted. So, making an early contact in the program can go a long way because they will very likely remember your name when coming across your portfolio.
- In my day, the portfolio consisted of everything in paper form, matted on a consistently sized board. Today I expect it could all be a digital presentation or maybe both. Either way, provide a wide variety of media examples to show that you can draw, you can apply color, understand design and balance, and that you have original ideas. For example, if you love drawing in pencil, don't just put in 15 different drawings in pencil only.
- Don't always show only the finished piece. It's good to show your thought process and the steps you went through to develop a final piece.
- Think of your portfolio as a design piece as well and think of ways that you can make it stand out. Colleges receive 100s of portfolios so making yours memorable will help.
Best of luck.
Jan Seger