Assemble Your Portfolio

Making work that tells a story, is based on an emotion, or has an opinion can show us who you are as an artist/designer. Great works have a point of view! Show us yours! But don’t forget all those skills you were taught in art class. (We may talk about this as “conceptual,” which is a fancy art word for ideas!)

The portfolio is about love; the artwork YOU love. When you are putting your portfolio together, make sure to select pieces that convey your original thoughts and feelings, not only the pieces that got a grade. Pushing yourself and taking risks are good things. When you wonder why fan art isn’t something generally encouraged, it’s because it’s someone else’s vision. If you want to use a character or do an artist copy, think about how to make it your own!

You can submit works that are classical exercises, but why not use all that fantastic technique you learned to make something you care about? Life drawing informs your comic characters! Typography can help convey how spooky your horror movie poster actually is! Are all your characters in the center of the page? Break up that composition! (Give your art teacher a break and draw from observation without complaining! It’s the basis for your future life as a professional artist!!)

No doodles on lined notebook paper. Art supplies can get expensive, but get some charcoal and newsprint, a small sketchbook and some drawing pencils. It may not be as easy to doodle in class, but the right supplies will set you free, and doodling in class is what you come to ART SCHOOL to do.

This is the place to work through your ideas before committing to a finished work. Have it handy as inspiration strikes! Your whole portfolio should not only be from a sketchbook, so think about recording a short video of you flipping through your sketchbook! That counts as one piece in your portfolio and leaves room for more of your amazing work! (When a school talks about “process,” we just want to know how you think through what you are going to make and you do that in your sketchbook!)

Is your show a “greatest hits” or based on a theme? Is it the medium in which you have the most training or the thing you are most passionate about? The best part is, you decide! However you order your pieces and what you select is up to you. Just know that your decisions matter and we want to be led through your ideas. (That’s why art galleries and museums “curate;” curation is just the selection of the work and the way it is presented to tell your story!)

Quality over quantity. Focus on work from the last two years that show who you are NOW.