Creating a Portfolio | bettiniartclass

Creating a Portfolio for College

Portfolios usually consist of 15-20 works of art. Check with specific colleges and their requirements. Some Colleges require in person interviews with the portfolio while others ask for work on a CD labeled or submitted online. High quality digital photographs should be taken of work.

Most art students begin portfolios in their freshman and sophomore year. If started later, it is strongly recommended that they work on their lunch, free period (if possible), after school hours with the teacher, and at home. If a student works at home, they should be bringing in the work to be checked by a teacher frequently. Most students complete a portfolio of more than 20 pieces and then edit work to show more advanced quality. Work should vary in size and materials used.

NMHS art students are encouraged to participate in art clubs and events with good standing. This will help build their college resume. (Mural club, art club, and spring musical set design)

National Portfolio Day is a Saturday field trip in November that NMHS attends. Students bring portfolios and interview with college representatives, where they may get feedback about what they need to complete or change in the portfolio. The event is held at Suny Purchase and over 40 colleges will be present.

Just as a music student takes outside lessons and athletes train, art students should try to take outside art classes. The Art Center of Northen New Jersey is in New Milford http://www.artcenter-nnj.org and the Art School at the Old Church in Demarest http://www.tasoc.org both offer portfolio preperation classes and figure drawing that will be helpful.

Summer Pre-college programs are a great way to test out a school and or major. They also assist in getting new work together for a portfolio. Colleges that offer art pre-college programs are Parsons (NYC), School of Visual Arts (NYC), Pratt Insitute (Brooklyn, NY), Cooper Union (NYC)

Colleges due dates vary by school. Check websites. Most are between December- February. Some Colleges have rolling admissions but usually have a date for scholarships that is earlier. Some art colleges do not require a portfolio (the Art Institute).

90% of work should be done from observation:

Observational work does not include artwork copied from photographs or other artists. Art from observation is when a student draws or paints while looking at the actual object in front of them.

They should set up a lamp on either side of the still life that they set up. The still-life objects should be placed in an interesting composition (Layout). Objects should relate to each other (they can tell a story together or have colors that compliment each other, but should be ascetically pleasing).

The student may add ideas from their imagination to the observational drawing, but they should appear to have the same lighting source and show a full range of values. The student should spend approximately 10-20 hours on piece. Still-life paintings or drawings should show a full range in values (lights and darks). They must be drawn correctly showing spatial relationships and correct perspective. If a student is drawing containers, ellipses (openings of containers that are cylindrical) should be rendered correctly.

Self Portraits:

Most art programs require at least two or more self-portraits- these are considered observational as well and should be done using a mirror and NOT photographs. A lamp should be placed by the side of the face to show lights and darks. Self-portraits should be conceptual (tell a story about the student) by creating backgrounds that explain their personality. Student can also make an interesting or funny face or dress up with interesting clothes. Remember, admissions representatives see thousands of self-portraits- what can the student do to make their drawing stand out and be memorable?