Putting Together a Portfolio

Step 3: Putting together your portfolio.

Another pre-college stress for art majors is portfolio day. When I say I stressed for months about my portfolio, I mean it. Each college is different on what to put in your portfolio. Some schools want whatever you feel should be in it. Others want a particular amount of drawings, 3D works, still life drawings, you name it. It can be frustrating especially when applying to multiple colleges.

They key is to stress as little as possible, but stress enough that you care and don’t blow it off. Find your best works that you are most proud of and put them in first. These are your main selling points and is hopefully going to show who you are as an artist. This will show them your strengths and what you are most successful at. If the school asks for pieces that you do not have, create them. I did not have a lot of still life drawings before college, but some colleges wanted them. I couldn’t not put them in, so I had to make them. They weren’t great because I hadn’t had a lot of practice with them, but they worked for what I needed them for.

Remember that most likely not every piece is going to be absolutely perfect, and do not be discouraged by this. Each professor has their own specialty that they teach. A painting teacher will not be very talented at sculpture or ceramics, and vice versa. There will be multiple professors reviewing your work and they will each take into consideration your strengths and weaknesses. If you are strictly a 3D artist, but they want to see drawings, remember that they will see your strengths in your sculptures and know that you will most likely be working with mainly 3D work while attending the college.

Your portfolio really tells the professors who you are as an artist. While putting together your portfolio think of what you want to tell them about yourself, and what you want to show them about yourself. Making your portfolio a personal piece of yourself will tell your potentially future professors who you are. This means it needs to be taken seriously so that they also see you are serious about coming into college. But remember to HAVE FUN. Art is supposed to be fun and let you be yourself. If you put that in your portfolio the reviewers are going to realize that you are a genuine artist.