art portfolio for college questions!

[Denart]

Yo fellow artists!

I'm going to college in a year (I'll be a senior in HS this coming fall) ;) and I got a lot of questions concerning the portfolio that you send in to art colleges for scholarships and acceptance.

Now...

1) Do you send in originals? Or is it only copies?

And how do you send them, can you send them thru emails? (that would be great!) or does it have to be mailed to them?

2) How many pieces do you reccommend for a portfolio? (quantity wise)

3) I think you need a variety of different types of artworks (IE: still lifes, life drawings, illustrations, etc)
Having diversity will make a portfolio stronger, right? :)

4) are portfolios crucial for getting scholarships? Or is something else more important?

Dang, thats a lot of questions, any help is greatly appreciated! :D
Thank you!

[PelleTM]

Don't ever send originals unless you are 100% sure you can get them back :p That goes for most documents, probably art portfolios too.

[SeraphSword]

1. You'd only use originals if you were reviewing in person, and you still might want high-quality photocopies to leave them.

2. This varies from school to school. Some are like 8 pieces, I applied to a place that was minimum 15 - max 25. So just go by what they tell you.

3. Variety is in general a good idea, but again, this is something that you should check the school's website for. They'll give you suggestions, usually based on what you are hoping to major in. However, you always want to send your best, so if you have 10 great pencil drawings and all your watercolors are lousy, you might want to send just the pencil stuff.

4. I have no info on this.

Good Luck! :D

[Velo]

1) Generally you always send copies, but refer to the instructions the school gives as I think I have seen at least one that wanted you to do some specific things and send the originals. Schools I have talked too want something they can put in their file - print outs, slides or a CD, not a website or emailed pictures.

2+3) Quality > Quanity. Again, refer to the catalog of specific schools you are interested in because some my have a minimum or maximum suggested size. If you have alot of different types of good work (digital, figure drawing, sketches, acrylic, watercolor...) your portfolio could be pretty large, 30 or more things. However, if you dabble with some watercolor but aren't really good at it, don't include any. If you are only good with one or two mediums select the best 8 or 10 of your pieces. Don't "pad" your folio with mediocre stuff, they may judge you by the worst item.
Definitely send a variety of subject matter. Many art schools love to see drawing from life and from the figure, but dislike fantasy and especially comics or anime. There is a thread for most of the big art schools in this section, if you look you can get info about what the schools you are considering like or dislike. If you're going to do some art specifically for your portfolio a nice general range could be something like: self portrait(s), figures, movement or anatomy studies, still lives, something with perspective, and some stuff which shows what you enjoy doing. Just becareful about the "what you enjoy" stuff, as I said some schools don't like to see certain things.

4) Scholarships are either portfolio or need based. They are sort of a mystery, though. For the portfolio scholarships schools might also take into account grades, attitude, how professional your presentation is, or what impression you give them. There may be alot of factors, but get as much info as you can by checking threads and talking to guidance councilors.

[Denart]

thanks you Pelle, Seraph and Velo ;)

great help this community is. a shame most schools dislike manga and fantasy...though I do really enjoy realism (from life and the great masters!)
Thanks for the responses!

One more question: :D

In general, when do they start accepting portfolio submissions and when do is the "deadline"
I know this question is pretty broad.

I just have 1 more year of high school left (starts Aug. 25) before college! AHH!

[SeraphSword]

The deadlines are just as varied as the schools. I applied and was accepted to Kubert's, but they don't have an actual deadline, just they suggest getting it in by Mar to handle everything in the interim (plus they only start in Fall).

If you are aiming at a really good school, like RISD or Ringling or whatever, you'd probably want to spend the next few months polishing your portfolio, and apply near the beginning of your school year. Getting it in early will help get it seen before the crunch of portfolios around the deadlines.

Again, good luck.

[AnarchyAo2]

http://www.artschools.com/articles/admission/best/

I think this link will answer a lot of your questions.

[Denart]

thanks for the useful link, Anarchy!

and then update, Seraph!

I'm thinking about trying for these schools

School of Visual Arts in New York (http://www.schoolofvisualarts.edu/)

Art Center College of Design in Pasedena (http://www.artcenter.edu/)

[Elwell]

Good choices.

[Denart]

yeah! I like to go to schools where they strictly focus on the visual arts (no performing arts, fashion, cooking) ;)

Here is what i think I will include in my portfolio

1) figures in motion
2) life / anatomy studies
3) self portraits / portraits
____________________________

4) linear perspective
5) atmospheric perspective
____________________________

6) still lives (texture, shape, color)
7) knowledge of color theory
____________________________

8) some "what you LIKE" pieces

Please, any comments or suggestions/changes would be GREAT!

awesome help this place is :D

[AnarchyAo2]

That sounds like a real nice plan. I may have to copy ya. You seem to have all of your bases covered with that plan.

[Famboozled]

Hey Denart, i just recently graduated from high school and am going to attend RISD this fall so everythings still pretty clear in my head

Alrite...

1) I think nearly every single art college looks at slides, some schools, RISD for example, asks for 3 original work folded nicely and sent in an envelope, i heard you can also send them work (only digital i believe) electronically. they usually provide some type of envelope as well as slide sleeves

2) Most schools have a bare minimum, some schools have a maximum (parsons) , its best if you send them more than their minimum so id say an approximate 20 pieces

3) Art Center is picky, they like to see figure drawings, however most of the time they look for work pertaining to that of your major, for example transportation design; you need to have a good bundle of car/vehicular designs, ranging from different perspectives, side views, interiors etc. its a real stress so i suggest planning early. theyre really particular about certain things, putting in a lot of still lifes rather than conceptual drawing for a design major isnt really favored by them

4) Your portfolio is the most essential part of your application, most art schools weigh 80%+ on a student's portfolio

SeraphSword makes a really good point, save the stress and try and send your portfolio early, later on youll have to compete with the large portion of applicants.

Alrite man hope this was helpful, PEACE

[Denart]

glad you like it Anarchy.

and thanks for the great help Famboozled!

I have anoter question.... :clown:

I'm not going to do a lot, maybe 1 or 2, but will they get "annoyed" if I send in drawings that I copied from the great masters but I give credit near my signature (i.e: after Da Vinci)

Or will that make my portfolio appear weaker, having art that was "copied" in them?

THANK YOU for bearing with my barrage of questions! :chug:

[kennygeeze]

If the art program you're applying to has an emphasis on drawing of some sort such as animation or illustration, really strong life-drawing will allow them to take you seriously.

A sketchbook is an EXTREMELY valuable portfolio piece. If you have a 100 page sketchook and you've filled every page with conceptuals, hands, feet, roughs, face sketches, drawings of people in everyday environments, media experimentation --- then you'll be in good hands.
I've seen some art programs accept students who may not of necessarily been the strongest artists, but they had 90-page sketchbooks full of hands and other subject matter from life.
A sketchbook is your chance to show quantity. I shows what you practice everyday and how you practice.

Good presentation isn't necessarily stuff mounted on huge presentation board.... good portfolio presentation is just clean and makes itself easy for an evaluator to look at it.

When organizing your pieces in your portfolio, start AND end with examples of your strongest work. Who knows.... they might start looking at your portfolio backwards.

[Denart]

Thanks Kenny

will they like sketchbooks filled with drawings that I copied from the great master, Bridgman, and etc?

I know they prefer observational drawings (life drawing, still lives) over copying from books/photos but would it hurt to have lots of the great master copies in my sketchbook?

[darth massacre]

I think a person's sketchbook tells a lot about the artist. Some of my friends write thoughts and poems with drawings from observation and imagination. A sketchbook is a very personal thing so why would you want to put in "practice sketches" in there?

Overall I the portfolio reflects the artist. So I think there's no fixed formula to what is needed. And I think everyone here had mentioned different schools and programs have different criteria. So I think you have to do a lot of decision making on your own. :D

[Zebz]

Thanks to everyone for all of the great information here! One thing I'm still curious about though... how do you actually display or create your portfolio? I mean, the actual portfolio. Is it a nice binder with the images placed neatly one after another in plastic sheets? Can anyone send images of portfolio samples or what they look like? I'm clueless. I feel like a complete idiot. LoL Thanks for the help.

Ryan

[kennygeeze]

zebz free, good portfolio presentation is about cleanliness and whether or not the evaluator can look at your work quickly and easily.
How you present it depends on the type of work and there's like.... countless ways to do it.
My first job as a graphic artist, I had a small portfolio case with print-outs of my work in plastic sleeves so the evaluator could flip through them right in front of me.... i got the job.

When I applied to sheridan I had to have a much larger portfolio case because of 18x24 artworks and even larger paintings. I placed the life-drawing in a piece of folded paper and held that with a alligator clip.... other pieces such as my painting, yearbook (that I designed) and sketchbook were loose.

When you design how to present your portfolio you should consider how they're going to be looking at it. If you're going into an office to show your stuff it's a good idea to go small because more often than not the employer will put it up on her desk and leaf through it.
Art schools (at least the ones I've met) like to see originals.... so they're ok with larger paintings. Often in the criteria they'll give you size limits so as long as you don't breach those you're fine.

"I think a person's sketchbook tells a lot about the artist. Some of my friends write thoughts and poems with drawings from observation and imagination. A sketchbook is a very personal thing so why would you want to put in "practice sketches" in there?"

Because a sketchbook shows the evaluator what you draw on a daily basis... your thought process, your visual diary, whatever.
Just because I have alot of pages in my sketchbook where I draw just hands for 'practice' doesn't mean it isn't personal.
And where else would you put compositional sketches anyways? Most evaluators from art schools want to see roughs and progress work as well as the final. A sketchbook is just a compiled book where they can easily see that. An evaluator might look at loose finished works but no one is going to want to sift through 20 loose leaf pages of roughs.

[makotierra]

Each college has their own specifics. For SVA and Ringling, I sent in about 20 slides, and Art Center requires originals, so I sent them the 20 originals that I took slides of for SVA and Ringling. If other schools ask for originals, just make sure that you get them back. My portfolio consisted of some still lifes, a couple imaginative pieces, a landscape-type painting, two figure line drawings (somewhat gestural), two portraits, one self-portrait, and I also put in two abstract pieces(i don't recommend putting in abstract). In terms of medium, the majority was in charcoal and pencil, and I had two colored pencil pieces, one painting, and one digital coloring (i'd probably try to avoid putting in a digital coloring as well) A bunch of people I know just put in purely figurative works and got in (to Art Center) and a couple people got in that had all sci-fi comic book stuff, so you really have a variety of things that can get you in, the main thing is to show you that you have potential, but to play if safe, figurative and still life is a good way to go, and if you think your imaginative pieces are worth putting in, put in a couple just to show you have imagination. You could also try calling the school to see what they want as different schools look for different things, too. I think your chances of getting into Art Center are a little better than what they used to be because they've been increasing enrollment the past several years I think, which kinda sucks because the education might suffer, but we'll just have to wait and see.

Looking at your plan for what you plan to submit, it looks pretty solid. THe only thing I'd be hesitant on is the perspective drawings unless they're somewhat complicated and impressive.

[Denart]

Darth massacre - to me, my sketchbook is a personal thing AND someplace to hone my drawing skills, that is why I also have "practice sketches" in there ;0

Kennygeeze - thanks yo Kenny!

The great Kevin Bentz! I've been a fan of your pencil drawings for quite a while.
ever since the times at the Opti Res forums!! :chug:

Thanks for the tons of info
and yeah, I dont intend to turn in a drawing where it JUST shows my knowledge of 3 pt perspective by using blocks or those cityscapes made of boxes :D

[makotierra]

haha, cool. well, just let us know which college you end up going to! (but of course that's months away from now) :)

[xxrichxx86]

Hey I'm going off to college come fall and thought I could help since I went through the process O.o
Well you have to make slides of your drawings to send your portfolio. If you live near the city, Jellybean is a very professional place. hmmm.
Well since you want to goto SVA right? Well for the silas rhodes scholarship (their best one!) you need to send in 20 drawings. Landscape, still lives, figures, black &white, color. show them you have varying talents. I only had 14 drawings and I went to SVA for and interview and the counselor gave me an extra week to draw 6 drawings! But I was able to do it, got a girl to model in 4 different poses (one shirtless ;) ) and cranked out 2 more another friend modeled for me and found an ok old pic. and I got the scholarship which is ~9,800 i think. It's a real honor. but I decided on RISD cause I think they'll work me harder, was kind of disppointed though, i only got 10,000 a year and my friend got 25,000 :$ .
Also GPA wise 3.0 or higher is good. hmmm SATs around 1200. O yea be diligent in drawing too I had to get a fake doctors note and skip a week of school to finish my Home Test drawings for RISD working 12-20 hours a day for 3 months it was nuts I consumed 20 cases of red bull i think. and that was just for the 3 drawing for RISD. damn. o yea dont get lazy after you get accepted either. Like me or your skills will become worse and you'll freak out like me :P. Hmm be sure to get all the catalogs(?) of your school. and hand in everythign on time. Good Luck!

Anybody coming to RISD in the fall..?.. ^^

O yea theres two of my portfolio peices in my site..hmm they're pretty bad qaulity b/c my mom framed all of them...(overly proud mother?..) yep its www.pofj.com/III

Figures are always a quick and easy thing. Practice it a lot get your friends and family to model..hmm and you'll learn a lot. uhh... use angles for line drawing and squint to see values of tone. and...I forget..well good luck!

[Denart]

Kevin - i'll be sure to give you updates ;)

Richard - hehe, its cool how you got a fake doctors note. Hardcore! ;)
hmm, who's this friend of yours? (or is that none of my business... :dur: )
cool conte drawings in your gallery!

another question I have! :blahblah:

alright, you know how most colleges like to see self portraits?
(I read on tons of school sites that they like to see self portraits in the portfolio, they say its most "challenging!")

Now, how do they actually know it's a self portrait when you send in slides? Would you write down "self portrait" by the title or what?

Thanks! :confident

[xxrichxx86]

thanks! :)
yea the doctor was a cool guy, I think he made up a virus or something haha. the friend i drew is just a fellow art student :P she decided to goto Parsons...mad expensive I think thats the most expensive art school on the East coast.

Self portrait wise. Some schools require at least one self portrait. hmm like Pratt says you should include one and one of the Home Test drawins for RISD is a self portrait.

For slide naming and stuff. Well you should visit the sites of the schools you want to apply to and request a catalog. All the info is in there + applications and stuff. And usually they tell you to write on the slides like, which side is the top, number the slide, give it a title, put your name on it, etc.