#portfolio presentation

whether you’re preparing to apply to a school or to a competition, there will be specific requirements listed. bookmark or hold on to what these requirements are: you don’t want to count yourself out from the very beginning simply because you missed something easy. most schools/competitions will have requirements about content of the portfolio- for example, drawings from life (still lives, self-portraits, figure drawings, etc).

there will also be requirements as to formatting/uploading your portfolio- this is equally important! the general rule of thumb, i’ve found, is to use high-quality .JPGs, at 300dpi and around 5”x6” for size reference. some schools require CDs, some have websites where you upload your images, and some will take emails; you can also usually have your portfolio reviewed in person by an admissions counselor, either at a portfolio day or by arranging a meeting through the school.

and the most important tip regarding this at all: follow their instructions. if they ask for a maximum of 15 pieces, don’t send them thirty. don’t even send them 16 (if you really desperately want to get away with more than whatever-amount pieces, you can always put like pieces/series together in the same image). they’re reviewing literally hundreds and in some cases literally thousands of portfolios, and the first thing they’ll do is throw out anyone who couldn’t bother to follow their rules.

2. quality control

in this case, i am not referring to quality of the actual art – what i’m referring to is quality of the digital copies and craftsmanship. do not photograph your work with a cellphone camera in your room at night. just don’t do it. obviously not everyone has access to a super nice digital camera, but a point and shoot should work just fine (even ipad/iphone cameras work fairly well in a pinch). keep your lighting even- the best lighting is outside, early afternoon, when it’s overcast.

additionally, put your pieces down on a nice neutral surface (black/white) when you photograph- nothing with distracting colors or patterns. if you can crop them in such a way as to take out the background you shot on completely, do that!  you want the focus to be on your art, not on your hot pink leopard print carpet.

if you’re showing your pieces in person, keep them nice & tidy. no crinkles or rips or bent edges- obviously, stuff happens (i myself am awful at craftsmanship) but make them look as presentable as you can- things like photographs or illustrations can be mounted on illustration board or matte board. if you have anything with pastel/charcoal/stuff that smudges, use fixative (or hairspray for a cheap alternative). remember, if you don’t care enough about your art to keep it nice, why should anyone else?

3. breadth & concentration

haha i borrowed those two terms from the AP studio requirements because i think it’s a good way of breaking down your portfolio. basically, your “breadth” is your work that shows your technical ability, while “concentration” is your work that represents what you like to do. hopefully those two things intersect. basically- schools especially – want to see that you are good at what you do, and that means things like still lives, figure drawings, studies and so forth. but if you have a thing that you like to do and you are really really passionate about, include that too! i always included pages from my sketchbooks, as well as comics i had done, because i was going into illustration and wanted to work in comics. like i said, if you can make the two sides of these intersect – if you are super passionate about doing portraits, for example, and your portraits are very good technically, that’s awesome. basically, try not to think of the two as entirely separate entities (unless you are submitting to AP studio ahah!), but be aware that if you only submit a bunch of digital fanart cartoons and no technical work, your odds of being accepted are lower.

actually, something important on that note re: stylization:

stylization is awesome. for god’s sake, i’m a cartoonist. but under no circumstances should you forsake the study/understanding of anatomy, design, composition, or any other technical skill for “style’s” sake. all the time i hear younger artists saying “it doesn’t matter if that looks wrong, that’s my style!” no. do not do that, do not be that person. it’s obviously okay to not know everything yet- as my life drawing professor (who is over sixty years old) puts it, art is about the process of  correcting mistakes. art schools arent expecting you to be absolutely perfect michaelangelo/bernini gods and goddesses. but they do want to see that you have potential, and if they see someone tote around a portfolio of poorly rendered butch hartman or jhonen vasquez ripoffs, they’re not gonna be as interested in pursuing that person as a student. this is an especially important point if you are someone looking to get merit-based scholarships. stronger portfolios = more $$$, you feel me?

and one final note: be experimental! be diverse! show you are open to learning!

you might really, really like working with pencils, but your portfolio will be much stronger if you include a wide range of materials. you are young, you are at the prime time to be experimenting and getting messy and figuring out what works for you. work with charcoal, paints, pencils, crayons, blood, clay, photography, anything you can get your hands on. if you’re scared you’re going to make bad pieces, do it in your sketchbook- thats what it’s for!

  4. have intent and purpose

alright, so, you’ve got the work, and now all that’s left is your statements (i know ap/scholastics requires them, some colleges do too instead of essays), or you’re meeting your admissions counselor. be prepared to talk about your work, and talk a lot. the last thing you want to do is freeze on the spot and end up babbling out “oh.. i dunno.. i just like to draw, i guess.”

start asking yourself questions: do you have any specific themes or concepts you explore? do you write your own narratives? do you look at specific illustrators, or fashion designers, or photographers, or artists? are you influenced by literature or society or is your work personal?

have tangible goals and ideas, too: i’m not saying you should know what you want to do, god forbid, because there is absolutely nothing wrong with not knowing. but be able to tell admissions counselors that you want your work to grow a certain way. like, for example, “i’m working towards an overall narrative that explores the relationships between mothers and sons” or “i want to relate composition and rhythm”. don’t be afraid to bullshit it, either, they aren’t going to strap you to a lie detector, i promise.

and start collecting artists that inspire you. i don’t mean tumblr or dA famous artists either- have the names of people who are working in the industry and are known. they don’t have to be fine artists either, although i always recommend putting a few contemporary/postmodern names under your belt to look extra intelligent (do you know marina abramovic? do you know william kentridge? do you know sam weber or jillian tamaki? look them up). there’s nothing wrong with looking at tumblr/dA artists either (and plenty of people in the internet sphere are working individuals who are well known), i’m just saying make sure you aren’t dropping urls. prove that you do a little research!

5. arrangement counts too

this is my final point and it’s something that gets overlooked a lot, but i genuinely believe that arrangement is what helped me 100% with getting accepted/positive reviews from all those schools. now obviously this is gonna depend a lot on how you have to show your work, but basically:

put your very best pieces in the beginning and at the very end. that way you wow them from the start and leave them on a high note.

at the same time, don’t lump all your weakest work in the middle- try to spread it out with other pieces that are very good too. the key points are beginning, very middle, and end, and weaker stuff fits in the in betweens there (and dont be worried about having weaker stuff, everyone has filler pieces!)

if you’re uploading onto a site that allows you to arrange by row & column (like a photoset of sorts), put pieces that face IN on the ends. for example, your very first piece (or what would be top left) should point RIGHT to lead the viewer’s eye in. don’t put pieces that face out on the ends- always lead the viewer’s eye back in toward your work! this may seem silly but it’s a very significant psychological point, because what no one admits is that admissions counselors don’t spend hours poring over your work. they’re going to flip through every piece very fast, and so how you arrange your work is ultimately going to make the most impression on them.  this goes for displaying your work in person- dont just scatter them willy nilly, lay out your work nicely on the table or arrange the files digitally so that they’re aesthetically pleasing at a glance.

trust me, it makes a really good first impression c: