Content

• Steps
• Part 1 of 3: Portfolio Selection
• Part 2 of 3: Building a Portfolio
• Part 3 of 3: Preparing to Showcase Your Portfolio
• Tips

Thinking about how to present your artwork in a favorable light for an art gallery, art institute or potential employer? A well-crafted art portfolio is a great way to showcase your best creations and showcase your own skills.A portfolio should speak for itself, combining your qualities like professionalism, dedication and personality, as well as showcasing your best work. It will create the first impression of you, so it should somehow stand out from the rest of the portfolio. In your portfolio, you must show stakeholders what your talent is, how you differ from other job seekers, and why you should be chosen over someone else.

Steps

Part 1 of 3: Portfolio Selection

1. 1 Check out the portfolio requirements. All organizations are different from each other, so they may have different requirements for the content of the portfolio or the format used in it. Also, your portfolio will largely depend on which course of study or which career you choose for yourself.
   • For example, if you decide to study to be a filmmaker or animation artist, it is likely that your portfolio should be digital and consist of works from the same creative field. On the other hand, if you are applying to be an architect or artist, your portfolio will need to consist of sketches and drawings.
   • Some institutions offer to include only 10–20 works in the portfolio. If you have really worthwhile pieces, it's best to stick with fewer pieces in your portfolio, as the overall quality of the portfolio may decrease as the number increases.
   • Be sure to check the requirements of a particular organization for building a portfolio before starting to prepare one. This is necessary in order not to waste time creating a portfolio in one way, and then having to redo it for a different format.
2. 2 Select finished and unfinished works for the portfolio (depending on specific requirements). Usually, for admission to vocational schools, it is required to provide finished works, but in some cases you may be asked to show unfinished works in order to evaluate the direct process of preparation and development of works.
   • Check your portfolio requirements before doing anything. If you want to include unfinished work in it, do so. This will assess your skills, working methods and depth of existing knowledge, as well as help you understand the context of the creative and thought process that underlies your works. Each piece of art is often more than just a finished work, but this largely depends on the process of its creation and the application of some experiments.
   • Make sure that both finished and unfinished works for your portfolio are polished to perfection. Get rid of smudged lines, fingerprints and imperfections in your artwork.
3. 3 Include drawn from life in your portfolio. They will confirm your ability to perceive and reflect on paper objects of real life. Drawings and paintings from life can be an essential part of your portfolio.
   • The purpose of including these works in a portfolio is to show those who will evaluate it that you can correctly perceive the outlines and shapes of objects, pay attention to details, work with perspective, proportions and the transfer of various textures.
   • When drawing from life, stick to realism, not a crude mechanical copy of reality. It is useful to choose an object that is important for yourself for drawing, since in this case you automatically begin to think about the theme and motives that lie in the depths of your drawing, and not about the purely external picture that stands in front of you.
4. 4 Highlight your best pieces. If you've been drawing for a long time, you probably have a wide variety of works, ranging from excellent and good to average and very bad. It can be tempting to include in your portfolio not only your best work, but just the good ones. However, it would be wise to refrain from this.You need to show only the best pieces that accurately and without a doubt reflect the quality, your ability, skill and creativity.
   • Be selective and don't include any work in your portfolio just for variety. It is better to have a portfolio of confidently executed work with less variety of media or styles used than a large number of works in different materials and in different styles, but of average quality.
   • It can be difficult to open-mindedly evaluate your work and edit it, so ask a friend or two of your friends for a selection of your best works. It is also helpful to have a mentor friend. Look for someone with a talent as an artist, someone who has been in your place before, who can help you make such difficult decisions. The benefit here is that the opinion of such a person can be trusted, since he has some experience in the field of fine arts.
   • Never include work in your portfolio that is an imitation of someone else's work. Admissions officers have seen thousands of portfolios and are quite capable of guessing that you created your work from any photograph or artwork of another person. It also demonstrates your lack of creativity and inability to find ideas for your art in real life.
5. 5 Ask a friend to look at your work. After you have selected the most valuable works for your portfolio, ask a friend or mentor to take a look at them and also give their opinion on the works you have chosen.
   • Some of your artwork may require revision or revision, so make sure you have enough time to perfect your work before you need to donate your portfolio.
   • After selecting the works for the portfolio, wait a while and come back to them with a little rethinking of your approach. It is very important to secure this time for yourself, as it will allow you to evaluate your works better and less biasedly.
   • At times, even friends may be prejudiced against your work, so it is sometimes helpful to involve someone outside of your assessment with whom you do not have a close relationship. In addition, it will be easier to accept constructive criticism from such a person.
   • Learn to accept constructive criticism with gratitude: understand that it is not an insult and does not detract from your dignity, but allows you to improve as an artist.
6. 6 Include additional information on articles, publications, and awards in your portfolio. In some cases this is not required, so, again, check the portfolio requirements. However, be aware that such information is useful to demonstrate that your work is valued and has already been presented to the public in the past.

Part 2 of 3: Building a Portfolio

1. 1 Use other people's portfolios as examples. The best way to get started on a project like making a portfolio is to find other people's successful portfolios online and use them as examples. This does not mean that you need to copy the format or follow someone else's portfolio exactly. Use other people's portfolios as a guide to compose your own.
   • Pay attention to how the work in someone else's portfolio is organized. Take a look at the style and design of the portfolio itself. Think about what catches your eye the most: portfolio work or portfolio design?
   • If you are uncomfortable or even intimidated by comparisons with other people's portfolios, remember that only the best works are included. Visual arts are based on both technical skills and creativity, so even if your skills are still not as good as other people's, your creativity can make up for this deficiency.
2. 2 Tailor your portfolio to the organization you are building it for. Universities or art galleries may have their own opinion on what they want to see in a portfolio, or how it should be stylistically presented. It is very important to start building and structuring a portfolio based on what audience it is intended for.
   • For example, if you are preparing a portfolio for an art gallery, go there and make sure that your work fits in with the theme and style of the paintings on display there. Choose works for your portfolio that will show that you are familiar with this art gallery and have a good understanding of which category of fine art they are exhibiting.
   • If you are going to university or looking to get a job, always follow the guidelines for building a portfolio, but also try to customize your portfolio further for the organization for which you are preparing it. Perhaps you are going to a prestigious fine arts institute that values ​​technique and style more, or perhaps you are going to college where there is more emphasis on creativity and experimentation. Try to keep these points in mind when you think about the design and structure of your portfolio.
3. 3 Organize portfolio work. Group your pieces by style, subject matter, materials used, technique, or the like. You need to make it as easy as possible for the people who will be looking at your portfolio and determining your suitability to find important information. The easiest way to do this is by properly organizing your portfolio. Your portfolio should tell a whole story about you.
   • Group the works by the materials used. It is useful to showcase your work with different materials in a portfolio to show your all-round development and ability to work in different artistic directions. It doesn't hurt to group your work with different materials into groups so that the portfolio clearly reflects your diverse skills and abilities to apply different materials in your work. For example, you can combine pastels into one group, then create a group of drawings with simple pencils and charcoal, then combine your work with paints.
   • Group works by topic. Another way of grouping is grouping by topic, which is likely to include work done using different materials, but reflect your ability to accurately portray completely different things. For example, you can group works by images of people, landscapes, abstract paintings, and so on.
   • Group the works according to the technique of execution. This grouping is similar to the grouping by the materials used, but it focuses on your ability to work not only with paper, but also with digital media, photography, web design, animation, and so on.
   • Use a scrapbooking album or binder (found at a craft store) to staple and present your work.
4. 4 Keep it simple. As an artist, you may wish to be creative and make your portfolio very extravagant. While this approach is good for the work itself, the portfolio in which it is contained should look professional, organized, and simple.
   • This is due to the fact that you do not need to overload the portfolio with design and distract the viewer's attention from the work you have done. You have to make sure that the focus remains on your art, because that is what you are trying to showcase.
   • Take a measured approach to building your portfolio. Do not include too many works on one page and do not overdo it with the amount of descriptive information.
5. 5 Try to stand out, but no frills. In the highly competitive field of visual arts, it is very important that your work stands out.You shouldn't be allowed to be simply numbered among the hundreds of other people who have contributed their portfolios, so try to create a portfolio that will skillfully and creatively emphasize your work so that it will not be overlooked.
   • However, be careful not to overdo it. If your attempts to stand out from others lead you to create something tasteless or look like a failed attempt to achieve a humorous effect, then you may go unnoticed or be noticed, but in a negative way.
   • The advantage of a portfolio is that it is more than a piece of paper like a resume. Your work really speaks to who you are and allows the employer to gain a better understanding of your creativity than a dry, written description of the skills.
   • Don't ponder your portfolio for too long. When you're done with it, ask your mentor for feedback. Review the portfolio yourself a few times to make sure it is well organized and to get rid of potential mistakes, and then leave it alone. Constantly trying to fix something to make a portfolio "memorable" can lead to a decrease in its external professionalism.
6. 6 Create a virtual portfolio. While it is convenient to have a portfolio with your real work on hand, having a virtual copy of the portfolio will be useful for sending the portfolio online to interested parties, which is required in most cases.
   • Capture or scan your work. Once you've selected your artwork for your portfolio, use a good camera to photograph your artwork, or ask a professional to do so. Make sure your photos are clear and high quality, allowing you to view your work in good resolution. For photography, use a room with ideal lighting without unnecessary glare and never use a flash. When scanning works, make sure that the paper does not wrinkle and lies flat in the scanner - this will allow you to get accurate digital copies of your drawings.
   • Contribute these images to Indesign or another program that makes it easy to create and edit portfolios.
   • A virtual portfolio will not only become a digital copy of your work for sending over the network, but also serve as a backup in case the real work is lost or destroyed.

Part 3 of 3: Preparing to Showcase Your Portfolio

1. 1 Rehearse your portfolio presentation. If you get the opportunity to personally present your portfolio, it is important to rehearse its presentation. In this way, you will know exactly what to say about each submitted work and how to effectively explain how your work is different and what is its value.
   • After rehearsing your presentation several times, talk to a friend or mentor who can evaluate your presentation and your approach to describing your work.
   • Again, your work should still speak for itself. During the presentation of the portfolio, you do not need to go into all the details, explaining every detail - in most cases, everything should be clear without further ado. However, you may come across such works for which you were inspired by some significant event or something valuable to you. If so, take the opportunity to show the creativity and passion that underlie such work.
2. 2 Once you've completed your portfolio, get feedback on it. Ask a mentor or friend to review the finished portfolio, making notes with comments on the organization of the work, topic, format, and final work presented.
   • You can also seek advice about the portfolio from the teachers of the educational institution in which you are going to enroll. Find a teacher to advise you and ask for recommendations on how you can improve your portfolio.Use this meeting as a sample presentation of your portfolio prior to formal review.
   • Small details matter too. If your portfolio contains text, be sure to check it for spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors. It's easy to concentrate all your attention directly on the artwork and forget about the text. However, the admissions office or employers want to see that you have reviewed all of your work and are serious about your preparation. It's unwise to spend all your time building a fantastic portfolio that the commission or employer will really love, and then lose any chance of success due to an illiterate text.
3. 3 Add to your portfolio regularly. Even if you have already submitted your portfolio to several organizations, always be ready to replenish and update it with new, better quality work. Save your own time by doing this as soon as such work appears, so that at some point you don't have to fundamentally redo your portfolio again when you need to present it somewhere else.
   • This will align your portfolio with your current skills and include information about your awards.
   • Constantly ask yourself, "Is this really all mine?" Your work should reflect yourself, your passions, so when updating and revising your portfolio, make sure that it tells the story you want to convey.

Tips

• There is a lot of competition in the visual arts field, so you will need to go through a considerable number of exhibitions with your work in order to gain recognition and break out into the leaders. Never be discouraged!
• Do not limit yourself to drawing exclusively in the classroom. Draw with a pencil, paints and create in everyday life! These are the kinds of works that really interest those evaluating your portfolio, as they reflect your real interests, passions and creativity that go beyond the requirements of teachers and the classroom environment.
• When comparing your work to someone else's, remember that your goal is not to give your work the exact same look, but to continually improve your talent and develop your artistic skills.
• Don't settle for free painting just for the sake of exhibiting. Do it for the love of fine art.
• Try to replenish your portfolio with new works. This will demonstrate accumulated experience and skill improvement.