Hey everybody, it's time for Portfolio Day!
Portfolio Day was created in 1978 by representatives from accredited post-secondary art schools across the US and Canada, including Emily Carr Institute, the Alberta College of Art, the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and the San Francisco Art Institute. It gives students a chance to have their work evaluated locally by art teachers. This year, Portfolio Day is December 2nd, and is being hosted at the Emily Carr Institute's concourse gallery. In order to help folks get ready for the big day, we thought we'd pass along some advice about what to bring and how to present it.
Organizing your work
Generate interest in your work with your first piece. Get the ball rolling with something that really says what you're all about! For instance: me in a dress. Who can deny my great beauty and my "enigmatic smile"? And the chiariscuro? I'm telling you! Order your work in the portfolio to show your development, keeping in mind that current work best demonstrates your skill level. Let your portfolio be a record of how much you have learned from working and exploring your artmaking.
Things to think about
Be prepared to explain why a particular work is in your portfolio, what it means to you and what you were trying to achieve. Did your muse tie you down and force you to make this? Be prepared to talk about any research and preparation you did for your final work. Did you teach yourself a new skill, like pouring latex, or the latest computer application? Or did you have to track down a reference for the bootlaces of a Roman Centurion? Or maybe it was a matter of finding the right Alizarin Crimson for the job.
Important note!
Be sure to pack along a sketchbook to demonstrate your creative process and work habits; for instance, a creative journal that shows the development of particular work in your portfolio. Evolution! Check out how many drafts and doodles I went through before I settled on the central image of my dreamscape. This is really a biggee! Bring that sketchbook!
Samples to include
Include work that gives evidence of your ability and willingness to look closely and carefully at a subject. This work may take the form of drawings from observation, or even gestural sketches. Get out into the world and draw! That's right, draw the entire world! But start with your own neighbourhood.
Include a variety of finished pieces in your portfolio, demonstrating your ability to work with a wide range of techniques, materials and subject matter. This shows your fearlessness about trying different media. For instance, what medium other than watercolours could capture the pastoral beauty of me in my dinghy, fishing at sunset? Gone fishin', instead of just a wishin'! By all means, bring along work you completed in classes and with instruction, with special attention placed on the artwork you created outside of the classroom. Where did your artmaking take you when you had no guide? So have fun! Get excited and take this super opportunity to present your artwork to the world. Your portfolio will thank you!
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