# Art school portfolio--I need opinions, suggestions, and maybe a little help?



## Sabrah (Aug 6, 2013)

Hi, I've recently decided that I want to attend art school. For the first time in a long time I am actually excited about the future and happy about it. My family isn't very supportive and they dislike my art. Idk.. I guess they don't understand art or emotional things very well at all. Anyway, I've never taken art classes or anything so I am not entirely sure how to evaluate my work for a portfolio. I have done a lot of reading and online research into the subject, but I would like some personal input from people. 

https://www.instagram.com/parrotsaladcarrotsalad/ Most of my art is on here.

What do you guys think? and thank you for any suggestions/useful advice.


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## Surreal Snake (Nov 17, 2009)

It appears you have natural ability with drawing. I like your colourful art too kind of reminds me of Pablo. Though I can see lack of experience especially in your colour art stuff. I think the potential is there to further develop in art school. Good luck


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## Penny (Mar 24, 2016)

Wow. I think you are very talented and gifted at art! My favorite is the girl with the beagle. Art can be a hard subject to find full-time employment in, but I wouldn't let that discourage you. Having a degree period in anything is good for your resume, so I say follow your heart's desire! If it is really what you love to do, (and that seems like so since I didn't even see _every_ pic) go for it! Sorry your family isn't so supportive. I hope your passion for it proves them wrong and you find success in or out of the field. Good luck!


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## Starflakes (Sep 13, 2009)

I really like your art! I think you have raw talent and that you'll do well in art school. Just to clarify, were you asking for suggestions for which pieces you should include in your portfolio?


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## Sabrah (Aug 6, 2013)

Yes.  I know much of it may not be suitable for a portfolio, so maybe which angle you think I should take when creating new pieces for one.


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## Intricate Mystic (Apr 3, 2010)

When you're applying to art schools your portfolio needs to look professional. All of your work needs to be photographed mounted on a wall with the camera lens parallel to the art surface. I wouldn't include the photo of the dog, cat and ducks because they're just everyday photos someone would take of their pets. Also, the cat standing on your artwork, the paint palettes and the jewelry should be deleted, as well. Jewelry, in particular, is looked upon as more of a craft so I wouldn't include that in a fine arts school portfolio if you want to be taken seriously. Some of your drawings are good. As for the colorful pieces (acrylic? pastels? ink?) I think they show promise but it would be a good idea to be able to explain the concept behind their creation. The contemporary art world is still very concept-based even though conceptualism as a movement was over quite some time ago. In art courses you will have class critiques of everyone's work in which you'll be expected to explain the idea(s) behind your work so you kind of need to develop a thick skin and have lots of confidence in your abilities and artistic vision to deal with that. You may be accustomed to friends telling you how good your art is but in art school you'll be in an environment that's filled with lots of talented people. Your work that you think is really great becomes work that gets criticized or ignored. I would describe it as a tough hostile environment that pressures students to conform to the art world's idea of what contemporary art is. This frequently involves not even making painting or drawings but does include installations, videos, and performance art. I think the realities of art school are often not what entering students expect so it's a good idea to know what you're getting yourself into.


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## Arzazar Szubrasznikarazar (Apr 9, 2015)

Intricate Mystic said:


> I would describe it as a tough hostile environment that pressures students to conform to the art world's idea of what contemporary art is. This frequently involves not even making painting or drawings but does include installations, videos, and performance art.


This world needs to burn.


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## jade09 (May 5, 2016)

I really like the pen art of the guy in a baseball cap for some reason. I really like the texture of it. I think I like the paintings that are more abstract than the ones that has more realistic faces. I love the one with you uploaded between the photo of the moon and the spider the most! I LOVE it!!! There are other ones I really love but kind of hard to explain in text  

I think if you search on google on choosing pieces for your portfolio you'll get a better idea. I think it went along the line of, couple pieces to show you got the basics down and couple pieces to show your creativity etc. Sorry for not being much of a help, I majored in graphic design so I don't know much about the fine arts world


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## Laze (Feb 19, 2015)

Seems a bit all over the place. I'd rather you picked one medium and worked at it to achieve a high skill level instead of having many mediocre pieces.


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## lavendersnow (Jan 13, 2016)

Your strong point seems to be your paintings, which have a defined identifiable style that I could attribute to you. Everything else looks like it could have been done by various other people, so perhaps those are your areas to focus on improving. To evaluate your own work, you need to show an understanding of what you believe went well, went wrong and can be improved. And who and what you can take your inspiration from to improve your artwork. 

I chose not to go to art school and personally believe you learn to better your work on your own. You can save the money you would spend on the course for more art supplies. But to each their own, it's up to you. I would recommend paying for or attending free individual workshops rather than just going to art school. With my experience, it really is what was said above, just a bunch of people trying to make you conform to their style in order to pass. And to pass, you would have to give up your interests and dedicate hours and months to drawing and painting things you don't care about or have passion for. I did it for four year, never going back.


Edit: As I go through your page, your colour work is really exceptional, in my opinion. I could see people paying you good money for those if you keep improving your style.


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## Subtle Murder (May 19, 2012)

I want to second what some people have already said on this thread: your coloured paintings are exceptional. Focus on those, refine your skill, really make your mark with them. I would hang those paintings around my house in a heartbeat. I love them.


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## Prada (Sep 10, 2015)

I'm no professional so take my opinion with a grain of salt. As it was mentioned before, you're stretching yourself too thin. Look at it this way, if you were to hire an artist, a photographer and a jewellery creator (whatever it's called) and you would want to make money with these things, would you hire one person for all that has limited time and all of their creations are average or 3 people who will dedicate their time to that one thing and they're above average?

Specialization is important. Focus on whatever you enjoy and gets a good reaction from professionals. Also, if you do something that stands out (like the very colourfull paintings that you have there), the audience that will enjoy it from a casual POV will be smaller than with something mainstream while professionals might appreciate it more. What I'm saying is that if you want to target professionals with your portfolio, asking people who aren't professionals is not the right way to do it. It's nice to get feedback from your family but if they know nothing on the matter, I wouldn't recommend giving it importance. Now, if you wanted to start as a freelance artist then asking people around would be a start. In other words, you need to focus on the group you are targeting. Who are you trying to target with your portfolio? Go and ask THEM what they think.


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## Wisteria (Apr 2, 2015)

I personally love your black and white illustrations (some of the first you have uploaded on your Instagram). This artwork shows a talent in creativity and imagination. It's refreshing to look at because I don't see surrealistic artwork often. I agree with the previous that you should be sure to explain your thought processes and underlying concepts behind your work. Too many artists do not explain the subjective meaning behind their work, and thus the one problem with art is that the concept is always hidden.

For a portfolio, my only ideas are that you expand on your techniques and use of different media, but perhaps enrolling in an Art University will give you the opportunity. When I created my art portfolio my teacher was always advising me not to use photographs. Still life seems to be a preference in fine art. 

My family also advised me not to "do" art and seemed to be highly against it. If the choice seems promising and exited for you then I think you should go for it. It seems you enjoy it


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## TheBlackPea (Aug 1, 2015)

It's not bad at all. One thing I would say is that it would be nice if your portraits had more detail to them. I can't tell one hundred percent, but you seem to have a good grasp on graphite and ink mediums. You seem to have a preference for more abstract art, so go with that if that's where your experience lies most. I would say the weakest piece is the pencil portrait of the man's head (the one with different colours). I'd love if it had more detail, the work itself is very nice, but it is the weakest of the bunch in my opinion.


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## RobynC (Jun 10, 2011)

I take it you wanted more than "whoah, you fucking rock"


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## Parrot (Feb 22, 2015)

You gotta be able to work both heads well. Otherwise, someone might get frustrated. If you can do that, then you're a keeper.


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## iworkforcookies (Jul 29, 2014)

I'm not sure if you mean graduate or undergrad, but graduate school would judge you harder. Although a good portfolio is a good portfolio so I'll share some of my thoughts. 

First of all, a portfolio will have a max of 20 images so be prepared to narrow it down to what you believe best represents you. Works in your portfolio should have a connection to each other while being distinct (that's why they call it a 'body' of work and not arms and legs). A connection could be a subject, medium, or an overarching idea. I see that certain people respond to your drawings and some respond to your paintings. There's nothing wrong with using a range of media, but like I said your work should all connect somehow. I'd also suggest branching out in your forms and techniques no matter what medium you use. Schools like to see that you grow steadily. I know it's nerve racking, give it your best shot! Good luck.


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## MolaMola (Jul 28, 2012)

Your art is great! Don't let anyone discourage you on the basis of your talent. However, I urge you to think *very carefully* about the issue of *student loans*. Also, here is a piece of advice I sincerely wish I had when I was in high school:

CONSIDER STUDYING IN EUROPE. Even as an American citizen your tuition fees will be a FRACTION of what it would cost in the USA, even in the UK, for art school. 

wishing you luck!


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## starvingautist (Mar 23, 2015)

imo you need to work on your fundamentals, that is, shapes and colour. A lot of your paintings are too busy for my taste and as a result, aren't particularly eyecatching. Whatever skill your drawings seem to show is lost in the paintings. I think trying gesture drawings would benefit you; quick sketches with broad arm movements. Locate shapes within faces, see how the parts interact with each other. You don't seem to allow yourself a lot of freedom in the drawings.
That said, I like
https://www.instagram.com/p/9u9itsSENP/?taken-by=parrotsaladcarrotsalad
and
https://www.instagram.com/p/9mHrHeyEMe/?taken-by=parrotsaladcarrotsalad
-that kind of style works well for me.

You can get good, for sure. Just do the boring stuff too; it's like playing scales on a musical instrument.


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## Communal Soap (Jul 6, 2014)

I don't know anything abut art outside of music but I do know that yours is very good. At least a third of the kids that go to my school want to go to art school and your work is completely on par with the ones that get in/win awards at shows.


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