Virtual Art Club

The One with Portfolio Reviews

Welcome to Art Club, the Burchfield Penney Art Center's newest program designed for teens to engage and connect with local artists to learn what's it's really like to be an artist. Each month we will explore new themes around processes, preparing for college, and starting a business.

In this art club with are joined by Candace Masters, Chair and Associate Professor of the Art & Design Department at Buffalo State College. We'll be talking about preparing a portfolio when applying to college.

Break it Down: Tips to Making a Fabulous Portfolio

Show your Drawing Skills

• The most important factor that interviewers lookout for at most colleges is to see that you have excellent observational skills.
• I.E. Draw from LIFE, not from Pinterest or Instagram photos, LIFE

Express your Creativity

• Being creative requires courage to be able to think outside of the box. Don’t worry about what other people think of you because you are comfortable with who you are as a person. Your creativity can be best showcased in your sketchbook.
• I.E. Keep a sketchbook and use it regularly

Explore a Range of Mediums

• Show openness and courage to experiment, explore and express yourself with different mediums. Have fun with it and it will show through your work.
• I.E. You’re too young to put yourself in a niche, try all different kinds of materials, as many as you can get your hands on.

Art and Design Fundamentals

• Have a good understanding of the fundamentals. Show this in your work, those ‘working lines’ don’t erase those. This will show your interviewers that you understand the process of your work and the principles of art and design.

Make your Sketchbook Exciting…to you

• Approach your sketchbook not as homework or as a work of art. It is your glorious visual diary, an extension of who you are and how you feel about the world you exist in or beyond. Express a range of your personal interests, whether that’s places you visit, like a museum or books you’ve read or movies you’ve watched. 
• Again, keep a sketchbook!

Clear Labeling

• Take into consideration that interviewers are looking at hundreds of portfolios. Clear labeling or information about your art will help them to take in your story quickly and easily. 
• Labeling is best when it is in the same format and same position on your artwork.

Choose your Art Pieces

• It helps to have a range of artwork done so that you have a selection to choose from that works best together. Displaying every single piece of artwork is not always helpful to the overall look and feel of your portfolio.
• Show a variety of mediums you’ve worked in, with different topics/subjects.
• Have a theme or link between artwork rather than have random art pieces together.
• Stand back and look at your art altogether to get a good sense of what feels good to you.

Important Links

Buffalo State College, Art and Design Website

Candace Masters, email: keegancp@buffalostate.edu