You are required to submit a portfolio of your art work: sculpture, painting, photography, etc. Or, you are considering sending in a portfolio to demonstrate your talent as a supplement to your college application to make your candidacy more competitive. (See our article, “What is a Portfolio and How Does it Fit with my College Application?” )

Submitting a portfolio is not easy, and the process probably began in your sophomore or junior year, building your portfolio materials and deciding how to make your portfolio wide-ranging and varied. (See our article “Planning a Portfolio for your College Application.” )

But, now you have to get it done! What is the best way to present yourself in your portfolio and how do you present yourself well? Both these aspects of creating a portfolio are discussed below. You will also find some great insider tips.

Whatever you do, give yourself at least three weeks to get your portfolio completed and sent in a timely fashion. That should be well before the deadline!

Presenting Yourself is about Selection

First, you must be sure to select work to show the quality of your art. You will want to showcase your various strengths: composition, line, use of color, etc; the quality of your work: maturity, thoughtfulness, subject choice; and the range of your ability: variety, growth, different subject matter, media choice, etc.

Here some other things to consider.

 If you are applying for Early Decision, show the best examples of your work to date. Choose accordingly, but also keep in mind the schools are aware of your time limits.
 Do not select too much work; 12 - 16 slides are usually enough.
 Consider the quality of the schools you are applying to. You might select certain work for your reach schools, but some of that work may be too experimental or too over-the-top for the medium range schools.
 Get input from your teachers about what best represents your strengths. Don’t rely on friends’ opinions. You need expert advice.
 Think about including all new work, or some older things to show growth or problem solving ability.
 Too much of the same is not good. All portraits—no! All oils—no, again! You need to show you have ability to do more than one thing. (However, if you are a portrait painter, then variety might mean including subjects from different points of view, use of different materials, or significantly varied compositions.)
 Be careful about detail shots. To include two slides of one piece of art may be useful if you have a reason to include the detail—because it shows a technique or skill that is unusual; otherwise, you have wasted a slide.

Second, you also have to select work that will photograph well. Your work will only look as good as it appears in your slides. Pencil drawings do not come out well in slides. Make sure there is strong color for your picture images. Another thing that ensures a good image is contrast of light and dark.

A Well-presented Portfolio is the Product of Good Processing

 Begin by reading the application instructions carefully about how the portfolio is to be presented. Each application could vary. If you do not understand the particulars of the instructions or they are not complete, call the college’s admission office for clarification before spending money to have your portfolio prepared.
 Make sure you find the right processor! You can not just use a picture taker. This person must know something about reproducing art. For example, the processor should be aware of the importance of lighting, especially for 3-dimensional pieces like sculpture or jewelry. This person should understand about different film qualities. You should also ask to see this person’s work before hiring him or her. Check for clarity, color, and focus. It is also best to check out several possible processors for both quality and cost before choosing one.
 Decide, within the limits of the application requirements, which way you would like to prepare and send your portfolio. Will you use slides, digital photography on a CD-ROM, or a memory card?
 Be careful to make sure that each slide is filled with only the picture’s image; there should be no white or blank spaces around the edges. Such space will distract from the image of your art. If you need to, you can purchase photographic tape to seal the edges so that each image stands out clearly.
 Buy slide pages to send in slides. Do not send them in individually and loose.
 Prepare the inventory list for each of your pieces carefully, including all the necessary information: title, size, media, etc.
 Include a separate sheet which explains your philosophy about your work, why you are sending what you are sending, and a self analysis of your work and progress.

Insider Tips

 If you don’t have all the money in the world to spend on slides, ask the colleges to which you apply to send back your slides. They will probably just throw them away, so why not reuse them to apply to schools with later deadlines. Just be aware, it may take time for you to receive them. Be sure you include a self-addressed, pre-stamped envelope for the return.
 Reuse of slides is easier if you don’t write on them. But, everything has to be labeled according to a particular college’s directions, you say? So put your slides in your slide page (plastic sheet with pockets sized for slides) and number the plastic. Then include an inventory sheet with appropriate labels to correspond with the numbers. Brilliant! Once the slide page is returned to you, take out the slides and they are perfect to use again or to label for your AP portfolio.
 Make sure you check with the person taking your slides before spending money on buying film. Each processor will have different preferences and expert advice about what film gives you the best quality slides.
 Every click of the camera is a slide. If you need 4 portfolios to send in with 4 college applications, have the processor do it all at one time. It’s cheaper than copying a slide for another application, and the quality is better, too.
 In fact, it’s wise to have one extra click for last-minute applications or in case of a problem. Have the processor click 5 times for those 4 applications.
 Bracketing is important. Make sure the person doing your slides will be bracketing. If you are going to have 5 clicks of the camera for one of your art pieces, the processor should take 3 pictures at one setting, the one s/he thinks will work best, but the other 2 pictures should be taken at another setting so you will have a choice for the best possible slides.
 If your portfolio is composed of digital photography, make sure you have back up prints before sending your application.
 You already know sketches in pencil are not going to yield high quality slides, but if you want to include pencil drawings, you might photocopy them for a darker image or redo them in ink.

Now, break a paint brush!

Information provided by Kal Elmore, high school Art Department Head