How to Make Art Portfolios
Professional artists must create a portfolio to present to potential clients or gallery owners. The portfolio is a representative sample of the artist's style and abilities. The art world is a competitive market, so it is essential that the artist's work and portfolio be outstanding. A carefully developed portfolio can give the artist the extra edge to stand out among other artists. Whether you are a photographer, painter, sculptor or graphic designer, most potential employers will expect to see your portfolio. It is sometimes best to seek the opinions of friends and mentors when choosing the pieces for your portfolio.
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Things You'll Need
- Artist's statement
- Portfolio
- 10 to 20 art samples
- Digital photographs
- Photo editing software
- CD or image slides
- Printer
- High-quality paper
- Label pages
Instructions
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Write a one-page artist's statement that outlines the philosophy and methodology behind your art, including your inspiration, how you have grown as an artist and what you hope to accomplish in your art career. This will be the first page of your portfolio and serves as an introduction of your art style to potential clients.
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2
Purchase a good quality artist portfolio from an art supply store. Portfolios vary in size, but should ideally hold pages that are at least 8.5 by 11 inches.
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Select 10 to 20 of your best finished pieces to include in the portfolio. Pieces that have won awards or received high praise should definitely be included, as well as the pieces that mean the most to you.
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Shoot high quality digital photographs or scan your selected art pieces in natural light. If you are not confident in your camera or photography skills, consider hiring a photographer so you get the best images possible.
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Edit the images as needed until they suit your preferences. This includes adjusting the colors and exposure, sharpening the image, cropping and resizing the image to fit the pages of your portfolio.
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Make a CD copy of the images to present to the client or send them away to a photo service to be converted to slides. Presenting slides to potential clients is becoming outdated, but it is always good to have them in case the client prefers this format.
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Print the images on high-quality paper so that the images can be seen without flipping the portfolio. This means landscape portraits should be adjusted to fit and printed on the paper vertically, leaving blank white space on the top and bottom of the page.
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Write and print out a label for each piece in the portfolio, detailing the name of the work, medium used and the original size of the piece. You can also provide additional information specific to the piece, such as the artistic process or details that make the work unique.
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Choose the order you wish to display the pieces in your portfolio. Although the order is up to you, it may be best to start and finish the portfolio with your best pieces so you make a good first and last impression.
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Arrange the portfolio so that the artist's statement is on the first page. Each work should be showcased with the label on the left side and the image on the right; the label for your first piece will be on the back side of the artist's statement.
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Include publications, awards, press releases, newspaper articles, postcards and anything else that may mention your work or previous shows that you have entered. These should be added on additional pages after the pages with images of your work.
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Update your portfolio regularly to include your latest finished pieces, recent jobs and newest achievements with your art.
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Tips & Warnings
If your portfolio pages don't have plastic sleeves, you can adhere the images to the pages with double-sided tape.
References
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
