Start planning your folio NOW!

We nearly called this blog post ‘time management and planning’. But then we realized that no-one would probably read it; I included if I am, to be honest!

However, I am compelled to write this because of 3 situations with our mentoring that have arisen in the past 4 weeks. Whether you are reading this as we’ve published this in January or if you’re reading it in June whilst you’re on your summer break, the message remains the same. START PLANNING ART SCHOOL PORTFOLIO NOW! As soon as you know you want to apply to art college take that as the day you start planning.

Planning art school portfolio

So, we have 3 students who have just contacted me requesting portfolio support. However, they only have about 15 days before the digital portfolios for Edinburgh College of Art and Glasgow School of Art need to be submitted.

All students have different needs and their folios tend to be various stages of development depending on what they are currently studying ie. at school, on a Further Education course, taking a year out, in employment, etc. Even within that, a school portfolio from one school can be at a very different stage from one school than it can from another depending on how much direction and support they have from their tutors/teachers.

There is very little that Portfolio Oomph can do to assist you with your portfolio with only 15 days’ notice. Seriously, it takes a long time to create an art college portfolio, it cannot and should not be created in a matter of weeks.

When I am planning for the Portfolio Oomph website, the Facebook and Twitter pages, and my whole year, I work to a time frame of the start of the academic year. For those of you in Scotland, that’s August, England, Wales and N. Ireland it’s more like September. So let’s use September as a general guide. Those of you outside the UK, use this data too.

If you’re applying to colleges that don’t ask for a preliminary digital portfolio then that gives you approximately 7 months for you to create your portfolio. If you’re applying to those colleges that do require a digital portfolio at the end of January then that gives you about 4.5 months only and then a bit longer if they then call you to interview later on. However, if you’re applying to Edinburgh College of Art then the digital portfolio is the ONLY selection they make, they don’t interview (correct at the time of writing for 2016 entry – please check on their website for any changes).

Our main eBooks that will get you started with your art portfolio ideas are the eBook bundle (but you can buy them separately too). For art sketchbook ideas then download our Sketchbook Development eCourse. These are essential reading before you even start your portfolio.

You cannot be starting new work that is the main thrust of your portfolio just days before the digital portfolio is required. All colleges ask to see your research and development alongside your finished pieces – research and development have to be just that, to show how your ideas have evolved and they cannot successfully be developed in such a small time frame.

We’ve encountered a few students who plan their finished piece then work backward to fulfill the research and development stages. THIS IS NOT GOOD PRACTICE. Sorry, I don’t mean to shout but it is really important that these issues are ironed out. There is no point in doing any research or development if you’ve already planned your outcome. The point of research and development is to direct your ideas, find the best ones, explore and make them better, dismiss poor ideas and experiments – this then surely changes what your outcome might be, yes?

So our advice is:

1. start working on your portfolio the moment to you get back to school as this is what your portfolio work is – your schoolwork, which needs to be presented in the manner that the colleges wish to see it.

2. research which are the best art schools in the world. Then you can decide which colleges you want to apply to in September so you can attend open days and find out when their folio deadlines are. Also, you can get so much more information from them if you attend the open days.

3. done just go through the motions of doing what the art teacher tells you to do and doing drawings that will impress your art teacher – you need passion and ideas of your own.

4. if you’re wondering how to make an art portfolio for college or university and you’re going to buy our eBooks then buy them in September not January! They are written to get you organized and it’s too late to be properly organized in January.

5. if you are close enough to come to Portfolio Oomph for mentoring and private art lessons, then again, please come in September or October. We can work together just once every couple of weeks or months initially to keep things on track and then ramp it up come January time when deadlines are approaching.

6. if you leave it too late there are limits to how much we or anyone can help you – or even help yourself.

One of our most successful stories came from a student who came to us an hour each month from September to December, we then packed in about 15 hours together in early January to blitz the ECA and GSA mini / digital portfolios. She didn’t just do what the teachers said, or only what I recommended, she lived, ate, breathed fashion until it was bursting out of her. She was substantially rewarded for her efforts receiving 5 unconditional offers from some of the UK’s most prestigious fashion courses. And that’s what the Colleges’ want, someone who is so committed it oozes from their application and you can’t do this unless you are organized.

Creative people can often be seen to be a little disorganized, not adhering perhaps to rules, deadlines, etc. I am the first to quote those on rule-breaking but you cannot break the rules of UCAS and College portfolio deadlines!

“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.” – Pablo Picasso

“Know the rules well, so you can break them effectively.” – Dalai Lama XIV