✦Creative · 14 recordsBuild an art portfolio

Art portfolios are judged on selection as much as on the work. This starts from the requirements of the course, gallery or client, gathers everything, chooses the strongest pieces with an honest second opinion, fills the obvious gaps with new work, photographs each piece properly, and arranges them so the portfolio opens and closes with the best.

Install this templateSee the others

Free on any plan. You will see this list again in the app, and nothing is created until you press install.

✦ Everything it creates

The whole plan, before you install it

Goal

A finished art portfolio, ready to send Month 2

Selected honestly, photographed properly, ordered with care.

Select the work Week 3

Against the requirements, with a second opinion.

  • Read the requirements: number of pieces, format, deadlineDo firstDay 2
  • Gather every piece I might includeDo firstDay 7
  • Choose the strongest, with a teacher or artist's opinionDo firstWeek 2
  • List the gaps: range, observation, processDo firstWeek 3

Finish and present Month 2

New work where needed, then photographs and order.

  • Make the new pieces that fill the gapsDo firstWeek 6
  • Photograph every piece in even lightDo firstWeek 7
  • Order the portfolio: strongest first and lastDo firstWeek 8
  • Write short titles, media and dates for each pieceWeek 8

Routines

  • Studio or sketchbook timedaily
Skills
  • Art practiceIntermediate → Advanced

    Log studio and sketchbook time. The portfolio shows the best of it; the log shows the work behind it.

✦ It comes with a note

Photographing artwork

Even daylight or diffuse light, no direct sun or flash. Camera parallel to the work, centred, straight on. Nothing else in the frame; crop to the edges. Check the colours against the original on a good screen.

Order matters: open with the strongest piece, close with the second strongest, and keep weaker work out entirely.

✦ Questions

Build an art portfolio, answered.

Commonly ten to twenty, but follow the requirements of whoever it is for, since art schools and competitions often specify a number. A smaller portfolio of strong work beats a larger one padded with weaker pieces.
Finished work that shows your strengths, a few pieces that show range, and often some observational drawing and sketchbook pages that show how you think. For courses, check whether they want to see process as well as outcomes.
In even daylight or diffuse light, straight on, with the camera parallel to the work and nothing else in frame. Crop to the edges and check the colours against the original; poor photographs make good work look ordinary.
✦ More templates

Other systems you can install

Creative

Write consistently

A body of work rather than a streak, with publishing built in from the start.

Creative

Learn an instrument

Daily practice that is short enough to happen, and a piece you can play by the end.

Creative

Start a podcast

Record several episodes before publishing any, so the first month cannot collapse.

Creative

Start a YouTube channel

Ten videos published before judging anything, because the first few are the tuition.

Install it and start this evening

It takes one press. Everything it creates is tagged, so if it turns out not to suit you, it is easy to find and remove together.

Install this template