Edit: I don't need any help now. Went to portfolio day and was told to keep the portfolio I had the way it was by an admissions person. Thanks anyway.

I'm currently putting together a portfolio for some colleges, and I'm not too sure about things to put in it that aren't the recommended pieces.

So far, this is what I've got in it.











And this fish one if I can find it to get a better picture.


I've got a few digital drawings too, but I'm unsure of if I should put these in since they're not realistic.




So, what do you think of my portfolio so far? Should I include any of the 3 digital pictures? Also, anyone have any tips for taking pictures of artwork since the place I'm applying to doesn't want originals, and as you can probably tell, I'm not the best with a camera.

Sorry if I killed your computer with the amount of pictures.

what i was taught as a rule of thumb while in college is that you should only put your very best pieces in there, the ones that you really are proud of. Dont put anything in there that you dont really like. Put what really shows your skill in there. If you have to, take out pieces and make new ones

Honestly, the what im hoping is jello cup, the stove and the mario sculptures are not what i would suggest putting in there

The rose still life, the butterfly the koi, those are pieces that show the time and effort and the dedication to detail

You should definitely put your digital works in there! Art doesnt have to be realistic all the time, check out cubism lol Really try to put in only polished pieces, you shouldnt have something that looks half way done

I would suggest scanning them, perhaps checking out a local printing place, like kinkos or something

Ah, yeah. Thankfully, most of them I'm proud of, so there's not too much replacing I think I'll have to do. I'm working on a watercolour of my guitar, so I may replace another one with that if it comes out good.

Hah. That is a jello cup. It's actually in a sketchbook that I need to pass into the university, so I was just going to use it if I needed to fill up space, but it looks like I won't need to. I think I'm going to keep the clay Bowser, but the others you said are most likely going to be taken out.

I don't know why, but I feel odd showing off my digital stuff. I printed it off at walmart though on the 8x10 paper the college wants and it looks like some of the better ones.

The 5 pictures starting from the stove down to the jello cup are the only ones that aren't on bigger pieces of paper, so I'm not sure if scanning them at staples would do much good.

Thanks for that post!

Ha! ha! I love the clay mario. Its so cool!
Is there any specific category to put in your protfolio? Or is it anything you want to put in?
There are some pcitures that are awesome, and then there are some cute ones too.
My favorite would be the koi fish. It's pretty.

The masks are my second favorite. The second mask is colorful too. keep up with the good work! ^ ^

I really like your masks, they're really cool :) Although I think you should work on the depth of your coloring because it looks kind of flat and is lacking shades. Good luck though!

I don't know what you are going for in paticular.

I know only minimal ammounts about art colleges, so I guess, that's why the potter seems out of place to me. If it's what the want, keep only the masks. Your Mario stuff isn't at the same calliber. It's honestly just really bad.

I feel like you need more variety in sketches. You don't have anything shaded in just pencil (not colored) or charcoal. I feel like there should be some portraits, some full body sketches, still lifes, landscapes, ect. It'd be nice to see some watercolor or acrylic examples. You are good enough at colored pencil, but it isn't all that they will want to see.

The digital is nice. You do great digital work, but I'm wondering if you'll be working with a digital medium at there college, though my information may just be outdated. Made up things are alright, but you can't look professional without doing serious reference work first.

Honestly, I wouldn't stress. You shold give them a clear picture so that they know where to place you , other than that, it isn't too difficult to get in most places. I don't think these pieces are a great representation, but at least they show them that you know what shading is and can use colors. Not onl that, but that you can draw realistic people and apply shading to their faces.

I didn't go to an art school, so you shouldn't care too much about what I say, it's only my opinion.

ChibiMaru-Chan - No specific category. Just 12 pieces of artwork done with different mediums, and then the required projects that I don't have uploaded.
Thanks.

sorakoii. - Heh, yeah. I find a lot of my older work doesn't have any shading. Trying to make the shading look more like it should in my more recent stuff. I'll keep it that in mind though.

Sanctuary - I didn't think it was that bad... Everyone I showed seemed to like it. It was made for a claymation, so I couldn't put a ton of detail into it since I was already having enough trouble with keeping the spikes on while moving Bowser around.

The college I'm trying to get into wants samples of clay works, so I'm going to keep it in if the person critiquing my portfolio at the college tomorrow says it's alright. I really don't have the time to make another clay figure, and I want to do something with that one since I worked on it for a month in class only to have my claymation group not commit and get half of the video done.

I actually just did a pencil sketch of a cross section of a cabbage, which was one of the required projects. Just don't have a picture of it since I finished last night and I'm currently in a hotel. I have some rough stuff in charcoal too, but I've never been too fond of it and didn't do any that were worth putting into there. I'm working on a watercolour too, which will hopefully be finished in time to add in to replace something. I'd like to get some full bodies and other stuff you mentioned done, but it looks like I'll only be able to put them in the sketchbook that I need to pass in. My stupid procrastination habit got the best of me again.

The college seems to use digital programs, but I'm not sure how much. It's something that I plan on asking tomorrow when I go there.

Eh. This place is supposedly one of the harder places for art to get into around here since it's the only college that concentrates on art only, but if I don't get in there's at least 3 other places I want to apply to. I'd love to wait a year to work on my art and save up money, but my grandparents hate that option. Whatever happens, happens though.

Art college or not, you did bring up some good points. Thanks for the comment.