{"id":808613,"date":"2022-12-02T10:00:25","date_gmt":"2022-12-02T18:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/us\/?p=803963"},"modified":"2026-03-06T13:12:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T21:12:10","slug":"how-to-set-up-art-portfolio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/how-to-set-up-art-portfolio\/","title":{"rendered":"How to set up a killer art portfolio for school or work"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Let\u2019s start with a question: What is the purpose of an art portfolio?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t think about it just from your point of view, though \u2014 think from your client or admissions officer\u2019s as well. On your end, the purpose is to achieve a goal: usually, getting accepted to an art school or finding work. On theirs, it\u2019s an indication of whether you\u2019ll be a fit for their specific needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So you need to go about it differently than you would, say, picking pieces to post to social media; the audience and purpose are different. Let\u2019s start with a hack most artists don\u2019t take advantage of, so if you follow it it\u2019ll immediately put you miles ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tip: You should have multiple portfolios<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you already have a portfolio, chances are it\u2019s a general-purpose one \u2014 a broad overview of everything you do and are as an artist. These do impress people, but they\u2019re not as likely to get you into school or hired. That\u2019s because the biggest problem portfolio reviewers complain about is too much irrelevant material. If your portfolio shows everything you can do \u2026 it\u2019s more likely some of it will be irrelevant to a particular audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So let\u2019s walk through how to make themed<\/strong> and targeted <\/strong>portfolios. A themed portfolio is set up for a general type of program or client, and collects a variety of pieces within a particular art style or type of piece. A targeted one is customized for the specific one you\u2019re applying for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Hung-Le
Portfolio example by Hung Le on Flickr<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The basics of a good portfolio<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re going to be applying to a lot of schools or jobs, first you\u2019ll want to make one themed portfolio for each broad type of program you\u2019re applying for. For work, one for each position you\u2019re open to working in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to every source I consulted, a portfolio should be from 10 to 20 pieces, with several citing 12 as the ideal number. If you don\u2019t have 12 good images for your intended program or position \u2026 you\u2019re probably not ready to major or get a job in it. Sorry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next, copy all your best pieces into one folder on your hard drive. This is the image pool you\u2019ll draw from for your targeted portfolios.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, when it\u2019s time to send them out, you can pick one of your themed portfolios ones to apply to most schools or companies. But for \u201chighest-value\u201d applications \u2014 the schools or jobs you\u2019re dying to get accepted by \u2014 make a targeted portfolio featuring the work that you think would best fit exactly what they\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Anete
Photo by Anete L\u016bsi\u0146a on Unsplash<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What pieces should you put in your portfolio when applying to art school?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What type of pieces are appropriate will vary wildly between schools and programs. Fine Art portfolios should focus on pieces that show your unique personality and make a statement, for example, whereas ones for technical or industry-oriented programs should focus on images that are as close to professional work in that field as possible. But overall, here\u2019s what you should be trying to demonstrate:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Focused versatility<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Schools encourage branching out much more than workplaces; their reasoning being that this is the experimental phase of your life and you should be throwing art at the wall to see what sticks. They want to know that you\u2019re willing to try a wide variety of media and subjects, not just become a production machine for one type.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For digital arts programs, toss in a few traditional pieces to show you can draw without Ctrl-Z. And for traditional ones, you have even more leeway. Fine Arts departments, especially, encourage you to work in and on different media. Art School Prof<\/a> recommends trying painting on unusual materials and found objects, for example. Vary your compositions, too. Multiple sources in my research mentioned they get tired of always seeing subjects centered in frame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cfocus\u201d part comes in because you still want it all to remain relevant to the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your voice<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Schools are generally looking to see whether you have the kind of potential and artistic intentions they\u2019re trying to bring out. Even the hardest technical ones won\u2019t just drill process into your head: if they\u2019re any good, they also want to see what\u2019s unique about your art and help develop it. A large part of that lies in you as a person, your story and what makes you different from their thousands of other applicants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many like to see works dealing with identity, so if you have any pieces that address this, make sure to include them \u2014 not for cynically pandering reasons, but because they\u2019re an important part of who you are and what you bring to the school\u2019s table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Technical skill, but not mastery<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Most schools want to see some level of technical proficiency \u2013 but not necessarily expertise. Some value it more highly than others. \u201cCalArts, for example, they really look at your technical ability, and MICA [Maryland Institute College of Art], they really look at expressing your artistic voice,\u201d says Youtuber sakuraopal<\/a>, who was accepted to multiple schools with her portfolio and ended up going to CalArts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You don\u2019t need to be a professional-level artist to get into great schools, though. If you\u2019re already a master, why go to art school in the first place? What would they have to teach you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a similar note, it\u2019s important to include drawings representing earlier stages of the creation process including studies and sketches, not just the shiny finished pieces. This shows a bit of your process \u2014 like \u201cshowing your work\u201d in math classes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What to avoid<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Portraits of celebrities, anime, fanart that doesn\u2019t put a new spin on the source material, closeups of eyes, zentangles and mandalas, anything copied from a photo reference with no changes, or bad photos of your traditional pieces are all things that should be avoided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"levi
Portfolio by artist Levi Jacobs<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What pieces should you put in your portfolio when applying to a creative job?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n

\u201cPeople think \u2018my portfolio is about me,\u2019 when it\u2019s really about the client\u2019s needs!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Marshall Vandruff, art teacher and co-host of the Draftsmen podcast<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Although they look similar, job portfolios are very different from school ones. In some cases, what clients are looking for will be directly opposite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mastery<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Where schools usually want to see enough competency to take you the rest of the way, in the working world, the more skill and polish you have, the better. But this doesn\u2019t necessarily mean technical skill; skill comes in a variety of forms. It could be how creatively you communicate ideas or how simply you convey a complex concept.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nobody excels at everything, and you want your particular strengths on full display in your portfolio. And it should focus on your best finished<\/em> pieces, with just enough sketches to let a client know you can do that too if they require it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t think this means you need to be an art god to become a professional, though. There are jobs of some kind or another available to artists at every level above baseline competence. This also depends on the field: a magazine might accept rougher illustration styles than a video game company might accept for concept art, for example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Versatile focus<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This is where the expectations differ the most from art school. Where schools want to see versatility within the program\u2019s subject, most jobs want to see as much proof as possible that you can nail the specific things they want you to create. So assemble a topical collection of work with just enough variation to reassure them you can branch out if they need it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t worry, though \u2014 this doesn\u2019t mean you should switch from drawing what you enjoy to only what you think is marketable. There are countless stories of potential students and prospective employees submitting portfolios full of their most boring art because it\u2019s in a genre that\u2019s popular, but still getting rejected by everyone. Often, these end in the applicant deciding to draw what actually appeals to them \u2014 and getting hired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your voice \u2026 but also theirs<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The apparent contradiction in what art directors are looking for is one of the hardest parts of the job search: they seem to want someone who brings a unique style to the table \u2026 but who can hide it and draw as close to the project\u2019s pre-existing style as possible. But what this really means is they\u2019re looking for someone who\u2019s already good at doing the type of art they\u2019re hiring for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the compromise is tailoring your targeted portfolio to even more specific niches. This means your work won\u2019t be the right fit for most employers \u2014 but that\u2019s a good thing, as it weeds out jobs you\u2019re not suited for and draws in clients in your area of specialty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Artis
Portfolio by artist Alicia Haberman<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A few final tips<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Start and<\/em> end with your best. Start with your very<\/em> best, since it\u2019s the reviewer\u2019s first impression of you. Then end with your second best to leave a strong final impression on them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One common recommendation is that nothing in your portfolio should be more than three years old. This is not a hard rule, especially for your work portfolio if your style hasn\u2019t changed very much. But definitely favor recent work over older work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get critiques from established art students and professionals, in real life or online, as often as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, consider how you\u2019re presenting your work \u2014 just on Instagram? On your own website? A free host like ArtStation? Printed out in a nice folio you can bring to job interviews? Once you\u2019ve got the work selected, it\u2019s time to actually put the dang thing together and display it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s how to do that \u2013 check out the sequel to this post, The best places to host your art portfolio<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Note: this post\u2019s feature image features portfolio pieces from textile designer and Wacom user Julia Hill<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"CS<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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About the Author<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Cameron \u201cC.S.\u201d Jones is a West-Philly-based writer and illustrator who\u2019s been contributing to Wacom for three years now. You can see more of his work, including most of his contributions to this blog, at thecsjones.com<\/a>, or follow him on Instagram<\/a> or Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Whether you’re applying to art school or for a job in a creative field, you need a portfolio. Here’s how to do it right!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":809274,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2338,2325,2568,2330,2551,2550,2656],"tags":[33,2367,2432],"class_list":["post-808613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-how-to","category-back-to-school","category-careers","category-creative-education","category-learn-creative-education","category-learn-to-draw-with-wacom","category-education","tag-art-school","tag-careers","tag-portfolio"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=808613"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808613\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/809274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=808613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=808613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/community.wacom.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=808613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}