Most people would make the assumption that for someone who is intending on majoring in Graphic Design, that including as many of these graphic design pieces in your portfolio as possible would garner the best results.
The Art Teacher
Art Lesson Ideas, Plans, Free Resources, Project Plans, and Schemes of Work. An ‘outstanding’ art teacher in Greater Manchester. Teaching KS3 and KS4 art and design.
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GCSE Artist Research Guide
Creating research about artists is a creative and exciting part of a GCSE course. It will allow you to discover new artworks and learn about how artists think and work. This GCSE artist research guide will help you find an appropriate artist, analyse their work and present your research to a GCSE standard. The purpose […]
This Art & Photography project is fairly simple and quick to teach, with effective photographic final pieces for students. It doesn’t require any complex understanding of photographic techniques (yay) and it was designed as a taster of GCSE Photography for my Year 9 (KS3) classes. Students created some brilliant, woven photograph pieces as their final […]
Anything is possible with subjects
The most obvious subjects for your art school portfolio artworks are traditional ones such as figures, portraits, self-portraits, still lifes, landscapes, interior spaces, forms from nature, architecture, and others.
These are all excellent subjects to address in your portfolio and a good place to start if you’re not sure what to do.
Don’t stop there though, there are so many other subjects you could address such as character design, abstraction, creature design, industrial design, historical events, editorial illustration, typography, cooking, urban sketching, imaginary landscapes, political art, current events, poster design, book covers, etc.
Essentially, anything under the sun is a viable option when it comes to subject matter. Be open and willing to try many different subjects, you’ll gain the variety you need for your art school portfolio and develop new skills in new imagery.
If you are at a total loss for what to do, look at our giant list of art prompts.
Do you need help with your art school application?
You don’t have to prepare a portfolio all by yourself! We have many options for professional feedback and support with our staff.
Don’t rely on class assignments
At the same time, you don’t want every piece in your art school portfolio to appear to be simply a technical exercise that you were given in art class at school.
An art school portfolio of still life drawings that are obviously class assignments tend to have a generic quality and usually don’t show off your ability to communicate a personal idea, a unique opinion, etc. in a visual manner.
That’s not always the fault of the student, sometimes it’s the fault of an assignment being too rigid and specific to the point that there is simply no opportunity to make the project your own, no matter how hard you try.
For example, if the still life of a cardboard box that your art teacher set up for you to draw in class in pencil was boring for you, chances are, your drawing of that still life is probably pretty boring to look at.
So many people think about still life as an inherently boring subject, when really, it’s usually that way because students weren’t given any opportunity to participate in selecting the objects and setting it up.
Hate your art teacher’s stupid still life? Take matters into your own hands and pick your own objects and set up your own still life that you are actually enthusiastic about to paint.
Don’t assume a subject is boring
If Claude Monet was able to get exciting about painting haystacks repeatedly, then anything must be possible. (can you imagine a subject matter more mundane, more boring than a haystack?)
Antoine Vollon painted a mound of butter and made it monumental and fascinating as a painting subject.
For most art students, there’s an immediate assumption that if they are told they will be painting a still life, the still life will definitely be boring. Still life is only boring if you let it be boring.
Prof Lieu told her college students during drawing class that if they are bored, it’s THEIR fault!
