CIRCA 89 Art Education Supplement
SKETCHING A GOOD PORTFOLIO
Theory meets practice when colleges select their future students. What do they look for in portfolios submitted? What puts them off? We asked five third-level lecturers.
There are many issues which come to mind, preceding and following on the compiling of an Art and Design portfolio. It is usually the product of between six months and two years of work, selected in one way or another. I would generally be in favour of preserving individuality and difference as important aspects of the folio.
I like to see it with the applicant (the University of Ulster interviews all applicants) where he or she are presenting their aspirations through the work that they have done. ‘Conversation' brought to the viewing of the portfolio is not extensive but helps overall, even if some applicants are quiet, reticent or naturally feel under pressure. (I would like to think that I was sympathetic to all in this respect.) Important information does come to light but it is definitely not about ‘interview performance'.
I am looking for evidence of commitment, involvement, personal input and interpretation that has been brought to bear, as well as singular invention and skill in particular work items. Currently the majority of students here present work which is almost exclusively a product of GCE A Level, Leaving Certificate and, increasingly, GNVQ courses. And of course there is a sizeable number of mature applicants who have studied and compiled folios in various ways. I like to know about the variety of backgrounds which have ‘created' the folios and this understanding does contribute to the overall consideration of the applicant. I recognise too the different foci of the work which may reflect particular courses, schools, teachers and independence. Such information is needed to be set against a course (at UU) which is sufficiently large and diverse to engage the current interest of a wide spectrum of students and in due course will allow those ‘updated' individuals to choose a further range of specialist degree-study areas.
There is no balanced tally kept of possible outcomes at the interview stage, but over the past ten years the UU course has produced equally for Fine and Applied Arts degree specialisms and for Design-orientated courses.
A course is a two-way selection, I hope, and I think it is therefore important that applicants know as much as possible about what the course will do for them. This information needs to be viewed and kept with an open mind, however, in readiness for the challenge and the time for questioning and reflection that only the working course will give to them.
There are three aspects that I would look for in a folio, though these can interrelate in context, and cognisance is taken of the Fine Art, Craft or Design leanings which may already be in the work:
First-hand enquiry/visualizing, etc. This would particularly include drawing—drawing as used and the degree to which it is extended by personal use and selection. All media attuned to draw in, gather, analyse, express that personal encounter. No one medium is a substitute for another.
Ideas/propositions/projects self-generated or responded to, and importantly the development of this work through ‘weighing up'/selecting/problem solving. Ideas moved and the creation and expression of alternatives.
Media used, engaged, worked with, affinities with materials—skill and sensitivity, Hands-on processing and enquiry. Understanding and development of techniques.
Quantity is important only in that it may reflect strong intent and development or cover the range of the student's involvement.
These are key ways and means that the Foundation Course picks up on. Ideally applicants should be able to show evidence along these lines. The extent to which they engage and move with them in their portfolio is significant.
The course, however, will offer places to a variety of responses in the compilation of a folio; this is the reality; and many lesser of these applicants, in terms of portfolios, pick up well on the course. In the end, certain applicants are preferred. The system allows applicants to present again in a better-prepared state.
I strongly support the need for the post-secondary year and the time and movement which it affords this subject area and its students. Programmes of study need to be accommodating but attuned to the task. The content and compilation of the folio should reflect a quality experience. The availability of advice and encouragement is ever-important in the system and currently this is done through ‘open days', arranged visits to schools, etc., or by personal appointment.
Bill Saunders is an artist/teacher based in Belfast who has been involved with Foundation education for many years.
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There seems to be a certain amount of confusion concerning portfolio submissions to Art and Design courses. Institutes and colleges seem unable to be at one on this issue even to the extent that individuals from the same college will give a different view. The portfolio information guidelines that are issued by the Dublin Institute of Technology to prospective candidates outline the following:
While we do not wish to be too prescriptive in advising candidates on the contents of portfolio submissions to our courses, consideration should be given to include approximately 20 pieces of original investigative observational drawing using a variety of media which demonstrates the candidate's creative ability. Work should not be mounted or framed behind glass. Photographic evidence of 3 dimensional or fragile work should be presented as appropriate. Samples should be arranged in an orderly manner in a secure folder to facilitate examination.
Closer analysis of content might however be of help when working towards a presentation.
Drawing
Drawing from observations of nature, the human figure and the built environment should, in my opinion, be personal investigation of line, form, and tone, and show an understanding of the process of drawing. The reason for the emphasis on drawing in Art and Design is that it is both the foundation and scaffolding from which all else is constructed and indicates an ability to see and use drawing as a language of translation and interpretation.
These drawings should make up about half of the work and be limited to about ten pieces.
Colour work
It is important to include evidence of colour investigation in the portfolio. Here again it is not so much evidence of finished work that is interesting to the selectors but studies that show a working understanding of the uses of colour and progression.
The scale of the work is important and uniformity of scale renders the portfolio more coherent. It is always advisable to work on a larger scale; A1 is therefore a desirable starting point, as a number of works can be completed on the same page.
The problem with work completed during postsecondary portfolio-preparation courses is that the portfolios are often very similar and address a set format of solutions. Ultimately it is evidence of personal exploration that catches the attention of the selection panels.
Anna Macleod is a Dublin-based artist and lecturer at the Dublin Institute of Technology.
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Candidates applying for entry to the Crawford College of Art and Design are not separated at interview according to Fine Art or Ceramic Design preferences. It is not unusual to have applicants for both courses, and a common interview allows suitability for each to be considered.
Apart from recommending that it contain about twenty items (a sketchbook, a finished painting or 3-D piece, or a sheet of prints or photographs—each would represent one item), the College has no specific requirements for portfolio contents and there are very few ‘don'ts'. In fact, they are so few that I'll get them out of the way now:
Don't weight the portfolio down with card and glass. Mounting is unnecessary. Clean sheets of paper to separate the work are enough.
Don't pack the portfolio with paintings or drawings copied from originals or from photographs. Even if it looks very slick, it only demonstrates a mechanical copying facility and it is better to include more personal work. However, incorporating images from other sources in a composite piece and using information from photographs or magazines in research is a valid practice. The distinguishing factor is that the end product in this case is an original image which uses other images, not a direct copy of one of them.
Don't leave out sketchbooks and preparatory studies. These support the finished pieces.
There is no ‘standard' portfolio, not least because the range of background, experience and access to resources among applicants is very broad. A portfolio prepared by someone on a full-time dedicated course will be very different to one prepared by someone studying five other subjects as well as Art for the Leaving Certificate. Someone who has to deal with family and work commitments (and there is a small but significant number of mature students in every intake) will produce a portfolio which needs to be evaluated on a different basis to either of the other two.
Although a majority of students do enter the College direct from school, I think that the experience of a good, well-structured portfolio-preparation course has made a crucial difference in the ability of some of the candidates I've seen to handle the transition to third level successfully. When looking at work produced on these courses, it is clear how the students' experience of Art and Design media and practice has been extended, allowing them to develop ideas and projects over full working days. Compared to the maximum double period possible in the second-level timetable, this is helpful in the adjustment to studio practice in art college.
The benefits of portfolio-preparation and post-Leaving courses aside, some of the most impressive work I've seen has been by second-level and mature applicants. What these portfolios have in common, whether from mature, school or P.L.C. candidates, is that they show how effectively the people who produced them will cope with the practical and intellectual demands of the course they are applying for.
Whether applying for Fine Art or Ceramic Design, drawing should form a central part of the work in the portfolio. Objective Drawing, using marks and materials appropriate to the feature of the object which is being examined, is important as it demonstrates the use of drawing to analyse and explain as well as to record.
Objective Painting, showing colour observation and mixing, is also important, and although it is easier to achieve this with paint, I've seen some exciting object work incorporating found colour in the form of collage as well as dry media like pastel to supplement the paint. The quality of the observation, the sensitivity of the mark-making and the use of media are more significant than the choice of media.
Not every school provides the opportunity to do 3-D work. However, all Year 1 students at the Crawford do 3-D projects, so any work showing making skills and experience is worth including in the portfolio. Photographs showing the object from a few viewpoints, with something included to show the scale of it, are fine. It is not necessary to bring the thing itself, and considering that furniture, stage sets and whole garden features have appeared at one time or another, often not even possible.
Ideally any 3-D work included should show that the object has been considered in the round and that the visual and practical problems of making it have been approached inventively. Clay is the material which is most available for building, but it is good to see the possibilities of other materials explored. In fact, I like to see signs that the media used, whether 2- or 3-D, have been experimented with and enjoyed—another reason for including preparatory studies and sketchbooks.
Print, Photography, Computer Graphics and other media which require planning and control of a process to produce an image successfully are good ways of demonstrating practical ability too.
Placing sketchbooks containing experiments and rejected ideas as well as work that made it to a finished piece in front of interviewers might seem like a tough thing to have to do, but personal work, including sketchbooks and visual diaries, shows what excites and engages more clearly than coursework does. All of the work presented will give an interviewer an idea of a student's approach to work, their level of skill and experience and their ability to research and develop an idea visually. Exactly how that is expressed in personal work is a useful indication of where their strengths may lie.
Bill O'Flynn is a Cork-based artist who teaches on the Year 1 course at the Crawford.
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We look for students who are visually curious and can show this through investigations of a range of different subject matter using a high level of descriptive skills. Our Portfolio Suggestions leaflet, which can be obtained from NCAD, gives full and detailed information, and if a school has enough interested students we will always come out to them and spend time giving them as much information as we can.
What's a real turn off in a portfolio? It is never in the student's best interests to concentrate on just one type of skill like copying from photographs or filling their portfolio with comic or fantasy art as many of them do.
Quality is an issue. It is the quality of all the work in the portfolio that is important, not the quantity. The quality of students' ideas and visual investigations is best shown in notebooks sketchbooks and work sheets.
Are post-secondary portfolio-preparation courses a good idea? Each year at NCAD over 60% of students who enter Core Studies are straight from secondary school. But for students who have not been successful with any of their applications or for students who develop an interest in the visual arts at a later stage of their careers a good portfolio preparation course is the way forward.
We don not take into account which school the candidate comes from; we just assess the work in the portfolio. We do realise that some students spend time developing the range of their visual skills and other students spend time developing the range of media they are skilled in and this could be linked to the resources at hand, so for all candidates we use their higher assessment mark in one of those two areas.
For us at NCAD, differerences are not important when looking for/choosing for Fine Art/Industrial Design/Fashion, etc. The way the student investigates the subject matter they have an interest in would give us clues as to the direction their careers might take, but over the course of their Core Studies this will change as they experience different ways of developing work. For Industrial Design a bias towards investigations or design ideas for man-made objects would be understandable.
Frank Bissette is Head of Core Studies at the National College of Art and Design.
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Our foundation course is primarily but not exclusively geared towards those who are interested in Fine and Applied Art. If the student after discussion feels that this is too narrow I redirect them to colleges with perhaps a broader range of disciplines. There is such an economic drive to put bums on seats that this gesture is rarely reciprocated by other colleges. However, I think our system works fairly, with our students gaining places in a wide range of degree courses.
I also think it is essential to meet the students face to face at interview, and for me the process begins with the application forms as this is the first indication I have of the suitability of the candidate. For instance, have they got the right mix of subjects and at the required level?
The forms should be legibly and honestly completed. I do not require a statement from a referee, so the students' personal comments are read carefully. It is important to know about their activities, interests, part-time jobs, etc.
I like to know how the student has arrived at the decision to pursue Art and Design as a career. Have they spent time visiting other colleges, degree shows, reading university prospectuses, or talking to people who are already qualified and working in the area closest to the student's own ambitions? At this level it is not sufficient to say that you have always loved doing art!
All of this information makes it easier to engage the student in purposeful discussion while looking at the portfolio in what I like to think of as a relaxed atmosphere with the give and take of normal conversation.
Which school or college the student arrives from is of little consequence, especially in the case of mature students where it is but a distant memory.
The portfolio itself must be well organised, preferably with recent work, and it must clearly represent the student's own personal interests. Photographs of work which are too large to transport or which were done on a commission basis are perfectly acceptable. I would hope to find the following:
Investigation. The themes and subject matter of the work should have a diversity of approach. The route taken is just as important as the finished pieces.
There must be ample evidence of first-hand drawing and observation from primary sources.
Photography should ideally be in sequences presented in book format or on card, not in packets. Cameras should be used as an extension to the eye or for documentation.
Experimentation. Subject matter that is only explored through the medium of pencil can suggest a lack of imagination. The use of paint, crayons, pen and ink, collage, found materials, and combinations of these worked on at different scales implies a real willingness to undertake visual research.
Documentation. Sketch pads both large and small together with scrapbooks should be part of the portfolio presentation. I also like to see a personal diary being kept, recording the student's thoughts, for example references to gallery visits, with specific work being analysed in the student's own language. An interest in the other arts is also relevant.
The folio and interview should leave me with a feeling that the student has enthusiasm, commitment, and a willingness to succeed. I am after all going to make an offer to a person not a grade package.
Ray Duncan is a lecturer in Art at Castlereagh College, Belfast.
