Congratulations to our wonderful art students who applied to art colleges this year. They have been offered their art courses for next year. They presented their portfolios yesterday in the art room. Well done to Ella, Lucy, Amy and Akua. We are so proud and delighted for all of them.
Read about their own experiences of creating their portfolios below:
In the summer of 23 we dawned our most alternative clothes and started our portfolio journeys! We were inspired by the world around us and created lots of different pieces, from simple sketches to fully fleshed out pieces, there’s no denying that each of us put our all into our individual portfolios, each with their own style!
Lucy: for my portfolio I chose to look at the theme of nature and fantasy and how it impacts character design. I really enjoy designing characters, creating stories, and making stylistic art pieces. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do ever since I was a little kid drawing with simple crayons, and I’m so happy that I had the opportunity to take this journey. I even sent in my NCAD portfolio on my birthday in January, a nice birthday treat! I found that putting my portfolio together and finding enough time to work on it was one of the more challenging parts, cause god forbid you aren’t always on the grind in 6th year! But the making process was super fun and exciting! Now I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders, I can relax and focus on what I need to focus on for the rest of the year. I met lots of cool people along the way and it’s something I’d recommend for anyone interested in art college, or art in general!
Amy: The creation of my Portfolio was an amazing experience despite being stressful. I learned so much about what type of artwork I enjoyed and also learned so many new skills and techniques. Creating all my pieces was so enjoyable as I felt I could really express myself through my artwork instead of conforming to a set theme or marking scheme. I could use whatever colours, patterns, and textures I wanted and my goal was to show who I am through my work. Although there were many sleepless nights and slight meltdowns, I’m so grateful I had the opportunity to create a portfolio for my dream college. Ever since I was young, I’ve wanted to be a fashion designer and my portfolio has given me the opportunity to achieve my dreams.
Ella: I have always wanted to go to art college so the summer before 6th year, I began to create my portfolio. It was a challenging but very rewarding process! The portfolios were due around February (mock time!). This was difficult as I had to put in a lot of work in the beginning of the year (that meant missing out on a party or two!) and I wasn’t left with much time to study for my mocks, but now with my place in college almost secured, I find myself in a much different situation than my classmates. I am now able to relax and enjoy my final months of secondary school! I would strongly recommend considering doing a portfolio! There are many different courses that require a portfolio, for example: Fine Art, Architecture, Interior Design, Graphic Design, Fashion, Costume Design, Animation, Film Studies and so many more! It is definitely something worth investigating, as you may be surprised and discover a course which requires a portfolio and grasps your interest! I created one portfolio and submitted it to many different colleges and courses. Something I found really helpful was that I participated in a portfolio preparation course, which I would highly recommend doing!
Akua: For my portfolio I looked at the human expression. I honestly just drew as many human expressions as I could in what time I had. This is because I still wasn’t sure if I wanted to make a portfolio, but I finally decided to in the summer of 2023. Conveniently just before 6th year which is always great timing. I wanted my portfolio to be something I’d enjoy so I opted to make art I’d know I wanted to draw and explore different mediums along the way. I also used my previous experience of drawing in my now favourite medium: Pen, explaining the monochromatic nature of my portfolio. As little colour as I could have, like the black orbs I call eyes. Anyway, I feel like my portfolio kinda pushed me to step out of my comfort zone because I’m always one to stay in my own little box and I’m glad I had Ms. Kearney to encourage me to explore other mediums like clay. For me making the portfolio was kinda rough because I’d just started 6th year and again time was sparse and that put a lot of pressure on me. I recommend to anyone who wants to go to art collage to try out mediums of your choice during the summer, make sure to make as much art as possible and have fun doing it. I think then you can at least feel accomplished doing absolutely nothing during the summer : )
