I’m a little desperate bc I’m a rising senior and would like to know what I can do this summer to improve my portfolio. Please message me for a link and be as harsh as you need to be. Thank you.
A good site to get portfolio feedback is conceptart dot org
It is a very large art forum where you can view other portfolios as well as post your own for feedback.
My D didn’t use this site (aicad slideroom) but it looked like an excellent place to have your portfolio critique done.
@veehee thank you so much! I just got feedback back from parsons using that website. I was just wondering, how much should I trust this review? I’m not sure if they were just trying to be nicer than usual because they didn’t want to scare me from applying, but I can’t decide if I’m overthinking or not. And is parsons a well regarded art school? Should I take what they said into strong consideration or are they willing to take just about anybody…?
This is the review I got back. Please note that I accidentally selected senior (16-17) when I actually was a junior during 16-17 (I got confused and saw myself as a rising senior already…):
“With regards to your portfolio, it seems you are learning and really advancing in a ceramics and 3D building. Within your portfolio, I suggest to start showing your process more, to showcase where your ideas are coming from and how you are getting to your final 3D product. At Parsons, we want to know how you think and why, right now your portfolio is very focused on the final form but showcasing the process will really help us to understand your making. I suggest to trying to experiment more with more materials like your Glass cranes, I think it would be interesting to push those into an installation form. Also, at Parsons, we currently do not offer a Ceramic major but we do offer ceramics classes. I suggest based on your strong 3D making skills to look further into our Product Design major, more information can be found our website here: http://www.newschool.edu/parsons/product-design/
If you have any more questions, please let me know. I hope to see your application for Parsons School of Design in the near future!
Have a great Summer!”
I’m going to try to add more wips like they said, but I wonder how much value I can place on their assessment. Of course, I’m grateful for any advice and will use it to improve. Does anyone have any opinions on this? Is it a good sign from them? Or are they just raising my hopes (and making me overconfident in my art) for nothing?
That sounds like a useful critique from a reputable school. But the issue is that crits are very subjective. Parsons wants you to be more experimental and conceptual. Which may be the case with other schools–or it may not. Not all schools are looking for the same thing, nor do they have the same philosophy. It’s important to research all the schools you are applying to and reach out to them for input.
Have you researched National (and/or Regional) Portfolio Days in your area? They’ll be held in the fall and while that’s cutting it a bit close, my own kid revamped & created new stuff for a lot of her portfolio in the 2-3 months before the admissions deadline after more feedback.
Plan your college tours early in Sept and schedule portfolio reviews too. And while you may not be applying to colleges in your area, see what art departments are nearby. Contact them and see if you can get a portfolio review this summer. Also local art organizations and summer programs often have portfolio prep classes.
Also a good online source is https://artprof.org/
Good luck!
@agentaquastar the Parson’s critique offers you some great feedback but as @uskoolfish mentioned portfolio reviews are incredibly subjective. You’ll find the different art schools will look for a wide variety of things, so getting several reviews is always best. NPD is great for doing that so try to get to one of those if you can.
Many of the schools suggest including a lot of observational drawing in your portfolio so that they can get an idea of your drawing skills. I don’t know about Parsons, but many programs have a freshman foundation year and everyone going for a BFA takes the same classes, usually a combination of 2D and 3D classes.
If you are interested in ceramics, I know Alfred University (in upstate NY) has an excellent ceramics program. And they offer great financial aid.