<p>Most of my portfolio work will be drawing but I just realized that they said the drawings must be from life or imagination.
I have self-portraits and other portraits that I have done/want to do but I've never done a portrait from life (I do have sketches and figure drawings from life though).</p>
<p>Are they understanding about this? My art teacher told me that they were worried about the composition being your own and thus a photograph would be fine if you set it up yourself. But I'm not sure anymore. I don't know what to do.</p>
<p>First off, I have a lot of experience with showing my portfolio. I go to an art high school and have been attending National Portfolio Day since I was a freshman (in HS, I’m a Senior now). Schools CAN tell when you use photographs if it defies believable reality. For example, if you do a portrait of yourself in water, if you’re in landscape, if you are somehow showing both your hands, if it’s hyper-realistic, if it’s from a weird angle/multi angels. The list goes on. For colleges, they will accept a drawing/painting as “life” if it doesn’t cast any doubts. To be honest, even if you used a photo-reference, they won’t decline you just because of it. Just make sure that the drawings/paintings you used a photo-reference for are at least 18 by 24 and not on white paper because they can just think you traced.</p>
<p>I think they want you to draw from life since, in a photograph, the image has already been translated into two dimensions for you. It takes a lot of the problem solving out of drawing. I would begin drawing from life now. Draw yourself in a mirror, set up a still life, etc. I don’t think it would hurt if a few of your drawings are from photographs, but at least half should probably be from life.</p>
<p>Wouldn’t it make more sense for it to be smaller than 18 x 24 for them to now think you traced? But anyway.
Thanks so much for the info guys.</p>
<p>It’s even more than that. You get to be able to read the thought systems that went in to making a piece; therefore you can pretty easily see if a photo ref was part of the process.</p>
<p>And like Gabby said, they want to see your level of translating 3d into 2d- how refined your eye is! There is no substitute for what a drawing from life reveals about the way an artist sees his/her world.</p>
<p>And don’t count on schools being “understanding”. Art is a competitive field! Thousands of your potential peers will have drawings from observation in their portfolios already, and have an instantaneous advantage over you.</p>