Some of D's art - please comment

<p>As my user names states, I am a clueless art mom. Don't have a creative bone in my body. However, it seems that my D does. She came to art fairly late. Took an intro to art class in 9th grade, Studio 1 in 10th grade and just wrapped up AP Studio Art. She wants to get a BFA. Does not want an art college. She is looking for the full college experience, so we are only looking at traditional Universities. She is a very strong student in a very competitive highly ranked public high school. </p>

<p>I just set up a deviantart account so that I could get some feedback on her portfolio. I have uploaded a few pieces, but wanted to post the link here to see if it's working. If it is, I will post more.</p>

<p>She seems to do pretty traditional art work, mainly with charcoal, conte, pencil and oil pastels. Has not had much experience with painting at all, but I will post a few a those.</p>

<p>cluelessartmom's</a> deviantART gallery</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>P.S. is deviantart safe? I have tried to be anonymous and I did not enable downloading of her pictures or put them in the store.</p>

<p>I checked out her art, looks good! </p>

<p>New to this process myself so not a lot of comments but wanted to let you know your link is working, and that the work looks good to me.
What universities/colleges is she thinking of applying to? Some don’t even require a portfolio for initial entry; you enter as a BA Fine Arts major (or undecided) and then I think at the end of freshman year you apply to be a BFA candidate, based on your work Freshman year. </p>

<p>Not all are like that, but I few I checked out are.</p>

<p>Thanks artmama. </p>

<p>I just uploaded a few more pictures to the gallery. I still have to get more from her to upload.</p>

<p>We have a long list of schools! We do have some on the list that don’t require a portfolio for entry. But she would prefer to be accepted into a BFA program from the start. </p>

<p>Anyone else have any feedback?</p>

<p>Deviant Art is safe as anything else on the internet. D has had an account there for a long time, but does not post much, as she says “its gone Manga”.</p>

<p>Is location important to your daughter? East, West or Mid? City or not? That will help narrow down the field.</p>

<p>My d is finishishing up senior year, so we have completed the process you are thinking about. She submitted portfolios to 8-10 schools, and it is a strenuous process, which she completed by late last fall. Portfolios are requested in various formats, hard copy, cd, DVD, uploaded to the app. My d was interested in graphic design or architecture, and like yours, really wanted large universities over art schools. She was wait listed at one of the top architecture schools in the US, and accepted at all the rest. However, for her top 3 choices, she was accepted “undecided,” and will enter the letters and sciences program at the school that was at the top of her list. My kid was arguably the top art student in her graduating class(got the only art award formally presented at scholastic awards night.). She was accepted to architecture programs or graph design at all the privates she applied to, but even tho some gave substantial merit aid, she chose the larger university because she pictured herself fitting in there better. She is also a great student, very well rounded. My conclusion was that other kids’ portfolios must just be stellar/unusual/beyond exceptional, and this was a very competitive process, and from my perspective it would be difficult to judge her work. Mine has been encouraged by the school where she will matriculated, they have stated if she can maintain a 3.0 that she will most likely be admitted to the architecture program down the road. She is also considering other majors, which is another reason the big school will be good a’s it provides so many options.</p>

<p>It is great that you are getting her work into electronic format – sounds like you’ve got a great start and are ahead of the game.</p>

<p>drae27 - we have the list of colleges that she will apply to set already. She will apply to between 12 - 15 schools. We will fine tune this as we get closer to application time at the end of the summer. We have a nice mix of reaches, matches and safeties. </p>

<p>Since I don’t have any sort of art background. I guess my real question is - so how does the stuff look?</p>

<p>kbiresearch - I guess I was hoping that going for the BFA at a University might be an easier admit than applying to RISD, etc. Luckily she isn’t interested in that. I think Architecture is a different animal, maybe? We are looking at Cornell and I know that the majority of the AAP applicants apply for Architecture.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>I don’t know much about deviantart’s safety as far as preserving work is concerned, but it is not the safest site browsing-wise. In the past couple years, my computer has gotten two major viruses while browsing the site (even with anti-virus software).</p>

<p>Looks good to me! I liked the skeleton and people walking in the park. She should have no problem with getting accepted. And yes, architecture is a whole different animal. </p>

<p>D also knows several people that have had their work stolen/copied from DA. Like I said, it’s as safe as anything else. D has gotten her own website thru godaddy.com to post her stuff.</p>

<p>Thanks redbug119. Appreciate the feedback. Those are two of her favorites!</p>

<p>Thanks for all the warnings about deviantart. I don’t plan on browsing the site, so hopefully no viruses. I’ll probably take her stuff off of the site soon. Just waiting to see if there is anymore feedback.</p>

<p>As a recent art school graduate, I will say this:
1.) Her work is good. Better than a lot of freshman who would be doing portfolio reviews to get into school- and admittedly, better than mine was when I applied.
2.) deviantArt is as safe as any other social networking site- because that’s what it is…
I would say encourage her to look into putting work together and making a nice (easy) portfolio site using something like cargocollective.com, dribbble.com, or even ■■■■■■■■■■–something she could actually show people her work on. deviantArt is pretty much facebook with “art” on it. These other sites are still a community, and way more respected.
3.) Something that I wish I would have looked into before I went to art school- in fact, THE BIGGEST regret I have about going to my school: looking into the instructors’ and the schools’ “style”. What do I mean? Make sure that she is interested in the work the instructors (as most if not all of them will/should have professional art practices) produce–mostly the heads of the particular major shes choosing (IE if she wants to be a drawing/painting major- she should like what the instructors are doing–because they will try to influence her). The school should be looked at in the same way (IE if she wants to draw/paint realistic still-life, she won’t be happy at a place where they push and produce graduates who are extremely abstract). I know it sounds lame, but if the school is known for something (in a positive light) they have an investment in wanting their graduates to reflect that.</p>

<p>OP -Glad you have your list. </p>

<p>Quick comment on your statement:
“I guess I was hoping that going for the BFA at a University might be an easier admit than applying to RISD, etc. Luckily she isn’t interested in that.”</p>

<p>Depends on the program. I would guess that Cornell is harder to get into than RISD, etc (assuming adequate art skills). Another example, WashU had a 5% acceptance this year.</p>

<p>sars80k - thanks so much for your feedback. I will have her look into the sites you mentioned. She would like to major in drawing/painting, but she realizes her exposure to different things has been limited since she “found” art so late. She is looking forward to trying sculpture and other forms of art when she gets to college. Great idea about looking at some of the professors work. I think she may be doing that already. </p>

<p>She does not do much abstract work at all, but then again, not sure if it’s just because she got into art so late and spent most of this year on her AP art concentration. She does really enjoy drawing people.</p>

<p>mom4art - Wow- 5% at Wash U! I knew it was low, but thought more along the lines of regular admission of 12%. I think Cornell’s art acceptance is around their general admit rates. But I could be wrong. Yes, those two are major reaches. Her academics/test scores/ec’s put her in the range of admitted students. I think Cornell looks at the portfolio more than WUSTL? She does have a bunch of match schools and safety schools, but I do think that those two are her top two choices right now. She knows the chances of getting in there are low. I guess the way I meant my comment, was that it seems the more “serious” artists apply to RISD and Cooper and she may be higher up the totem pole, when applying to other schools?</p>

<p>Cluelessartmom. That could be my screen name as well. I am brand new to this sight and trying to find my around. Son is a sophomore in hs and started his college search. Ringling is his number one choice right now with his a major in illustration. Planning
On doing precollege there in 2012. I have no idea where to start…</p>

<p>An option might be to look at a few of the larger art schools, such as SCAD. There are something around 10,000 students who go there so it might be a good compromise between the larger school size and still strong in the arts. Other options I would consider are NYU, Cornell, Yale (a good friend graduated from their arch. department recently and enjoyed it), or USC. The best thing I always hear is to visit as many of the schools as possible. One or two will really stand out for your D once you are on campus. Good luck!</p>