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Help regarding portfolio 'sketchbook'

Hi there,

I'm nearing the end of my current degree programme (psychology), and want to take things in a more artistic direction after having what is best called an epiphany.
I did art up to GCSE level, and despite not continuing it further, have continued to practice and produce pieces that are pretty decent. I'm planning to start work on a good selection of portfolio pieces after I finish exams in May.
My one problem is that, as I did not continue my art studies through to A-level, my pursuits have been unstructured and not really laid out in a coherent manner. I just do paintings/drawings as and when I feel like it (which nowadays, is pretty much all the time).
A lot of portfolios ask for 'sketchbooks'. I am not sure what they mean by this. Do they want actual sketchbooks, of scribbles and ideas, quick sketches in the street, or do they want what is essentially an illustrated journal of various ideas? Do I include the work of other artists that have inspired me? I've seen lots of 'sketchbooks' on the internet, and they all seem super detailed and more like full blown pieces on every page. I'd like some advice from people who have gone through the submission process, as I am really at a loss.
Original post by georgeforeman
Hi there,

I'm nearing the end of my current degree programme (psychology), and want to take things in a more artistic direction after having what is best called an epiphany.
I did art up to GCSE level, and despite not continuing it further, have continued to practice and produce pieces that are pretty decent. I'm planning to start work on a good selection of portfolio pieces after I finish exams in May.
My one problem is that, as I did not continue my art studies through to A-level, my pursuits have been unstructured and not really laid out in a coherent manner. I just do paintings/drawings as and when I feel like it (which nowadays, is pretty much all the time).
A lot of portfolios ask for 'sketchbooks'. I am not sure what they mean by this. Do they want actual sketchbooks, of scribbles and ideas, quick sketches in the street, or do they want what is essentially an illustrated journal of various ideas? Do I include the work of other artists that have inspired me? I've seen lots of 'sketchbooks' on the internet, and they all seem super detailed and more like full blown pieces on every page. I'd like some advice from people who have gone through the submission process, as I am really at a loss.

The best advice is to do an art foundation course. Without one, and with no recent body of material the odds are stacked against you quite heavily.

Have a look at this to get some idea of what admissions tutors are going to be looking for :
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=974132
Original post by georgeforeman
Hi there,

I'm nearing the end of my current degree programme (psychology), and want to take things in a more artistic direction after having what is best called an epiphany.
I did art up to GCSE level, and despite not continuing it further, have continued to practice and produce pieces that are pretty decent. I'm planning to start work on a good selection of portfolio pieces after I finish exams in May.
My one problem is that, as I did not continue my art studies through to A-level, my pursuits have been unstructured and not really laid out in a coherent manner. I just do paintings/drawings as and when I feel like it (which nowadays, is pretty much all the time).
A lot of portfolios ask for 'sketchbooks'. I am not sure what they mean by this. Do they want actual sketchbooks, of scribbles and ideas, quick sketches in the street, or do they want what is essentially an illustrated journal of various ideas? Do I include the work of other artists that have inspired me? I've seen lots of 'sketchbooks' on the internet, and they all seem super detailed and more like full blown pieces on every page. I'd like some advice from people who have gone through the submission process, as I am really at a loss.


I agree you should do an art foundation, unis will probably notice your work is unstructured and undeveloped. They honestly just flip through sketchbooks very quickly so you don't really have to make it anything amazing. They definitely don't have to be full blown pieces on every page.

My sketchbooks have a development of ideas for final pieces including initial ideas, primary ( own photos as references) and secondary research, experimentation (of materials, colour, scale etc etc), artist referencing (just pictures of other artists work and a few lines about what it is) and evaluation (good and bad points of final piece)

So yeah something with like you said, scribbles and ideas would be better than an illustrated journal of amazing one-off work because they want to see a development of ideas. And including a few artists that inspired you would be good just don't put too much writing :smile:

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Just to add that whilst art foundation courses are free to under 19s, they are not free beyond that age and do not carry any entitlement to student finance. I'm sure you are aware of this, but just in case others are reading this, you will not get any kind of student finance for a second degree, including tuition fee loans, so your change of direction will cost you dearly.

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