How to prepare your portfolio for the BFA

There is no one correct way to put your portfolio together  – you should make the most of the opportunity to express your individuality and show what you are capable of. The following guidelines will help you prepare a portfolio that will meet the basic requirements, and Lecturer Joyce Campbell provides more detail in the video below. The rest is up to you. 

• The portfolio should include twelve A4 page sized images of your artwork. Please do not include original artworks. It is important that the images of artwork themselves and the printing are of good quality.
• It can be useful to include a variety of examples of finished work that show an ability to work in different mediums and with a variety of methods. This will show that you have the ability to work in a number of ways. 
• Images of pages from your workbook/s can be very helpful to the selection panel. This could include: evidence of ideas, thinking processes, experimentation and analysis. Of the 12 images you submit in your application, two to three of these could be from your workbook. The good thing about workbook pages is that they can convey a lot of information on the one page.
• It is a good idea to assemble workbook pages at the end of a project - you may use notes and developments you have generated during the working process. You may also want to let us know about ideas that have emerged as a result of your finished works.
• Photographs of finished work need to represent the work accurately. For example, a photograph of a sculpture that shows it clearly sitting in space conveys more information than a closely cropped image which shows a detail or part of the object. 

These workshops are designed to help you prepare your portfolio and present it professionally. Bring along any material that you would like to work with – completed artworks, your workbook and colour images you have already printed.

Saturday 14th July, Saturday 1st September, Saturday 8th September
Elam selects its future student intake based largely around the portfolio and statement submitted by the applicant. It is vital to get this right! These two hour portfolio preparation workshops are facilitated by senior lecturers and will give students an excellent start to the application submission process. Students can register for one of three Saturday workshops online.

Register for a workshop