I feel like I learned a lot from this critique. I could relate to a lot of the comments you made, especially the ones about composition and the art being too centred.
Thank you so much for all your hard work critiquing these pieces, your comments and feedback have directly impacted on my own art practice. It’s incredibly useful for self taught artists who don’t have access to such knowledgeable art teachers, so thank you so much!
Thank you so much for all these advices! I only started drawing August 2016 but I'm a junior and I really want to get into graphic design at risd. The ways in which visuals and art is able to communicate so much just amazes me and I aspire to do that. I know I don't have much time and experience compared to everyone else who have worked on art since elementary or middle school. But I'm willing to try and achieve this dream of mine:)
Glad to hear you enjoyed this video! Prior experience in no ways dictates what you can achieve; if you are super committed and work really hard, you can make a ton of progress in a short period of time. Keep going!! By the way, we are launching the new Art Prof website soon! If you'd like to be notified of our site launch, you can sign up for our email list here: eepurl.com/bSrjSD
I completely agree with the you need a digital marker or something for clarity. Some of your best critituque is you saying things to crop but no one knows what those are
Hi Robin, placing the subject in the center is pretty much every person's first impulse, making it cliche and common. In the over 10 years I've taught studio art, it's what I've seen across the board in all levels of students. The main concern is that students place the subject in the center without thinking about it, it becomes a default choice that is not deliberate. I talk about the importance of composition in this video: th-cam.com/video/s9CJG2uLd3E/w-d-xo.html
Thanks for watching! Much more is coming soon, we are launching the new Art Prof website in early 2017! If you'd like to be notified of our site launch, you can sign up for our email list here: eepurl.com/bSrjSD
Hi! great video! I'm applying for architecture and therefore I am including a number of my building ideas in my portfolio. I see from your videos that composition is very important but I cannot cut off the building and have some of it go outside the border since it's the entire building i'm showcasing. is this an exception or should i still try cropping my work? do you have any other tips for an architecture portfolio in particular? thanks!
Hi! I can't give you a precise answer without seeing your images, but if you are submitting a piece that is an architectural design, (such as an architectural drawing or a 3D architectural model) you should absolutely show the entire building. Without seeing the architectural design in it's entirety, it's difficult to evaluate as a design piece. The technique of cropping an image to create a more dynamic composition is only really applicable to a 2D artwork such as a charcoal drawing or an acrylic painting. I would say that if you are doing an architecture portfolio, some other images that may be relevant are linear perspective drawings (assuming you have the training to do those) and perhaps drawings that involve architecture or even cityscapes. If you have architectural drawings or 3D models those are great, but you don't need to have your entire portfolio full of that type of work-the admissions officers understand that you will not have a portfolio that is 100% all architecture work. Hope that helps, good luck!
By the way, much more content is coming soon, we are launching the new Art Prof website in early 2017! If you'd like to be notified of our site launch, you can sign up for our email list here: eepurl.com/bSrjSD
I have a question about specifics you would say are somewhat required in a portfolio. You seem to emphasize a great use of color in your pieces, but as of now I do mainly colored pieces and I would say if I was to make a portfolio of my current work it wouldn’t include any graphite or charcoal. Would you recommend I do any charcoal or graphite for my portfolio?
I do think it's helpful to have a balance of both color artworks and black and white artworks, largely because there are different sets of challenges depending on whether the artwork has color or not. It's another way to show off a broader skill set. You don't have to use graphite or charcoal in black and white artworks, (unless the school has specific requirements for those media) but for many people graphite and charcoal are more affordable drawing media to work in that are also accessible. We have this charcoal drawing tutorial that might be useful: artprof.org/courses/self-portrait-charcoal/ For more detailed information on preparing an art school portfolio, visit our video tutorial which offers lots of tips and resources: artprof.org/courses/art-school-portfolio/
Join our Art School Portfolios Group! Ongoing support & critiques, voice sessions with Prof Lieu. Get a chance to connect with other students for $30-$40 monthly. More info: artprof.org/art-school/art-school-portfolios-group/
At 31:30m you said this piece is one of the best ones because it is so detailed and fully complete but in other pieces you say how you want them to be more loose like the balloon one. I’m a bit confused on whether it is good to pack in as much detail as possible or do it more loose like the balloon one
Every artwork is a completely unique piece, and the thing to keep in mind is that there is no advice that you can apply across the board to every artwork. What works for one artwork may not work for another. Detailed artwork can be effective, but so can loose artwork. I would recommend evaluating each artwork on a case by case basis, and consider whether the artwork lines up with you intentions. -Prof Lieu
Would it be ok if your piece consists of your own images that you took for reference but you added in your own imaginary touches or would you rather we had all of our drawing pieces be from life? Like if we had only a few life drawings and the rest are sort of imaginative like I mentioned in the beginning where it’s stuff you didn’t necessarily set up and then draw it?
Hi! I think it's totally fine and good to have a mix of works that are more imaginative and some pieces from life. It's hard for me to give you an answer specific to you without seeing your artwork, but in general that's okay. -Prof Lieu
can't believe someone who teaches art would recommend filling all the white space in these drawings or cutting it. negative space is important! you don't have to fill everything up (especially the balloon drawing should stay how it was). also cutting? your students won't learn anything about composition by cutting their works
Right?? I got increasingly annoyed every time she said the white space needed to go. Especially the charcoal drawing - there was barely any white space and even that had to go!?? Jeez
It's on our to-do list! For now, our Still Life Crayon Drawing tutorial does talk about basic elements of composition if you want the beginning part which goes over how to arrange a still life, and how to draw thumbnail sketches: artprof.org/courses/drawing-in-color-still-life/
We have a comprehensive Art School Portfolios section on our main site, all the resources you need to prepare a portfolio for free! artprof.org/courses/art-school-portfolio/
In theory, if you were to just crop the artwork in Photoshop, there’s really no way that anybody would be able to know that you didn’t crop the actual physical artwork itself However, in my opinion, if you choose to only crop the artwork in Photoshop, you’re not actually truly altering the physical artwork, And therefore, your cropping actions do not carry very much weight. If it were me, I would actually crop the real physical artwork it’s self, and that that process would require a much deeper level of thinking in terms of what I want to do with the composition. I can’t speak for other artists, but I think if I were to only crop the image in Photoshop, I would not take the action is seriously and therefore would not invest as much thinking in the process. -Prof Lieu
Maybe you could initially crop it in photoshop to get a sense of what works best and then crop the actual art piece, would maybe make the chop feel less scary!
I love how she says “here” and “that one” but we have no idea what she is pointing at
Sorry, this is one of our oldest videos, before we became more proficient with the technology involved with video production! -Prof Lieu
Art Prof: Create & Critique thank you it make sense now
I feel like I learned a lot from this critique. I could relate to a lot of the comments you made, especially the ones about composition and the art being too centred.
That's great, thank you!
Thank you so much for all your hard work critiquing these pieces, your comments and feedback have directly impacted on my own art practice. It’s incredibly useful for self taught artists who don’t have access to such knowledgeable art teachers, so thank you so much!
Wonderful! I'm so glad to hear that. -Prof Lieu
Thank you so much for all these advices! I only started drawing August 2016 but I'm a junior and I really want to get into graphic design at risd. The ways in which visuals and art is able to communicate so much just amazes me and I aspire to do that. I know I don't have much time and experience compared to everyone else who have worked on art since elementary or middle school. But I'm willing to try and achieve this dream of mine:)
Glad to hear you enjoyed this video! Prior experience in no ways dictates what you can achieve; if you are super committed and work really hard, you can make a ton of progress in a short period of time. Keep going!! By the way, we are launching the new Art Prof website soon! If you'd like to be notified of our site launch, you can sign up for our email list here: eepurl.com/bSrjSD
I completely agree with the you need a digital marker or something for clarity. Some of your best critituque is you saying things to crop but no one knows what those are
Thanks for the feedback, we'll take that under consideration for future videos.
Hello, may I just ask why putting the subject that you're drawing in the center is bad? I don't see anything wrong with it
Hi Robin, placing the subject in the center is pretty much every person's first impulse, making it cliche and common. In the over 10 years I've taught studio art, it's what I've seen across the board in all levels of students. The main concern is that students place the subject in the center without thinking about it, it becomes a default choice that is not deliberate. I talk about the importance of composition in this video: th-cam.com/video/s9CJG2uLd3E/w-d-xo.html
I see, thank you for your clarification. I truly appreciate all of your advice
Thanks for watching! Much more is coming soon, we are launching the new Art Prof website in early 2017! If you'd like to be notified of our site launch, you can sign up for our email list here: eepurl.com/bSrjSD
@@artprof Does that mean all dead center art is bad?
Hi! great video! I'm applying for architecture and therefore I am including a number of my building ideas in my portfolio. I see from your videos that composition is very important but I cannot cut off the building and have some of it go outside the border since it's the entire building i'm showcasing. is this an exception or should i still try cropping my work? do you have any other tips for an architecture portfolio in particular? thanks!
Hi! I can't give you a precise answer without seeing your images, but if you are submitting a piece that is an architectural design, (such as an architectural drawing or a 3D architectural model) you should absolutely show the entire building. Without seeing the architectural design in it's entirety, it's difficult to evaluate as a design piece. The technique of cropping an image to create a more dynamic composition is only really applicable to a 2D artwork such as a charcoal drawing or an acrylic painting. I would say that if you are doing an architecture portfolio, some other images that may be relevant are linear perspective drawings (assuming you have the training to do those) and perhaps drawings that involve architecture or even cityscapes. If you have architectural drawings or 3D models those are great, but you don't need to have your entire portfolio full of that type of work-the admissions officers understand that you will not have a portfolio that is 100% all architecture work. Hope that helps, good luck!
By the way, much more content is coming soon, we are launching the new Art Prof website in early 2017! If you'd like to be notified of our site launch, you can sign up for our email list here: eepurl.com/bSrjSD
I have a question about specifics you would say are somewhat required in a portfolio. You seem to emphasize a great use of color in your pieces, but as of now I do mainly colored pieces and I would say if I was to make a portfolio of my current work it wouldn’t include any graphite or charcoal. Would you recommend I do any charcoal or graphite for my portfolio?
I do think it's helpful to have a balance of both color artworks and black and white artworks, largely because there are different sets of challenges depending on whether the artwork has color or not. It's another way to show off a broader skill set. You don't have to use graphite or charcoal in black and white artworks, (unless the school has specific requirements for those media) but for many people graphite and charcoal are more affordable drawing media to work in that are also accessible. We have this charcoal drawing tutorial that might be useful: artprof.org/courses/self-portrait-charcoal/ For more detailed information on preparing an art school portfolio, visit our video tutorial which offers lots of tips and resources: artprof.org/courses/art-school-portfolio/
Join our Art School Portfolios Group! Ongoing support & critiques, voice sessions with Prof Lieu. Get a chance to connect with other students for $30-$40 monthly. More info: artprof.org/art-school/art-school-portfolios-group/
At 31:30m you said this piece is one of the best ones because it is so detailed and fully complete but in other pieces you say how you want them to be more loose like the balloon one. I’m a bit confused on whether it is good to pack in as much detail as possible or do it more loose like the balloon one
Every artwork is a completely unique piece, and the thing to keep in mind is that there is no advice that you can apply across the board to every artwork. What works for one artwork may not work for another. Detailed artwork can be effective, but so can loose artwork. I would recommend evaluating each artwork on a case by case basis, and consider whether the artwork lines up with you intentions. -Prof Lieu
Would it be ok if your piece consists of your own images that you took for reference but you added in your own imaginary touches or would you rather we had all of our drawing pieces be from life? Like if we had only a few life drawings and the rest are sort of imaginative like I mentioned in the beginning where it’s stuff you didn’t necessarily set up and then draw it?
Hi! I think it's totally fine and good to have a mix of works that are more imaginative and some pieces from life. It's hard for me to give you an answer specific to you without seeing your artwork, but in general that's okay. -Prof Lieu
Please show the crops. Thanks!
can't believe someone who teaches art would recommend filling all the white space in these drawings or cutting it. negative space is important! you don't have to fill everything up (especially the balloon drawing should stay how it was). also cutting? your students won't learn anything about composition by cutting their works
Right?? I got increasingly annoyed every time she said the white space needed to go. Especially the charcoal drawing - there was barely any white space and even that had to go!?? Jeez
I know right!!
Also would you all (anyone on the channel) be willing to do a video on composition because it's mentioned in most videos
It's on our to-do list! For now, our Still Life Crayon Drawing tutorial does talk about basic elements of composition if you want the beginning part which goes over how to arrange a still life, and how to draw thumbnail sketches: artprof.org/courses/drawing-in-color-still-life/
We have a comprehensive Art School Portfolios section on our main site, all the resources you need to prepare a portfolio for free! artprof.org/courses/art-school-portfolio/
Do you have to crop art with scissors or would it be ok to just use photoshop? Not sure if that’s cheating
In theory, if you were to just crop the artwork in Photoshop, there’s really no way that anybody would be able to know that you didn’t crop the actual physical artwork itself However, in my opinion, if you choose to only crop the artwork in Photoshop, you’re not actually truly altering the physical artwork, And therefore, your cropping actions do not carry very much weight. If it were me, I would actually crop the real physical artwork it’s self, and that that process would require a much deeper level of thinking in terms of what I want to do with the composition. I can’t speak for other artists, but I think if I were to only crop the image in Photoshop, I would not take the action is seriously and therefore would not invest as much thinking in the process. -Prof Lieu
Maybe you could initially crop it in photoshop to get a sense of what works best and then crop the actual art piece, would maybe make the chop feel less scary!
Hi, would it be possible for me to send you my portfolio and you give me your feedback on it? im applying in 2018 but trying to build my portfolio now
Hi! You can get information on how to purchase a portfolio critique here: artprof.org/purchase-a-portfolio-critique
Did you appy
When people sign their paintings with a big swirling signature it really puts me off. It’s like pure ego on the page.
Haha, sometimes I notice signatures before the actual subject of the painting! - Mia Rozear, Art Prof Staff
34:24 - It depicts a voluptuous, naked women. I can see big thighs, a round belly, big breasts with nipples and a head. The arms are a little weird.