How to Make a Professional Art Portfolio

By Isaiah David, eHow Contributor

Organizing a master portfolio is an ongoing process. As you progress as an artist and professional, you will be constantly adding to your portfolio and rearranging it to get the best effect. It is worth the effort. Having a good master portfolio already put together will allow you to quickly put together a job portfolio for a particular interview. it will take a lot of the stress out of the process and ensure that you end up making the best impression possible.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Paper Portfolio cases Prints Computer with CD burner CDs

1. Keep a file with all of your work. You should keep pretty much everything you have ever made. Not only will this help you to make a portfolio, but it will also allow you to see the progress you have made as an artist.
   
2. Make a master portfolio showcasing your entire artistic career. Include the best slides and prints from everything you have worked on. Don't worry about cutting out too much stuff, but don't include things you will never want to use in an interview portfolio.
   
3. Organize your master portfolio. Group similar things together to make it easier to thumb through. For example, all of your installation work can be in one section, your woodcuts in another, your black and white photography in a third, and so on. Use tabbed dividers to make it easier to navigate the portfolio.
   
4. Make it look nice. Display your work on good quality paper with nice boundaries. Overmat all your prints. Make sure that everything is clean and fingerprint-free. Get a couple really high-quality portfolio cases to put it all in.
   
5. Make a job portfolio. Whenever you have to interview for a job or gallery showing, pull works out of your master portfolio that are relevant to that job and put them in your job portfolio. For example, for a graphic design job interview, you can display all of your graphic design work. Organize it to make it easy to look through.
   
6. Digitize everything. Although many clients still prefer to look at prints, there are others who prefer to look at your work online. This can be a really attractive option when you are sending work to clients who live far from you. You can either send a CD with your portfolio, or put all your stuff up online.
   

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