Portfolio Preparation for First-Year Admissions

Before you get into making pieces for your portfolio, set up a system to organize and preserve your work. A good way to start is to divide your work into two categories: digital files (both for digital work and photo documentation of three-dimensional pieces, such as sculptures), and flat work (paintings, drawings, prints, etc.).

For this basic approach, we encourage the following:

• Digital files: Create a folder system that works for you. One approach would be to organize your digital files by medium or category—for example, one for motion graphics, another for digital photography, and so on.
• Flat work: Get a portfolio for basic organization, and make sure to protect your work using a spray fixative for drawings made with pencil, charcoal, or pastels. Apply 2–3 layers of fixative, and allow for each to dry fully before storing.

Building your portfolio is an ongoing process of planning, trial and error, false starts, and pushing your samples to where you want them, down to the details. As you work, take advantage of opportunities to get expert guidance or to meet like-minded, creative peers.

For example, you might:

• take all the high-school art electives you can, or join an afterschool art club.
• enroll in Advanced Placement or dual enrollment art classes, if available to you.
• look into private lessons or art tutoring.
• participate in RISD Continuing Education young artist programs, including the summer Pre-College program (offered in person or online).

As you create portfolio submissions, use a sketchbook to plan out each piece, and take notes as you develop them from concept to finished work. For physical pieces (paintings, sculpture, etc.), take photos and videos of works in progress; for digital work, take screenshots and screen recordings.

For documenting finished physical work, you do not need a professional photographer. As you shoot, keep these pointers in mind:

• Your work looks best under natural light—but watch out for shadows.
• It’s actually best to take photos on a cloudy day, as clouds soften strong directional light.
• To keep the edges of your work as straight as possible, place your camera perfectly perpendicular to the ground and parallel to your piece.
• Make sure to color balance your files.
• Avoid “fixing” your work in Photoshop (or similar image-editing programs), or by using generative AI.

For digital work, note the following:

• Although you should create work at a large scale, you will need to compress and resize your portfolio submission for screen viewing.
• Size your file to between 72–150 dpi, and no longer than 2000 px on its longest edge.
• If you want to show detail of a piece, include a cropped or zoomed-in image of the portion you want to showcase.

Your portfolio needs to include 12–20 samples. Choose strong images, but you should also emphasize quantity over quality. The more work you share, the more we see the range of your creativity.

Also, pay lots of attention to how you order your portfolio—don’t just put the strongest samples up front. By sequencing your pieces strategically, you can pace reviewers through the portfolio, show off its variety, and spread out your best work to continually show off the best of what you can do.

If you’re interested in RISD—and art school in general—there are many ways for you to get feedback from us along your journey. Below you’ll find the many opportunities for you to share your portfolio with us, including RISD portfolio events, National Portfolio Days, and one-on-one meetings with a regional RISD Admissions officer.

In our portfolio day presentations, prospective undergraduate students learn what it takes to develop a collection of art and design work for college admission. We’ll guide you in showcasing your creative voice and technical skills, and suggest ways for you to take your work in new and innovative directions. At the end of each presentation, a RISD portfolio reviewer concludes the session with an individual portfolio review.

RISD Portfolio Day in Providence, RI

Thursday, September 24

Join us for a presentation followed by a portfolio review.

Register for session 1 (4–5:30 pm)
Register for session 2 (5:30–7 pm)

RISD Portfolio Day in Providence, RI

Saturday, October 3

Join us for an extended portfolio review day, with a RISD 101 info session, campus tour, and opportunity to meet with RISD Pre-College to learn about summer programs.

Register now (9:30 am–12:30 pm)

RISD Portfolio Day in Detroit, MI

Thursday, October 8

Join us for a presentation followed by a portfolio review.

Register now (4–7 pm)

RISD-hosted Portfolio Day events let prospective high-school seniors and juniors, as well as prospective transfer students, show your portfolio to a RISD representative and get a review from us before applying.

Register for a review early in the application process so that you have time to apply the feedback to your portfolio for application submission. We connect with as many attendees as the schedule of each event permits, but slots fill up quickly.

FIND AND REGISTER FOR A PORTFOLIO DAY

Please note, we do not make admissions decisions or accept portfolios for application during RISD Portfolio Day events, nor do we require you to participate in one of these events or connect with anyone from the Admissions Office as part of the application process. Participation does not eliminate the need to submit your portfolio as part of our application requirements.

As the number of portfolio review requests far exceeds our capacity, we ask that sophomores and freshman please reserve the available slots for high school seniors, high school juniors and prospective transfers. If you are an underclass student and would still like to receive a review, learn more about requesting a portfolio review from the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design (AICAD).

RISD participates in a number of Portfolio Day events sponsored by the National Portfolio Day Association (NPDA). These events let prospective students present their portfolios to representatives from art and design colleges and university art departments. Aspiring artists can gather a wide range of opinions and advice about their portfolios, which may help you strengthen your work and prepare their college applications.

VIEW FULL NPDA EVENT SCHEDULE

Please note, we do not make admissions decisions or accept portfolios during National Portfolio Day events, nor do we require you to participate in one of these events or connect with anyone from the Admissions Office as part of the application process. Participation does not eliminate the need to submit your portfolio as part of our application requirements.

Portfolio Day events can get very busy. We encourage you to prioritize RISD early on in your itinerary to increase the likelihood that we will be able to speak with you before the end of the event. We connect with as many visitors as the schedule of each event permits.

You can also get a review from us without having to wait for a portfolio review event by submitting a sample of your portfolio to the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design (AICAD). Upload your sample to AICAD’s portfolio review portal to receive detailed feedback from RISD representatives via email.