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How to prepare a portfolio for art students to study in the United States
1. First of all, you need to draw the exercises and enjoy the process of drawing them. But you should take fewer classes. When I was in a studio, drawing exercises well was a big goal for me when I went to college, because my classmates in the class were all good at drawing, but this was not helpful for applying to American art schools. You should finish the exercises efficiently and squeeze out as much time as possible for thinking and experimental creation.
2. Students who are interested in studying art abroad can form a group to practice mutual critique. ArtCritique means "art criticism" in Chinese. Generally, students who paint or design think that this is the business of "theorists" and has nothing to do with themselves. In fact, this is your "weapon" to enter the art and design circles in the future. It combines your language expression, cognition and thinking of works, and defense and other adaptability. When facing competition for exhibition opportunities, in addition to your works, you must use your language and thoughts to defend your works and your own concepts. Usually, you don't need to say big truths or if they are not profound enough, just don't say it. As long as you can express your opinions and views naturally, it will be fine. This skill will be used in the interview stage of the application process. (Some people speak very well, but their works are very X. No matter! This is something you will slowly balance after your application is successful. This is something that may take a lifetime to balance. Before that, you should continue to improve your critique ability)
3. At the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, professors don't like paintings that are "illustrations" or "talking about pictures". You can think of a theme scene in your mind, imagine the final scene in your mind, use photos or Photoshop to create it, and then draw the work according to the photo.
4. Professors prefer works that are connected to you personally and have your own language and perspective. They cannot be popular. As long as you have your own language and a clear personal perspective, even if it is not mature or the technique is not good enough, you will at least get an interview opportunity and a high chance of being offered a job. Because they know that you have ideas, and your thoughts determine how far you can go, they will be willing to help you and provide you with resources.
5. The works you put in your portfolio should focus on one, or at most two, points of interest/concepts. Use a series of related works to show your exploration and experimentation with topics/concepts that interest you.
6. These works reflect your personal interests and exploration of visual expression with your own characteristics. Pay attention to the process of investing in research, growth and discovery.
7. Show how your visual language/painting language develops and changes around a certain concept.
8. The portfolio for graduate students cannot include practice works, which must be all creative works. Undergraduate students can include practice works.
9. Don’t focus on too many ideas in your portfolio, as this will make it difficult for the teacher to be impressed, or even make people feel that it is not the work of one person.
10. For students who don’t like to explore and ask questions about a point of view, they have to pretend to be real. After admission, the teacher will forget about it and you can do whatever you want. The tutor will still provide resource support based on your interests. It is worthwhile to compromise in the short term to get more resources in the future:)
11. For collaborative works, please indicate in the description which part you participated in. If your collaborator is applying to the same school in the same year, please consult with them.
12. Experiments in materials and art forms should be combined with the concept of the work. Pure material experiments and form explorations are still a little weak, lacking perspective and attitude towards the external world.
Further reading: What should you pay attention to when studying in the United States?
1. Etiquette
It is a relatively open country that welcomes students from all over the world.
1) Pay attention to respect and courtesy. Dress appropriately in formal occasions. Men wear suits or evening gowns, usually in black or white. Women usually wear long skirts, the length should be appropriate. If it is too long, it will be inconvenient to walk, and if it is too short, it will appear undignified. Usually, they wear leather shoes, and the uppers should be polished and kept clean.
2) Drink moderately. There is an age limit. You must be 21 years old or older to purchase alcoholic beverages.
3) Eliminate any discrimination, do not unilaterally exclude a certain ethnic group, respect the achievements of civilizations in different regions, advocate cultural integration, and promote gender equality. Women can also run for prestigious positions such as president and minister.
4) Do not cheat in exams. If you are dishonest, you will not be recognized by others no matter where you are.
5) During class or meetings, set your phone to silent or vibrate mode, or turn it off, to prevent yourself from looking down at your phone. If you are late, enter through the back door and do not disrupt the teacher's lecture. You can explain the reason or ask for forgiveness after class.
6) Consciously queue up when waiting for a bus, shopping, or ordering food. If someone leaves something behind, remind them. When walking on the street, do not litter or cross the lawn, and pay attention to environmental protection.
2. Course Selection
At the beginning, don't try something difficult. First of all, it will take time to overcome the language barrier. Only after you learn to adapt and accumulate a certain amount of confidence in the course learning process, will you be able to proceed more and more smoothly.
Since the course adopts the credit system, you can try to take more courses in the second semester.
You should concentrate on listening to lectures, prepare multiple notebooks, carefully summarize the content of the class, build a knowledge system in your mind, imagine a mind map, and connect scattered knowledge points.
If there is something you don’t understand, ask the professor in time and don’t always procrastinate.
3. Going out
Safety should always be put first. Keep your belongings safe and valuables should be locked in the dormitory safe.
1) Refuse to take a private car.
2) Avoid walking at night, on remote roads, or in unfamiliar alleys.
3) If you take a taxi, make sure the driver is reliable and negotiate the price before getting in.
4) Bring your student ID, or a weekly or monthly ticket, which is very useful.
5) If you are traveling long distances, you can join a group to buy tickets with friends. This can not only save some ticket and hotel fees, but also ensure that you can take care of each other and better handle emergencies.
Further reading: Practical tips for studying abroad in the United States
1. Clothes
You should put more light clothes in your suitcase as it will be quite cold in winter. Most school dormitories are equipped with heaters, except in remote rural areas, where they may not be equipped. In this case, you will need to bring your own oven.
Wear a pair of cotton gloves when going out to protect your hands. At the same time, be careful not to let your feet get cold, as it is easy to get frostbite.
suggestion:
1) Apply some hand cream and frostbite cream in advance, rather than waiting until you are frozen. Learn to take precautions before it happens, and buy some snow boots, boots, fleece sneakers, etc.
You can also stick heating patches, foot patches, etc. on your tops or socks to help us resist the cold.
2) Except for formal occasions when you need to wear formal clothes, you can be more casual at other times. You don’t have to blindly imitate other people’s clothing taste. Buy more jeans and shirts. The most important thing is to be happy.
3) Girls should buy some beautiful long skirts, as they may be needed for attending parties.
4) Hang the coats and jackets you wear frequently in your closet for easy access and to avoid them getting damp.
5) Usually prepare two sets of quilt covers and pillowcases for easy replacement and washing.
6) Many shopping malls will launch promotional activities during holidays such as Christmas and Halloween. You can take advantage of this time to stock up more. You can stock up less on food, but you can buy multiple pieces of clothing at a time because your height, weight, and foot size will not change much in the short term.
7) Don’t give up on bargaining in the wholesale market. Try to negotiate with the boss more. You may be able to buy high-quality items at a very low price.
8) Returns are very convenient. As long as the product is within the validity period, the salesperson will not ask why you are returning it.
2. Diet
Food is the primary need of the people. No matter where you are, the topic of "eating" is unavoidable.
What to eat?
1) Breakfast
Bread, sandwiches, ham, etc., plus a cup of hot coffee, or drink milk.
2) Lunch
Going to the school cafeteria is a good choice. There are many food windows, and you can find all kinds of flavors, sweet, spicy, etc. However, one thing is that the locals generally don't put MSG in the dishes.
3. Accommodation
There are basically three types: on-campus, off-campus or host family.
Each has its own advantages, choose according to your own situation.
1) Living on campus means you will be closer to classrooms, the library, the international student cafeteria and other buildings. You don’t have to set the alarm too early, so you can sleep in for a few more minutes.
2) Each apartment has a dedicated staff on duty. If you lose anything or find anything, you can report it to them and seek more help.
3) People living on each floor are from the same department or class, so they can take care of each other, have better relationships, are less likely to have disputes, and the place is lively.
4. Transportation
Bring your student card with you, it is very convenient to take the subway and bus. If you take the bus every day, it is more cost-effective to get a weekly ticket or a combined ticket.
How to prepare a portfolio for art students to study in the United States
How to prepare a portfolio summary for art students studying in the United States
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