Lesson video

Hello, everyone.

How are you today? Hope you're feeling good.

My name is Ms. Afzal and I'll be your art teacher for this lesson.

I'm feeling good about that.

I love teaching art, and also today, we're looking at portfolios, which I think are so interesting.

Our lesson is called Presenting a Portfolio, creating pages of documentation.

It comes from the unit of work, first sustained project, working from a theme.

So if you are ready with some focus, energy, and enthusiasm, we'll begin our lesson.

The outcome for today's lesson is I can select a focus for my portfolio and create a narrative through the pieces chosen.

We have some keywords in our lesson.

Let's go through them.

Portfolio, focus, theme, and narrative.

So what do these keywords mean? Well, portfolio is a collection of your artwork, sketchbook work experiments, and final pieces.

Focus, the main idea, theme or approach you choose to explore in depth.

Theme, the big idea or subject that your artwork is based on.

And narrative, the story or journey shown through your artwork and sketchbook.

These are our keywords, portfolio, focus, theme and narrative.

Let's look out and listen out for them.

They'll be coming up in our lesson today.

A lesson is called Presenting a Portfolio: creating pages of documentation.

It has two learning cycles, establishing a focus of your portfolio and creating a narrative through developed work.

Let's begin by establishing the focus of your portfolio.

And how about this question to start with, what is an art and design portfolio? Pause here and share with somebody.

What do you think? Thanks for sharing.

A portfolio is a carefully selected collection of your artwork that shows your creative journey, skills, and ideas developed over time.

And why is the portfolio important? Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

Our portfolio shows your development and creativity, and it helps you reflect on your progress.

Perhaps you said something like this.

What would you want someone to understand about you through your portfolio? Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

Let's hear some responses.

Here's Sam.

"I would want people to see my creative journey and the progress that I have made.

I think it's important to show when things haven't always gone to plan too." Absolutely.

And Izzy, "I want my portfolio to highlight the range of materials and techniques I've explored and to tell a visual story." What does focus mean in a portfolio? Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

The focus of your portfolio is the main idea, theme, or strength that ties your work together.

It helps the viewer understand who you are as an artist.

Why does having a focus to your portfolio matter? Pause here and share with someone.

What do you think? Thanks for sharing.

It makes your work feel more connected and meaningful, and it helps people remember your artistic voice.

Ways to focus your portfolio include voice here and share with someone.

What are some of the ways in which we can focus our portfolios? Thanks for sharing.

I wonder if you came up with any of these.

Subject/theme, mood/color, concept/style, media/technique.

Let's have a check for understanding.

What does a portfolio theme help you do? Is it A, avoid trying new techniques.

B, using only one colour for your subject.

C, create a strong visual and conceptual focus.

Pause there and share with someone.

What does a portfolio theme help you do? Well done if you chose answer C.

Indeed, a portfolio theme helps us to create a strong visual and conceptual focus.

Focusing your portfolio by subject or theme.

A subject or theme is the main idea behind your work.

It gives your artwork meaning and helps link all your pieces together.

Examples of portfolio themes could include identity, exploring culture, personal history, gender, self-portraiture.

Environment, nature, climate change, urban versus rural spaces.

Community and culture, relationships, culture, shared spaces.

Chance and chaos.

Art made using unpredictable methods, randomness, dripping paint, paint pouring.

And technology, digital life, social media, artificial intelligence.

Pause the video and share with someone.

Which of these five themes on the screen are you most drawn to? Either exploring yourself and your work or exploring the work of artists who work with these themes? Thanks for sharing.

The camera's drawn to identity.

Which theme could this work fit into? Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

It's Andeep.

"The theme for this work could be food and culture or natural forms.' And Sofia, "It could also fall under a still life or colour theme." A cultural theme portfolio focuses on aspects of a person's traditions, beliefs, or shared experiences.

You can see some beautiful hena there.

Love having hena in my hands.

Examples of cultural theme portfolios could include: Personal or family heritage, exploring symbols, language, clothing, places or stories.

Migration and belonging, movement between places, dual identity, home.

Cultural traditions or rituals.

Celebrations, food, religious practises, rites of passage.

Stereotypes and representation, challenging how cultures are shown in the media.

Have you explored culture in your art? Pause here and share with someone.

Have you done this and how if so.

Thanks for sharing.

Let's hear some responses.

Here's Aisha.

"I've used past stories from my family in my messages themed artwork.

I'd like to explore stories from members of the community outside of my family." And Alex.

"For my buildings themed project, I've photographed the inside of different religious buildings, including mosques, churches, and temples." In what ways does your artwork reflect community influences? Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

Let's hear some responses.

Here's Sam.

"As part of my identity project, I interviewed people from my school community to learn about their family traditions, which helped me understand the diversity of experiences around me." So it's so interesting.

And Jacob, "For my transformation theme, I explored how pollution is affecting my local coastal community.

It's changing the landscape, harming wildlife, and disrupting daily life and traditions." Let's have a check for understanding, true or false.

Community themes in art.

Focus only on physical places, not people.

Pause here and decide, is this true or false? Well done if you selected false and now I'd like you to say a little more about your answer.

Pause here while you do this.

Perhaps you said something like this.

Community can mean a group of people you connect with, including friends, schools, neighbours, religion or online spaces.

You might focus your portfolio on emotion or mood.

What mood is evoked in this artwork and how has the artist communicated this? Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

Mood is the emotional feeling that a piece of art evokes for the viewer.

Focusing your portfolio on mood helps you make creative choices and express feelings through your artwork.

Selecting existing work for a mood-based portfolio could mean laying out all of the work made, looking through sketchbook pages, finished pieces, experiments, and even unfinished ideas.

Observing the body of work to get a sense of what's there digitally or physically.

You can identify the mood already present in your artwork.

Sort the artwork into piles or categories based on similar feelings they evoke.

For example, calm, lonely, melancholic.

The work might give off an angry or chaotic mood through bold colours, sharp shapes, and expressive, energetic marks.

The mood of a portfolio might be influenced by light.

Many artists focus on mood in their artwork, including Sahara Longe, who creates stylized portraits of bold shapes, flatten colour, and a still focused atmosphere.

The mood evoke from the portraits is quiet and calm.

Hardeep Pandhal who explores complex emotions, hybrid media, and layered meanings through drawing, digital animation, textiles, rap, spoken word.

the mood of the work is chaotic.

And Emma Talbot who makes drawings, textiles, and paintings with expressive lines and handwritten text.

The mood is dreamlike and emotional.

Colour could be the inspiration for a portfolio theme.

A portfolio might be inspired by a concept or style.

What might concept or style mean in a portfolio? Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

Concept, the main idea behind your artwork, it's what your piece is about or what you want it to express.

And style, a specific visual approach or method.

How the work looks or is made.

E.

g.

surrealism, minimalism, abstraction, pop art, collage, expressive mark making.

What concept or style do you think this artwork fits into? Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

Here's some responses.

Alex.

"I think this art could be about dreams or maybe it illustrates a poem or story." And Lucas, "I would say it's a surreal artwork as it presents imagery that doesn't exist in reality." Media and techniques can influence a portfolio.

Media.

The materials used to make art, e.

g.

charcoal, paint, clay, digital tools, fabric, wire.

Technique.

How you use the materials.

E.

g.

collage, blending, digital editing, sewing, pouring.

When establishing the focus for a portfolio, artists often look for common similarities between individual works or technical or conceptual connections.

Laura has reviewed her body of work and has selected specific artworks for her portfolio.

I'm going with a textured focus for my portfolio.

As I've explored texture in a lot of my artwork, I'm drawn to different surfaces and mixed media.

Which of the following artworks does not connect with the portfolio focus or theme of anatomy? Say A, B, or C.

Pause here while you decide.

Well done if you selected C.

When selecting work, it's best that artworks reflect your chosen focus as well as showing your development, artistic journey, and skills.

And now it's time for your first task.

I'd like you to establish a theme or focus for your portfolio.

You could review your existing work, identify common themes, techniques or ideas.

Choose a focus, e.

g.

mood, colour, or culture.

Pause here while you have a go.

At this task of establishing a theme or focus for your portfolio.

Good feedback with you.

How did you get on with that task of establishing a theme or focus for your portfolio? There are many possible outcomes including.

It's Jacob.

"I've laid out some of my work, and these are many images of sea creatures and seascapes.

I'll choose coastal as my overall theme." Andeep.

"A lot of my artwork links to my community, so I'm going to have that as the focus for my portfolio." And now we're onto our next learning cycle, creating a narrative through developed work.

What is meant by narrative in a portfolio? Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

Creating a narrative through a portfolio means guiding the viewer through a visual journey.

It should show how your ideas and decisions progress and develop over time.

What does a strong narrative look like? Pause here and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing.

Clear starting point.

Introduce your theme or question, what inspired you? A strong narrative should show how your ideas grow and change with each stage of your work building on the last, to tell a clear and connected story.

Visual reference or inspiration.

Start with a photo drawing object or artist that sparked your idea.

Early creative responses show your initial thoughts such as sketching, mark making, colour testing, photographs, or mixed media experiments.

Exploration and investigation.

Show research, experiments, and responses to artists or contexts.

Try different materials and techniques.

Ink, collage, wire, thread, photography, paint, etc.

Include mistakes, changes, and what you learned.

Decision making include sketches, notes, or trial pieces that show creative choices and refinement.

Try out different layouts, compositions or viewpoints.

Include initial drawings that lead to stronger later ideas.

Development of ideas.

Demonstrate how you refined and change your work over time.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Why is it useful to include mistakes or failed experiments in your portfolio? Is it A, it fills up more pages so that your portfolio looks full.

B, it shows your creative process and what you learned.

Or C, it hides your best work amongst a range of studies.

Pause here while you decide.

Well done if you selected answer B.

Indeed, it shows your creative process and what you learned.

Research is an important aspect of your portfolio.

It's Sofia.

"I saw an artwork by Ronald Ventura called Numb which really inspired me.

It's such a busy, fascinating piece filled with exciting imagery inside a head." Artist research.

Find artists who connect with your theme, technique, or style.

Show what you've learned and what you're taking from them.

Cultural contextual research.

Look into movements, traditions, or events that link to your idea.

Many artists use the theme of anatomy as inspiration for their work, including: Angela Palmer, who makes 3D scans of the human body turned into layered ghost-like sculptures focusing on the hidden self.

Jason Freeny, who dissects toys and pop culture figures to show their imagined anatomy.

He has a quirky take on anatomy with strong design and humour shown through sculpture.

And Ronald Ventura, who creates hyper detailed human anatomy mixed with graffiti cartoons and surreal elements.

Let's have a check for understanding, true or false.

Research in your portfolio should only focus on artists and their work.

Pause to decide is this true or false? Well done if you selected false.

And now I'd like you to say a little more about your answer.

Pause it while you do this.

Perhaps you said something like this.

Research can include personal photography, interviews, objects, cultural references, history, place, materials, or even your own memories and experiences.

And now it's time for your next task.

I would like you to create a narrative for your portfolio.

Consider the following.

What is your main idea or story? Has it stayed the same or developed over time? Look back at your experiments, artist research, and decisions.

What worked well and what did you change? Does your work show development and meaning? Can someone understand your ideas by following the artwork? Pause here while you have a go at this task.

I'll see you when you're finished.

It's good to be back with you.

How did you get on with that task of creating a narrative for your portfolio? There are many possible outcomes including.

Here's Izzy, "My initial butterfly drawings developed into the exploration of different media, including cyanotype and modelling with paper." Here's Alex.

"I can clearly see the progression in my work from rubbings of buildings and printmaking, experimentation to a layered gothic doorway." In a lesson presenting a portfolio, creating pages of documentation, we've covered the following.

Artists often develop a portfolio by choosing a theme or focus that allows them to explore personal ideas, emotions, or experiences in a meaningful and intentional way.

A portfolio narrative shows how an artist's ideas and work develop over time, showing the journey made through choices, experiments, and research that connect to a central theme or focus.

Well done everyone for joining in with this lesson.

It was great to explore presenting a portfolio and seeing how your work started, that spark that got you started, the journey you've taken, what you've learned, and where you've ended up.

I hope you've enjoyed this lesson.

I really enjoyed teaching you, and I'm looking forward to seeing you at another art lesson soon.

Until then, stay creative.