The featured image today is a picture that I had poorly cropped for my portfolio. Don’t be like me and get lazy, follow these steps to make sure your portfolio is as wonderful as the artwork in it.

One of the most important things to have when considering a career in the arts is an exceptional portfolio. This portfolio shows your potential employers not only your skills but also who you are. Art is a reflection of personality, so choosing works that best display who you are and your artistic ability is the first step to having an excellent portfolio.

After choosing the works that best represent you and your artistic abilities, now is the time to compile all of these works together into a format that is easy to review. If the works are digital, be sure to have them backed up on a computer as well as a flash drive to prevent any from being lost. If the work is physical, photograph it in a way that really shows off the best qualities of the work.

The work should be photographed in good lighting, a steady hand to prevent blur, and an angle that doesn’t require a lot of difficult cropping. It is never a bad idea to take the photographed physical work into a digital program, such as Photoshop, to make sure that the photo is of a high quality. Some additional retouching may be done to the photo depending on what you feel really makes the work shine, but a high quality photo will not only make the work look professional, but it will also give your artwork that added touch of beauty that it deserves.