Last 
Thursday I attended San Fransisco's Academy of Art University annual Spring show. After last year, I had pretty high expectations, which, I'm happy to report, were met. Both this year and last, the base level of quality was very high. Those that stand-out from this group are in an excellent position to have a career drawing and painting.
The Academy flies in talent scouts and art directors from every visually creative field you can think of (animation, architecture, product design, illustration, web design, and on...) to view the exhibit, review portfolios, and speak with each graduating student in their field.
Nothing lets you get around having to have a great portfolio but being engaging, speaking well about your work, and asking good questions is an excellent way to make an art director feel comfortable taking a chance on a younger artist. It shows that they understand the problem solving in illustration, are eager to learn from each experience, and are willing work together to make a project successful for all parties.
Mad geniuses are a wonderful thing and I'm glad they are out there creating work for the world to enjoy, but illustration is a commercial art and giving these students the opportunity to present themselves as such is a good learning experience for both them and those asked to do the looking.
Nothing lets you get around having to have a great portfolio but being engaging, speaking well about your work, and asking good questions is an excellent way to make an art director feel comfortable taking a chance on a younger artist. It shows that they understand the problem solving in illustration, are eager to learn from each experience, and are willing work together to make a project successful for all parties.
Mad geniuses are a wonderful thing and I'm glad they are out there creating work for the world to enjoy, but illustration is a commercial art and giving these students the opportunity to present themselves as such is a good learning experience for both them and those asked to do the looking.
Congrats and good luck to all the students. The bad news is, there is a ton of work to do ahead of you...but that's kinda the good news too.
Thanks, once again, to Chuck Pyle for having me out.
IMAGES:
Tyler Jacobson and Samuel Farinato
Photos from the exhibit.
Linda Olafsdottir and Albert Ramos
IMAGES:
Tyler Jacobson and Samuel Farinato
Photos from the exhibit.
Linda Olafsdottir and Albert Ramos
8 comments:
I really cannot express just how much I love vikings. That 2nd piece makes my heart smile.
Wow, that polar bear piece is really powerful.. And vikings ARE awesome.
I hope you forgive me for using tis post for a little bit of spam. Conceptart.org have some very good instructional videos for sale, and the proceeds go directly into keeping the community alive. I've bought quite a few, among them Dan Dos Santos' excellent video on illustration the novel Warbreaker! Here's a link, and again forgive me for plugging in your blog: http://dvd.massiveblack.com/wordpress/index.php
Thanks for stopping by and reviewing our portfolios. I'm going to revisit mine based on your crits.
Best!
Albert Ramos
It was great to see so many industry reps there and to hear critique on our portfolios. Great, also, to have met you! Now I can run email Sam the heads-up that you posted his work. =)
Thanks again!
Tora
The Biggie portrait is tight. Also the warrior one. Nice piece.
Thank you so much again for reviewing my portfolio Ms. Gallo . Your insight was priceless.
Raymond Bonilla
thanks for coming out!
Thank you for the helpful comments on my work. I really appreciate you taking time to fly across the country, it meant a lot to hear your critique of more than just my work.
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