As a high school student, when should I start working on my portfolio?

Answer 1

You can start putting a portfolio together when you start having a handful of your best finished work. Generally, I recommend considering what the goals are for the portfolio. For example, if you want to be a character illustrator, you'd want to include realistic and stylized illustrations, ideally fully rendered and colored with putting in a fair bit of practice. You would not want say still life or background pieces in a portfolio for character art since they would not be as relevant, unless they tie in with a story from another picture or serve some significant purpose. The timeframe is different for everyone, but generally, you can start putting together pieces after taking advanced drawing lessons and practice for at least half a year generally.

Answer 2

The development of artistic skill and the act of building a portfolio go hand in hand with one feeding into the other. As with most things, we get better through practice, trial and error. It’s a process that involves making art and designing things, getting better, then repeating the cycle over and over again. The more time you can put into refining and enhancing your abilities, the better. Many serious (college/art school bound) students will start taking art classes in high school in the 10^th grade and continue until they are in the 12^th grade. Some will begin well before that, and others will start to consider their path much later. I’ve worked with successful applicants who have put 2-3 years into developing a portfolio and other newcomers to the process who’ve only been able to dedicate a few months to it prior to their application deadlines. Having reviewed admissions portfolios for a long time, one thing is absolute across the board - schools like to see growth, not perfection. A starting point for one person may not be necessary for another to yield success, but it’s best if you can avoid having to rush the process. It really comes down to your skills, the amount of time that you can dedicate to growth, the program that you are considering, and your application deadlines. 

If you need guidance and have questions about any portfolio requiring school, let’s chat.