How To Create A Professional Art Portfolio

As a result, all you need is an image gallery—nothing more. You could go for a page in which you scroll down to see more full-screen artworks (such as the example by Stan Van Steendam at https://www.stanvansteendam.be), you could have a slideshow in which you have to navigate to the left or right to see new artworks (such as the example by Justin Mortimer at http://justinmortimer.co.uk), or you could have a grid of thumbnails to click through to a light-box or separate page (such as the example by Johnny Abrahams at http://www.johnnyabrahams.com).

Do not add any text or additional information to this page. Focus on the artwork only. Do not share your artist statement or a few words to convince the audience. Show the art and only the art—as if you are not trying to sell yourself; this is often the most effective in the art world. After all, additional information can be found on the other pages of your website, such as the about page, info page, resume, or a page with texts and interviews. So do not pollute your art portfolio by surrounding your work with unnecessary noise. Let it breathe for an optimal viewing experience.

Show at least ten works, but do not show more than forty works if you are a new or emerging artist. A great example is the website of Justin Liam O’Brien, at http://justinliamobrien.com, which showcases a small but very powerful selection of works per artistic discipline. Other established or mid-career artists often showcase a vast collection of works they have exhibited at the highest level or would even share all the works of their catalog raisonné online—think of the artist website, or rather archive, by Gerhard Richter. However, this strategy is not advised for new or emerging artists.

When it comes to documenting and presenting your works, three types of images are the most professional for your portfolio. First and foremost, a cropped image of the artwork in which the full image is the artwork. Think of the portfolio example by Clare Woods at https://www.clare-woods.com. A second option is documenting the art in a presentation context. This means photographing a sculpture on the floor or on a pedestal, or a painting on the wall. A great example is Lena Keller’s portfolio at https://lenakeller.com. A third option is to show your work in an exhibition context via exhibition or installation views; think of the website of Pieter Vermeersch at http://www.pietervermeersch.be.

Make sure to select one of these three options and use it consistently, meaning we are not combining all three image types in a single portfolio. All other types of images are seen as unprofessional. So do not use images in which you are posing next to your artwork or a mock-up of your art in an interior.

The only text information we want to show in the image gallery is the artwork’s metadata, which encompasses the title, year, medium, surface, and dimensions. When using installation views to showcase the artwork, make sure to specify the venue where it was on display and possible photo credits of the photographer.

You can either list the information vertically, such as Claire Tabouret’s portfolio at https://www.clairetabouret.com or write it down in a single line, using commas and dots to separate the information. Think of the website of Lena Keller at https://lenakeller.com.

Ideally, you can showcase your portfolio in a single page or image gallery. In this case, make sure to order your works chronologically, showing the most recent works first, and going back in time when we scroll through the gallery. However, for multidisciplinary artists, project-based artists, or artists who have been active for several decades, it might be useful and advised to use different categories to group certain works together.

For instance, you can organize your artwork per artistic discipline; think of the artist website by Alicja Kwade at https://alicjakwade.com. If your works are more series- or project-based, you can group them together as such. A great example is the portfolio of Edith Dekyndt at https://edithdekyndt.be. You can also categorize your works chronologically, as in the art portfolio by Justin Mortimer at http://justinmortimer.co.uk.

When it comes to the overall design, the catalog with available works and the art portfolio as a PDF document follow the same visual identity as the online art portfolio: a white background, black or grey text, a small font, and a minimal and professional layout. In essence, we don’t want to ‘overdesign’ this document so the focus is entirely on the art itself.

For the front page, you can have a blank page or a main image covering the entire page. You want to mention your name and surname, specify if the catalog is a portfolio or consists of available works, and your basic contact information—although the latter is also mentioned at the end of the catalog and can thus be excluded if wanted.

With the online art portfolio, your artist’s website provides additional pages to communicate important information, such as the artist’s biography and the artist’s resume. However, with an art portfolio as a PDF document, we have to provide this information in the portfolio itself. In this case, it is advised to share a short artist biography and your resume on the very first pages of your portfolio, following the industry guidelines as discussed in our extensive articles on how to write a professional artist biography and how to create an industry-approved artist resume.

After the front page, bio, and CV, it is time for the body of the portfolio to present the artwork. Use a single page per artwork. Add a large image of the artwork using one of the three aforementioned image types consistently throughout the entire document: a cropped image of the artwork only, the artwork in a presentation context such as on a pedestal or on the wall (but focused on the artwork), or in the form exhibition views.

Below, we want to write down all the metadata, starting with the title, followed by the year, medium and surface, and the dimensions. Here, there is a difference with the available works catalog, as we are not listing the price of the artworks in question.

We conclude the catalog with your contact details and website, where they can find more information or contact the artist. Once more, keep this as formal and direct as possible, avoiding any unnecessary information such as additional photographs, logos, a Google Maps snippet of your studio, customer reviews, or more.