This 10-week Art and Design Portfolio Preparation course in North London is for students who want to develop their artistic skills, discover an individual direction and build a strong body of work for Foundation, degree-level and other creative course applications.
The course is anchored in drawing and the development of ideas, while introducing students to the many ways artists and designers use drawing, image-making, materials and research to explore and communicate ideas.
Rather than teaching students to produce a standardised portfolio, the course focuses on helping each student discover and demonstrate what they can do, what interests them and how they think creatively.
Drawing as a Foundation
Drawing is at the heart of the course.
Students explore both observational and imaginative drawing, developing drawing as a tool for looking, thinking, recording and inventing.
Exercises may include drawing from:
- Still life and objects
- Natural forms
- The figure
- Architecture and spaces
- Photographs
- Memory and imagination
- Found imagery and visual research
Students are encouraged to move beyond simply reproducing what they see.
A drawing can become the starting point for a painting, sculpture, photograph, film, fashion idea, product, design proposal or entirely new visual investigation. The aim is to develop confident, curious and purposeful drawing.
From Drawing to Ideas
A strong portfolio is not simply a collection of finished artworks. It should show the development of ideas.
Students learn how to move from an initial observation or drawing towards experimentation, development and resolution:
Observation → Drawing → Experimentation → Ideas → Development → Resolution
Students are encouraged to record their process through sketchbooks, studies, experiments, photographs, material tests and written reflection.
Importantly, unsuccessful experiments are also considered part of the process. Students learn how artists and designers use experimentation to discover possibilities rather than expecting every first attempt to succeed.
Exploring Different Creative Disciplines
The course is deliberately broad so that students can discover where their interests and abilities lie.
Teaching and projects can introduce approaches relating to:
Fine Art
Painting, drawing, sculpture, installation and mixed media
Photography and Moving Image
Photography, film, time-based media and image-making
Design
Graphic design, product design, spatial approaches and visual communication
Fashion
Drawing, figure, pattern, materials and fashion concepts
The purpose is not for every student to study every discipline. Instead, students are given opportunities to test different ways of working and identify the areas they want to develop further.
Developing an Individual Direction
One of the most important aspects of portfolio preparation is discovering what makes your work individual.
Through practical projects, discussion and individual guidance, students are encouraged to identify:
- Subjects and themes that interest them
- Materials and processes they enjoy
- Strengths in their drawing and making
- Ways of working that feel natural or exciting
- Ideas they want to investigate further
- Creative disciplines that may be most appropriate for them
The course is therefore particularly suitable for students who know they want to pursue art or design but have not yet decided exactly what direction they want to take.
Portfolio Development
As the course progresses, students learn how to select, organise and develop their work into a more coherent portfolio.
Attention is given to:
- Sketchbook development
- Observational studies
- Imaginative drawing
- Experimentation
- Visual research
- Artist and designer references
- Development of ideas
- Material exploration
- Composition
- Colour
- Presentation
- Reflection and evaluation
- Selection of work
Students are encouraged to understand that a portfolio should reveal a journey of thinking and making, not simply present a series of unrelated finished pieces.
Critical Discussion & Individual Support
Each session combines practical work with discussion and feedback.
Students are encouraged to look critically at their own work and the work of others.
We consider questions such as:
- What is working?
- What is interesting?
- What could be developed?
- What does this work communicate?
- What other possibilities are there?
- Where could this idea go next?
This develops the student’s ability to express, evaluate and formulate ideas—qualities that are important when tutors assess creative portfolios.
Individual guidance is provided throughout the course, allowing projects and investigations to develop according to each student’s interests and level of experience.
Who Is the Course For?
The course is suitable for students who are:
- Preparing a portfolio for an art or design application
- Considering Foundation or degree-level study
- Developing a portfolio for a creative course
- Unsure which creative discipline they want to pursue
- Looking to strengthen their drawing
- Wanting to develop more independent ideas
- Seeking to build confidence and experience before applying to further education
Students do not need to have already decided whether they want to study Fine Art, Photography, Fashion, Product Design or another creative discipline.
The course is designed to help them explore these possibilities.
What Students Can Expect
Over 10 weeks, students will develop a body of drawings, experiments and creative investigations while learning how to take an idea further.
By the end of the course, students should have:
- Greater confidence in drawing
- Experience developing ideas from initial observations
- A broader understanding of Fine Art and Design practices
- Experience experimenting with different media and processes
- Greater awareness of their individual strengths and interests
- A developing body of portfolio work
- A clearer understanding of how to continue developing their portfolio independently
Most importantly, students will begin to understand that a portfolio is not just evidence of what they can make—it is evidence of how they think, explore and develop as an artist or designer.
Teaching Approach
The course draws on extensive experience of teaching across Foundation Studies and BFA-level programmes, with an understanding of approaches to Fine Art, painting, sculpture, time-based media, film, photography, design, fashion and product design.
The emphasis is on creating an environment where students can experiment, make mistakes, discover their strengths and gradually develop an individual direction.
The course is structured, but the outcome is individual.
