com A05 - Making a Portfolio

8/8/2019 com A05 - Making a Portfolio

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MAKI NG A

Brenda Hoddinott

A-05 GETTING STARTED: A hard-sided portfolio is indispensable for protecting yourdrawing paper and completed drawings from becoming wrinkled, damaged, or destroyed. You

can buy many types of wonderful portfolios in art supply stores. However, most tend to be veryexpensive, especially those made of leather.

This project provides step-by-step instructions for making your very own unique, creative, andinexpensive portfolio, in which you can store or transport your drawing paper and completeddrawings.

You need one large sheet or two smaller sheets of acid-free cardboard or matte board, wide tape(duct tape is great), a sharp knife, and a straight edge or long ruler (such as a T-square).

This project is recommended for artists and aspiring artists of all ages, as well ashome schooling, academic and recreational fine art educators.

6 P AGES 8 I LLUSTRATION SPublished by Hoddinott Fine Art Publishers, Halifax, NS, Canada, Revised 2005


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Copyright to all articles, images, text, projects, lessons and exercises within this drawing class belong to Brenda Hoddinott andmay not be reproduced or used for any commercial purposes whatsoever without the written permission of Brenda Hoddinott.

E-mail [email protected] Web site http://www.finearteducation.com or http://www.drawspace.com

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GATHERI NG SUPP LI ES AND GETTIN G STARTEDYou may have to go shopping for some of the following items, but others may be availablearound your home. You need:

A roll of wide tape (duct tape is great and comes in various colors)

A sharp knife (such as an inexpensive wallpaper or utility knife with snap-off blades) A straight edge or long ruler (such as a T-square) Strong string, thin rope, or fancy shoelaces (for the handles) Acid-free cardboard or matt board (usually offered in a wide selection of colors)

Acid-free cardboard or matt board is generally available at framing or art supply stores. Acid-free refers to a high-quality, long-lasting, and PH-balanced paper or board that has had the acidremoved from the pulp in the paper-making process.

Drawings can be ruined when papers and boards with acid,deteriorate and turn yellow .

1) Cut out a large, rectangular piece of matt board or cardboard.

When choosing a size, take into account that youll need to fold the cardboard in half for asmaller portfolio. In other words, the finished portfolio will be half the size of yourcardboard. For a large portfolio you may need to buy two pieces of board, one for eachside. Suggested portfolio sizes include:

16 by 20 inches for small drawings (one piece of board at least 32 by 20 inchesunfolded).

20 by 30 inches for larger drawings (one sheet of board at least 40 by 30 inches or twolarge pieces at least 20 by 30 inches each).

ILLUSTRATION 04-01

20 (or 30)inches high

32 (or 40) inches long
mailto:[email protected]://www.finearteducation.com/http://www.drawspace.com/http://www.drawspace.com/http://www.finearteducation.com/mailto:[email protected]


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CUTTIN G, SCORI NG, AND CONSTRUCTIN GIf you are working with two smaller pieces of board, rather than one large piece, skip over thenext two steps (2 and 3).

2) Use a ruler to measure the halfway points, and then draw a straight line parallel tothe shorter ends.

3) With your knife and a straight edge, cut very slightly into the board (sometimesreferred to as scoring) along the straight line.

ILLUSTRATION 04-02

20 (or 30)inches high

32 (or 40) inches long

4) Reinforce both short ends of the board with wide tape.

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When the ends aretaped, the largesheet of cardboard(or matt board) isready to be foldedalong the scored

line.If you have twosheets of boardinstead of one,simply reinforceone of the longersides of each withthe wide tape.


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ILLUSTRATION 04-04

5) Fold your board along thescored line toward the side notscored.

If you have two sheets of boardinstead of one, simply lay one ontop of the other with the tapedends up (the taped ends identifythe opening of the case).

ILLUSTRATION 04-05

6) Tape both short sides of yourportfolio together, leaving theopening along the top.

7) Reinforce the bottom edge (thelong side with the fold) withtape.

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8) Add creative handles, suchas brightly coloredshoelaces, to your portfolio.

1) To add handles, maketwo holes in the centersection of each open side.

2) Thread the ends of stringor thin rope (or anothercreative option) throughthe two holes on eachside.

3) Tie the ends of each pieceof the handle together onthe inside of each side.


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ADDING A SPI FFY DESI GNYou can add something simple such as a couple of stripes, or render a design or drawing of yourchoice. If your design is not drawn with a durable medium such as permanent markers or acrylicpaint, you need to protect it. Check out your local art supply store and pick up a can of sprayfixative designed to protect the medium you used.

ILLUSTRATION 04-07

9) Decorate your portfolio however you wish!

You are a unique and innately artistic being.Nurture your creativity!

A drawing of a butterfly personalizes theside of this portfolio case. You can probablythink of oodles of other great ideas todecorate your portfolio.

ILLUSTRATION 04-08

Dont storeyourdrawings,w ith eitherclear tape orcorrugatedcardboard,touchingthem.

Either of these itemscan discoloryourdrawings,and dopermanentdamage afteronly a fewweeks.


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BRENDA HODDINOTT - BIOGRAP HYAs a self-educated teacher, visual artist, portraitist, forensic artist, and illustrator, BrendaHoddinott utilizes diverse art media including graphite, technical pen, colored pencil, chalk pastel, charcoal, cont crayon, and oil paints.

My philosophy on teaching art is to focus primarily on theenjoyment aspects while gently introducing the technical andacademic. Hence, in creating a passion for the subject matter,

the quest for knowledge also becomes enjoyable.>Brenda Hoddinott<

Born in St. Johns, Newfoundland, Brenda grew up in the small town of Corner Brook. Shedeveloped strong technical competencies with a personal commitment to self directed learning,and the aid of assorted Learn to Draw books. During Brendas twenty-five year career as a

self-educated civilian forensic artist, numerous criminal investigation departments haveemployed Brendas skills, including Royal Canadian Mounted Police and municipal policedepartments. In 1992, Brenda was honored with a commendation from the Royal CanadianMounted Police, and in 1994, she was awarded a Certificate of Membership from ForensicArtists International.

Her home-based art career included graphic design, and teaching recreational drawing andpainting classes. As supervisor of her communitys recreational art department, Brenda hired andtrained teachers, and designed curriculum for several childrens art programs. In 1998, Brendachose to end her eighteen-year career as an art educator in order to devote more time to writing,drawing, painting, and developing her websites.

Drawspace http://www.drawspace.com incorporates her unique style and innovative approach tocurriculum development. This site offers downloadable and printable drawing classes forstudents of all abilities from the age of eight through adult. Students of all ages, levels andabilities have praised the simple step-by-step instructional approach. This site is respected as aresource for fine art educators, home schooling programs, and educational facilities throughoutthe world.

LEARN-TO-DRAW BOOKS BY BRENDA HODDINOTTDrawing for Dummies (2003): Wiley Publishing, Inc., New, York, NY, this 336 page book is available on various websites and in major bookstores internationally.

The Complete Idiots Guide to Drawing People (2004): Winner of the Alpha-PenguinBook of the Year Award 2004, Alpha - Pearson Education Macmillan, Indianapolis, IN,this 360 page book is available on various websites and in major bookstores internationally.
mailto:[email protected]://www.finearteducation.com/http://www.drawspace.com/http://www.drawspace.com/http://www.drawspace.com/http://www.drawspace.com/http://www.drawspace.com/http://www.drawspace.com/http://www.finearteducation.com/mailto:[email protected]

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