Desperately need help with my ARCH PortfolioAnswered
GUYS HELP!!! I am so lost right now, I recently decided that I want to do architecture as a major and I have the ECs, stats, essays, etc to back it up just fine but I realized that I need to submit portfolios for admissions for most schools I have on my list. I am lost on what to do about this because I am not by any means an artist at all, I have never had any art experience. I was hoping to get a portfolio done by November or December but I don't know if it is possible. I have a solid foundation in sketching but I struggle with shading and don't even get me started on painting 😭 . I also happen to be pretty bad at other mediums like photography, and sculpting, and painfully mediocre at graphic design. How can I get a portfolio done in such a short amount of time with very little skill in fine arts?? Also, for schools that don't REQUIRE a portfolio (WashU, Princeton, etc), would it hurt to not submit one at all for a creative major if I don't have strong pieces? and would it hurt to only submit 1-3 medium-strength pieces instead of nothing if the school doesn't have a minimum number of pieces needed?
No one can put together a compelling Architecture school portfolio in a couple of months without any prior experience in the arts. That's like saying you are going to be CS major and are bad at math and don't know how to program in any language. I think you will be a better architect if you developed some requisite skill sets and experience during your undergrad career and apply for grad school.
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practice drawing buildings a little bit every day (30 mins-2 hrs, depending on what you have time for). sketching should be a good start, then you can always go over it with fineliner for linework and erase anything you don't want to clean it up. that should give you a solid foundation, and you can mix and match pieces from buildings you're familiar with to make original designs
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I have a strong background in creative thinking and I am very interested in design and urban planning in general. That culmination, along with the interest I have in "studio culture" led to me choosing this major. My ECs are heavily based on CAD systems and commercial/social media graphic design. Yes, they are designs, but they are not designs that can be effectively included in my portfolio. Mostly, arch portfolios are based on fine arts which I have very little experience with.