Visual Arts Centre

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FAQs for Art Portfolio Preparation – DSA, Diploma & Higher Education

Acrylic still life painting

Portfolio Preparation with Foundation Art Training at Visual Arts Centre

Visual Arts Centre has trained and supported many students in their admission into art and design schools with the Portfolio Preparation Course (DSA) and Portfolio Preparation Course (Diploma & Higher Education). During the one year of intensive Art Portfolio Preparation Course, students undergo professional art training and develop professional art skills and techniques useful for their educational and professional endeavours. At the same time, students complete a full art portfolio as required for Direct School Admission – DSA-MOE / DSA-SOTA, which demonstrates the student’s artistic abilities and creativity. 

An art portfolio consists of a series of artworks done by a student over a period of time and is usually presented during the art school admission process. Many art schools have clear instructions and requirements for the art portfolio, such as a set number of artworks and the style or subject of the works presented. 

Visual Arts Centre has years of experience in helping students gain admission into art schools through DSA, and to art schools and universities locally and overseas. The Portfolio Preparation for DSA one year course prepares and coaches students in P5 to help them to get into their dream schools through the DSA-MOE or DSA-SOTA admission exercise. Those seeking a Diploma or Bachelor /Masters Degree in Fine Arts may enrol for the Portfolio Preparation for Diploma and Higher Education. 

Many students have been successfully admitted to SOTA, NAFA, LASALLE and overseas universities through our Portfolio Preparation course and have received a strong art foundation and training which benefit them for life.  

Find out more and embark on your art portfolio preparation journey today!

Visual Arts Centre DSA Course Process

10 Frequently Asked Questions

1. Which students are suitable to join us in this Foundation Art Training (DSA)?

  • Students who have a strong interest in arts and have been undergoing art classes will be suitable to join us for the year of Art training. As for your artwork to reach a level of maturity you will need a year or more of art training depending on the individual students’ art learning progression. Hence younger students (below 11 years old) will be encouraged to take at least a year or more years of art learning.

2. Will it be compulsory for me to attend the Creative Portfolio Private Sessions?

  • The Creative Portfolio Private Sessions will be recommended for students who require further guidance in their creative thought process and direction in preparation for the art portfolio. During the session, our teachers from Visual Arts Centre provide additional tips and professional guidance, especially for students who need clarification on the process of submission and interview section. 

3. What is the Age Requirement to attend the Foundation Art Training Portfolio Course?

  • Children ages 9 and above are suitable to join the course with at least 2 – 3 years of art training will be recommended for the student to reach a certain level of readiness in producing good artwork when creating a portfolio.
  • P5 students keen on joining us for the Foundation Art Training will be advised accordingly depending on the timeline and art maturity attained at the point of registration at Visual Arts Centre.

4. How many artworks will I be able to produce during the sessions?

  • Students will be able to produce 10 – 15 artworks in various mediums such as Drawing & Sketching, Watercolour Painting and Acrylic Painting. Depending on individual learners, students will be looking to complete an art piece by the 3rd session from the first session they started the art piece. During the art training, our students will hone different art techniques and skills in various mediums which helps our students to create a strong portfolio with artworks that showcase his/her versatility in the pieces they embarked on. 

5. Will I be advised to take up the Foundation Art Training for 1 year if I have some artwork and art learning?

  • Should there be a constraint on the timeline for the submission, you may arrange to take up the package that best fits you whereby we would suggest that you take up either our half-year (24 sessions) or less (12 sessions) Art Immersion Course which you are looking to refine and hone specific art skills during the short span of time. After which, you may consider joining our Creative Portfolio Private Class which allows you to have a consultation with our teachers on your existing works.

6. What kind of medium will be required to learn to acquire a basic level of art, and why? 

Drawing and sketching takes much practice and patience. When you sketch, you have to concentrate and focus on your work to produce the best outcome. This is especially so, when you are working on a life drawing and sketching piece. When sketching from life, you want to capture all the details of the object and the form in one sitting. Hence, while learning drawing and sketching, you will find yourself being able to focus and work on tasks for longer periods of time – therefore, allowing you to exercise your basic art skills at the same time.

7. How can we select the best artwork as portfolio submission?

  • You may opt in for an additional one-to-one private class with any of our professional teachers, who will be able to review all your works and provide suggestions on the works that will stand a better advantage for your portfolio submission.
  • In general, we recommend that the portfolio submission should showcase your strength in different areas and a strong grasp of various mediums (acrylic painting, drawing and sketching, watercolour, oil painting, pastel, etc.). It will also be advantageous if you can opt to show how you use the different mediums to work on differing subject matters (landscape paintings, collage, sculpturing,  portraiture, etc.).

8. What kind of medium will be required to learn to acquire a basic level of art, and why? 

Drawing and sketching takes much practice and patience. When you sketch, you have to concentrate and focus on your work to produce the best outcome. This is especially so, when you are working on a life drawing and sketching piece. When sketching from life, you want to capture all the details of the object and the form in one sitting. Hence, while learning drawing and sketching, you will find yourself being able to focus and work on tasks for longer periods of time – therefore, allowing you to exercise your basic art skills at the same time.

9. How many observational works and creative works are required to be included in the portfolio submission?

  • There is no definitive number of observational or creative works required to form the portfolio submission as it is largely dependent on the requirements of your desired art school and course. Hence, we recommend that you check out what is required of the school and course before setting a realistic portfolio aim that we can work with you towards.
  • Nevertheless, we recommend to have a balanced portfolio submission that should include similar number of observational and creative works to enable the school and course selection committee’s understanding on your overall art proficiency level.

10. What can I look forward to achieving at the end of the 48 sessions?

Following the end of the 48 sessions we us, you can expect to have at least grasp a basic understanding of the various mediums you have been exposed to throughout the sessions. How different techniques can be applied to a certain specific medium will also be shared to enable an exploratory process of how the artwork can be further enhanced.

Click here to find out more about our 24 sessions art immersion course!

For more information, feel free to contact us at 6255 0711 / 6733 2155, or email us at info@visualartscentre.sg.

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