...So this is the portfolio-esque thing I used for my UCLA interview for their theater program with a concentration in costume design. My interviewer (Rich Rose, the guy who runs the whole thing!) liked that I actually had a portfolio (I mean the case). Har har har. I'm such an imposter.
I actually don't really want to know what other people think of it, so... um... don't comment unless you have a question. I don't want people to be overly mean or (worse, I think, in this case) overly nice, as people tend to be over the internet. Disclaimer: I don't like drawing, I never really learned how to draw, these are croquis and are not supposed to be realistically proportioned, I never learned how to shade, the croquis that are constantly in the same stiff forward pose are traced from my instructor's drawings (whereas the croquis that are constantly in the same stiff mid-movement poses are traced from my own drawings), (oh yeah, my instructor used to design for Burberry. She quit to design at Levi's and now has started teaching), the name of my theater company has been drawn over, I know my pajamas are childish, I did not take garment construction into consideration when I drew most of these, I swatched my fabrics after making most of the garments so they're not originals, and the writing sounds like BS but I believe it.
If after taking that into consideration, you still think it sucks... suck it up?
Above, my vaguely expensive portfolio, and my polar bear pajamas.I was so ridiculously nervous for the interview that I had to give myself a good luck charm. This is the tag on the inside cover:
And this is my hidden good luck charm, my secret hippo:
First page with artist statement that Rich Rose actually read while I sat and watched him read:
Above, the top ribbon (the multicolor one) in this picture is the back of an embroidered ribbon.
Above, paper cutouts! The girl's silhouette is traced from my instructor's worksheets. She is made of white printer paper. The dress and shoes are, I think, from the borders of an old Urban Outfitters catalog.
Above, this is a character from a play my friend wrote. She is... the Fortune Teller. Her hat is a lampshade.
Above, look at that whack-ass (ass-whack?) fabric! It's silver and, like, furry but in tinsel form. I knew it would come in handy when I saved it from the drama department's dressing room fabric purge.
Oh yeah, I drew this after the costume was put together... as might be evident.
Above, this is GuanYin, the Chinese Goddess of Mercy. She is often pictured in a lotus. (Well, according to my friend. I did none of this research myself.) (Yes, the girl who is the Fortune Teller is also GuanYin.) (That girl with the bike shorts, yellow jacket, and katana is supposed to look like Uma Thurman in Kill Bill minus pants.) (The guy is defending himself with a tin of mooncakes.) (In the upper photo, the Monkey King is standing next to GuanYin.)
Above, this one's me. I played a girl from ancient China who committed suicide for her lover but never found him in the afterlife. (I'm a spirit.) Oh, ooh! I actually made this costume! Sort of, with a lot of help from my grandma.
(Above, yeah, I had to take all the pages out of their sleeves to get rid of the glare (even without flash), which is why there's a flash on the right-hand page (which has a sleeve, whereas the left doesn't). It sucked because OMG stuffing pages that have glued-on stuff back into sleeves that just barely fit them is really hard.)
Above, I made this one, too. :) Thanks to Lincoln and Connie for photo sessions in my backyard/neighbor's broken fence.
Above, another divider page. Oh my goodness, enlarge this picture and look at her shoes. I can't believe I cut those damn things out. And she has like a cobra on her head or something. All from Urban Outfitters catalog photos and a sheet of printer paper.
Above, designs for Estelle from No Exit (which I read in junior year and had to do preliminary costume designs for as an assignment).
Above, designs for Inez from No Exit.
Above, Garcin from No Exit.
Above, the Valet from No Exit.
Above, Mustardseed and Peaseblossom from A Midsummer Night's Dream (which I read in freshman year and was the school play in sophomore year when I tech'd it).
Above, the Peaseblossom skirt, which doesn't really look like the drawing but oh well. It's my header. And it is shiny and pink!
Above, something I am proud of! My mood board for my fashion design class. Inspiration: Color Symbolism in The Great Gatsby. (It didn't fit on the little tabby paper so I cut it down to "Symbols in The Great Gatsby.") (It was a spring/summer women's collection and I called it "Zelda" after Zelda Fitzgerald.)
Above, the first part of my favorite passage in The Great Gatsby (which I probably like more than I should because I don't think it's amazing writing or anything... I am just drawn to it for some reason, not so much as literature but as a socio-cultural observation, I guess).
Above, the second part of my favorite passage in The Great Gatsby. Because Daisy is just so ridiculous here. I thought it epitomized the times. Man I love my mood board. It is so preppy looking.
Above, actually I didn't like either of these when I drew them, but my instructor said to include them in the final, so I did. To be honest, I don't know if the outfit on the right is a tunic + shorts or a dress with weird creases. (Remember! I can't draw! And I had to freehand these, not trace them. Gah, I hate you, bristol paper.)
Above, the original outfit from the left. I think I colored her shoes yellow by mistake and then tried to go over them...
Above, the crazy yellow thing! Which is definitely a tunic + shorts in this drawing, so I'm guessing that's what they're supposed to be in the final.
Above, more from the portfolio.
Above, my second drawing of the green dress because the shoes were supposed to be black.
Above, my first drawing of the green dress.
Above, hee-hee! Gawd, she has the best sunglasses ever. And her shorts are, um, bloomer-type things.
Above, I like this too much. Perhaps I just have a weakness for yogurt colors (yellow and pink).
Above, next page from portfolio.
Above, the original. (What a slut! A blazer with nothing underneath.)
Above, the original.And here are the outfits we had to draw for homework but my instructor rejected for the final:
Above, she reminds me of the chubby secretary to the prime minister in Love Actually for some reason.
Above, okay, I actually think this is pretty hideous. But the idea of her top is kind of nice.
Above, my instructor said my preliminary designs (before these) were too costume-y. I guess you can see that coming out in this dress.
Above, I honestly don't know how the thing around the bust would work but it would look cool.
Above, second mood board! I like this one too. It's a fall/winter women's collection entitled "Geeklove." The assignment was to do a denim line, which was much easier than I expected, considering some of the requirements were to have some certain number of certain garments, at least 3 washes of denim but no more than 4, and denim in every outfit. My favorite part of the mood board is the fact that the colors are in hexadecimal. Geeklove!
Above, originals.
Above, more originals. (Enlarge for geeky details and explanations.)
Above, portfolio page. I know the middle girl is extremely out of proportion but just pretend I took the picture at a really strange angle.
Above, more portfolio. Haha, I'm such an idiot. I Sharpie'd the leggings on the girl on the right because I ran out of colorless blender markers. ...Let's just say it didn't fix the problem, and don't try to shade with one color of Sharpie.
Above, the jeans on the girl on the right are actually rendered not badly, but my hand is too shaky to get a good picture so just imagine my artistic prowess.
Above, another thing I thought was rendered relatively well. Too bad it wasn't ON BRISTOL PAPER DAMN YOU BRISTOL AND PRESENTATION!
Above, last page of portfolio. That is my green circle skirt! :)And I found this in my bag of drawing stuff:
Above, what I would wear to a formal party if only I could. With shoes and a head, of course.So I really don't know if this is what got me in, or if it was the interview, or my application, or the fact that I was wearing something completely outrageous when everyone else was wearing blacks and grays and blues, or if there just were no costume applicants this year.
In any case, working on this portfolio was what kept me from giving in to senioritis until February 17, well after applications were in. So if you want to avoid senioritis, give yourself a project! One that actually counts so you care about it.
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