Presentation: Digital Art Portfolio Curation

Slide 1 of 7 · Settling starter · Art · Year 11

4 minutes

Digital art portfolio curation: 12 pieces in, 5 pieces out

You have a worksheet listing a Year 11 body of work on the theme Journeys: 12 pieces, described in Part A. Today you choose 5 of them for an online portfolio, put them in order, write a counted rationale for each, write a portfolio statement, and plan how the files will be exported, named and credited.

While the register is called: write your name, class and date on your worksheet, then read all 12 pieces in Part A. Do not mark anything in or out yet.

Starter question: Which 2 pieces do the same job as each other?

DCF: Producing → Sourcing, searching and planning digital content No computers needed · the artwork and the pupil are invented

Supply teacher script (no subject knowledge needed)

Hand out: one worksheet per pupil. The whole lesson is on paper: the 12 pieces are described in Part A, so no computers are needed and nobody has to find any artwork. The pupil, the artwork and the file name on the worked example are all invented.

Say aloud: “Name, class and date at the top. While I take the register, read all 12 pieces in Part A. Do not tick anything yet. Look for pairs of pieces that do the same job as each other.”

Starter answer: the clearest pairs are pieces 1 and 7 (both prove observational drawing), pieces 3 and 12 (two big paintings saying the same thing) and pieces 5 and 10 (piece 10 overlaps piece 5 and is less resolved). Any of these 3 pairs is a good answer.

Slide 2 of 7 · Today’s brief and key words · Art · Year 11

3 minutes

Your brief: choose, order, justify, then plan the files

A portfolio with 12 pieces says “here is everything I made”. One with 5 says “here is what I decided”. You will keep exactly 5 pieces with a reason for every rejection (Part A), write 40 to 60 counted words under each (Part B), write a statement of 60 words or fewer (Part C), and fill in the export, naming and credits plan (Part D).

Curation

Choosing which work to show and in what order, so the pieces build an argument instead of a pile.

Rationale

Why this piece earned its slot: what it proves, develops or answers. It is not a description of what it is made of.

Master file

The original full-quality file you keep safe and never edit for the web; exports are made from it.

DCF: Producing → Sourcing, searching and planning digital content Count every rationale: an uncounted rationale does not score

Slide 3 of 7 · Part A: keep 5, reject 7 · Art · Year 11

10 minutes

Part A on your worksheet: keep exactly 5, give every rejection a reason

Work alone. Write In or Out beside each of the 12 pieces and a reason for every one, including pieces you like. Then answer the question under the table: which 2 rejections were pieces you are proud of, and what would have had to change?

No.	The piece	In or out?	Reason
1	Charcoal study of the concourse at Cardiff Central, A2	Out	Does the same job as piece 7, proving observational drawing, and the smudged fixative means it photographs badly.

Copy row 1 as a model. Your own choices for the other 11 may differ, as long as every reason is about the portfolio’s argument and not just “I like it”.

Part A on your worksheet · 10 minutes, alone Exactly 5 in, 7 out, a reason beside every number

Supply teacher script (no subject knowledge needed)

Say aloud: “Row 1 is on the board as a model: copy it. Now decide the other 11. Exactly 5 stay in. Every Out needs a reason, even the ones you love. When you have 5, answer the question under the table.”

Quick check: the worked example keeps 2, 5, 7, 11 and 12 and rejects 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9 and 10. Reasons for the rejections: 3 says the same thing as 12; 4 has the registration off on 4 of the 5 prints; 6 is unfinished; 8 is photographed in flat grey light and is not about journeys as a theme; 9 is beautiful but has nothing to do with journeys; 10 overlaps 5 and is less resolved. Pupils may choose differently; what you are checking is that there are exactly 5 In and that no reason is only about liking the piece.

Walk the room: the 2 proud rejections in the worked example are the Severn Bridge acrylic (3) and the cyanotype (9). The acrylic would have earned a slot if it had been made before the final piece and solved a different problem; the cyanotype would have earned one if the theme had been journeys on foot.

Slide 4 of 7 · Part B: the 5 slots and their rationales · Art · Year 11

18 minutes

Part B on your worksheet: order your 5, then write 40 to 60 words for each

Decide the order first: slot 1 is what most viewers see and nothing else. Then write a rationale of 40 to 60 words for each slot and write the word count in the box. Finish with the question under the table: why is slot 1 first, and what does a viewer who only sees slot 1 take away?

Slot	Piece	Rationale	Words
1	12	This is where the project landed, so it leads. Twenty hours of acrylic and collage on board, 60 by 80 centimetres, built from my own platform photographs rather than found images. I chose it first because the layered timetable fragments answer the question the whole project asked: what does waiting look like?	52

Test each rationale: cross out everything a viewer could see for themselves. Something must be left.

Part B on your worksheet · 18 minutes, about 3 minutes a slot Count the words and write the number in the box

Supply teacher script (no subject knowledge needed)

Say aloud: “Slot 1 is on the board as a model of the length and the kind of sentence: 52 words, medium and scale in a few words, then why it earned the slot. Do not copy the words if piece 12 is not your slot 1; copy the shape. About 3 minutes a slot. Count every one and write the number in the box.”

Quick check: the worked example order is slot 1 piece 12 (52 words), slot 2 piece 11, the photographic series (53 words), slot 3 piece 2, the biro thumbnails (48 words), slot 4 piece 7, the pencil drawings (54 words), slot 5 piece 5, the photomontage (51 words). Why slot 1 is first: most people looking at an online portfolio see the first image and nothing else, so the strongest, most resolved piece leads; a viewer who sees only slot 1 should come away with the theme, the scale of commitment and the fact that the source material is the pupil’s own.

Walk the room: if a rationale reads like a caption (“an A3 watercolour of Barry Island”), ask “What does this piece prove that the others do not?” If a count is missing, do not accept the rationale until it is counted. Anything over 60 words needs cutting, not defending.

Slide 5 of 7 · Parts C and D: statement, then the export plan · Art · Year 11

10 minutes

Part C & Part D: the portfolio statement, then export, naming and credits

Part C (5 min): a statement of 60 words or fewer saying what the work is about, where the source material came from, and why the pieces are in this order. Write the count. Part D (5 min): fill all 6 rows of the plan.

Plan row	Model answer
File naming pattern, with one real example	surname-firstname_journeys_SLOT_short-title_medium_YYYY-MM, for example jones-catrin_journeys_01_waiting-room_acrylic-collage_2026-05.jpg. Slot number inside the name, so files sort into portfolio order.

Remember: a lossy format (JPEG) throws detail away every time it is re-saved, so the master must stay lossless and separate.

Parts C and D on your worksheet · 10 minutes Format, pixel size, where masters live, alt text, and permissions

Supply teacher script (no subject knowledge needed)

Say aloud: “Five minutes for the statement: 60 words or fewer, it must say what the work is about, where the source material came from, and why this order. Count it. Then 5 minutes for Part D. Row 1 is on the board; copy the pattern and write your own example. Fill all 6 rows.”

Quick check, Part D: Format: JPEG at quality 85 for the exported images because they need to load on a phone; masters stay as TIFF or PNG, which are lossless, so re-editing does not degrade them. Pixel size: 2000 pixels on the long edge, sRGB; the camera gives 6000, which is roughly 9 times the file size for no visible gain on screen. Where masters live: 2 separate folders, journeys/masters/ and journeys/web-export/; nothing is ever edited in the export folder. Alt text for slot 1: a full sentence describing what is in the picture, for example “Mixed-media painting, 60 by 80 centimetres: a station platform in acrylic, with torn strips of printed bus and train timetables collaged across the lower half, and a single figure waiting at the right-hand edge.” Source material not theirs: the family photograph in piece 5 (grandmother’s written permission by email, saved in the masters folder) and the scanned timetables (owner unknown, so only small torn fragments used, credited as “fragments of printed timetables, 2026”).

Quick check, Part C: the model statement is exactly 60 words, names the theme (waiting rather than travelling), the source (photographs the pupil took on the Valley Lines between Pontypridd and Cardiff) and the order (final work first, then the research and drawing behind it, then the experiment to follow next). Accept any statement that does all 3 jobs within 60 counted words.

Slide 6 of 7 · Self and partner check · Art · Year 11

3 minutes

Swap with your partner and check against the success criteria

Count 2 of your partner’s rationales yourself and check the numbers match. Tell them which rationale is really just a description. Swap back and fix 1 thing.

I keep exactly 5 pieces and give every rejection a reason, including for work I like.
Each rationale says why the piece earned its slot, what it proves, develops or answers, rather than describing what it is.
Every rationale is between 40 and 60 words and I have counted it.
My order is deliberate and I can say what a viewer takes from the first piece alone.
My plan names the file format, the pixel size, where masters are kept, alt text, and the permission or licence covering anything I did not make myself.

3 minutes · partner check Finished early? Cut the portfolio to 3. Which 2 go, and what does it now fail to prove?

Supply teacher script (no subject knowledge needed)

Say aloud: “Swap worksheets. Count 2 of your partner’s rationales yourself and check their number is right. Tick the criteria they have met. Write ‘description’ beside any rationale that only says what the piece is made of. Swap back and fix 1 thing.”

Extension answers: cutting to 3 from the model set would usually drop pieces 7 and 2 (or 7 and 5); the portfolio then fails to prove observational drawing from life, or loses the evidence of a decision being made. The gallery-label version of slot 1 is title, artist, date, medium, dimensions, then 2 or 3 sentences; it is written for a visitor, while the rationale is written for an examiner or a viewer judging the choices. A 25-word statement keeps only the theme and the source, for example that Journeys is about waiting, built from the pupil’s own photographs on the Valley Lines.

Slide 7 of 7 · Plenary review · Art · Year 11

2 minutes

Round the room, then quick-check answers before handing in

Everyone names 1 piece they rejected and the reason in under 10 words, no repeats. Then check these answers.

Question	Correct answer
What is the difference between a rationale and a description?	A description says what the piece is made of; a rationale says why it earned its slot: what it proves, develops or answers.
Why keep the master files separate from the exported JPEGs?	JPEG is lossy: every re-save loses detail. Masters stay lossless (TIFF or PNG) so the export can always be rebuilt.
Why export at 2000 pixels on the long edge and not the camera’s 6000?	6000 is roughly 9 times the file size for no visible gain on screen, and a 12 MB image that never loads is a portfolio nobody sees.

Check your name, class and every word count are on your worksheet Worksheets in · the rationales are what the class teacher will mark