Additional Reading / Chapter six
Building an illustration portfolio
who are you?
seeing is believing
“What is illustration?”
Is no longer a straightforward answer. Not unlike asking what is art? It depends. And depending on an individual’s perspective and context the answers can vary greatly. Changes brought about through cultural and technological adaptation have evolved illustration into a something different, and something more. A better question might be, “What is to you?”
A portfolio can be a temporary destination and goal to take measure of your place in the world. But it’s not a plateau. Better to think of it as a map of the road you are traveling. Or something to document your journey. Postcards of where you have been, and brochures suggesting where you are headed next.
one step at a time
Talking about the business side of illustration can be overwhelming for artists, but it’s easier if you take it one step at a time, as opportunity presents itself, or in bite sized chunks. Whatever metaphor floats your boat, it’ll be less complicated to focus on a single goal as a starting point. For example, ever since I was a kid I wanted to do artwork for Dungeons & Dragons. However, at the time I graduated D&D was not doing well. But there was another game that had become popular which was Magic the Gathering.
So after I graduated I focused on building a portfolio of about a half dozen portfolio images with fantasy themes relative to what was on Magic Cards. Then I sent printed promos of a few of the images and a link to my website to the submissions department. I also found some individual editors names through awards annuals and sent them promos too. And they called me back and I got to do some cards. I’ve done this throughout my career, when I wanted to get into editorial illustration I did a half dozen editorial illustrations and added that as a section of my portfolio. Then I wanted to do corporate, so I did some corporate images. And so on.
This targeted approach can be effective because of the specificity and the relatively limited costs in creating and promoting work this way. The targets and the way to promote today may be different, but the strategy is just as sound. If I was to approach Wizards of the Coast nowadays I would probably redo some of my cards like “Rockslide” in my current style.
show and tell
Start Strong, End Stronger - Begin and end your portfolio with your strongest work, first to engage the audience and later to leave a lasting impression.
Pace Your Book - Like any book you want your portfolio to have an interesting story arc and keep the audience reading.
Tell Your Side Of The Story - It’s show and tell. Include snippets of conversation and exposition so the audience can get to know you, but not too much!
Show Enthusiasm - If you are not excited for your work, who will be. Be your best cheerleader. Fake it until you make it.
A Living Document - A portfolio is a journey not a plateau, it is a snapshot of a moment in time. But time keeps moving forward, and so should your work.
Keep Up To Date - A portfolio is a make work project. If you don’t have new work to show, make up work for yourself. Idle hands are the devil’s playground – so get playing.
Easy To Maintain - Use a platform that is easy to use. Don’t give procrastination any openings.
No Filler - Put only work that you want to do, otherwise guaranteed you’ll draw a bad card. And only put in work that you are happy with. Your work is judged by the weakest link.
A Portfolio Should Draw You In - The goal of a portfolio is to engage an audience. Each showing should be curated for the intended audience.
A Few Case Studies
Eager Beaver
As her name suggests, Eager Beaver’s true talent is the effort she puts into everything she does. Eager Beaver likes to get things done. She isn’t afraid of asking questions, jumping in the deep end, or getting her hands dirty. Eager Beaver can be relied on to show up, and others notice and appreciate that about her.
That doesn’t mean Eager Beaver is perfect, eagerness sometimes gets her in trouble. And it is hard work. She has to practice at it like any other skill. Also it doesn’t pay off every time, she has had to learn some patience, and a bit of a thick skin. They say there are no wrong questions, but some can be embarrassing!
Still she keeps on showing up and putting in the effort, and it gets her where she needs to be.
Wanna Bee
Ambition has a bad reputation, but like anything it depends on how far you take it. Wannabee wants to get somewhere, and he wants to go as far as he can go. But he’s learned the hard way that he has limits. Still, he keeps trying to stretch those limits.
In his mind he also wants to get there fast, which isn’t a bad thing theoretically. He doesn’t want to miss out, or miss his chance. But he tries to strike a balance, and to have patience. It’s good to be ambitious and build momentum, but also the Wannabee wants to enjoy the race and keep it real.
Know It Owl
Know It Owl loves information. Loves looking for it and finding it. Loves organizing, arranging it, and sharing information. And in the right situations that love of information is an incredible tool. In art school Know It Owl excelled because of their ability and interest in research and knowledge. It made the foundations of their work deeper, and the fundamentals stronger.
But as with everything it is a double edged sword. Sometimes knowing too much can hold the Know It Owl back and be a little to comfortable in what they know.
Then again, what do they know!
Bear Minimum
To be honest, Bear had went to art school because she was not sure where else she should go. She liked to make art, more than doing math that was for sure! Bear hoped that at art school she would find a direction, or at least wander a little less. Her parents certainly hoped that would happen!
After four years she had mostly discovered what she did not want to do – not specifically what she should be doing. Her teacher said this was a good thing, she was young and had time to find herself. School had given Bear some maps to follow. And that was the joy of a creative life – the journey and discovery.
Bear figured it would lead somewhere, it had gotten her this far.
A Living Document
A portfolio should be forever evolving. Changing as our inner self grows through experience, experimentation, and practice. Or adapting to the world on the outside as technology and popular culture inexorably transforms it.
It doesn’t have to be big changes. It can be a natural and organic process and done at whatever pace we can keep up with. We can fear change but it’s only a big problem if it is sudden or unexpected. Having a portfolio that is a living, growing document will give our art purpose and forward momentum, and put us in a better position to absorb any future shocks.
Update regularly and set a schedule of when you will add new work to your portfolio. Better yet, make it a part of your social media lifestyle, and as your own story grows, your work can take on a life of its own as well.
Ease of Use
Even when we embrace change it can be difficult to maintain if it is even the slightest bit inconvenient. Find a medium that is as easy as possible to use, update, and maintain.
Keep your file size as small as possible, I like the largest side of any image to be about 1920 pixels. I think a MacBook is about 2560 pixels wide maximum.
Adobe Portfolio and Behance are part of your Adobe software package and are professional looking and relatively easy to use. A dedicate professional Instagram account is effective in presenting work and super easy to use regularly – addictive even.
Focus on the Work
A portfolio is a curated selection of work, a gallery exhibition in virtual space.
Choose a platform and design your portfolio so that the work is center stage. Choose a design that is unobtrusive and lightly frames and organizes your content, don’t let it upstage it!
Try to showcase a bare minimum of a 12-16 images. A bit more is better to give a healthy sampling of your work. But no filler! Try not to fill your portfolio with work that is not up to your standards. Or shows work you’re not particularly interested in doing. Also try to show the range of your work and be wary of too much repetition.
Pace the work, one system that is recommended is a post and rail method. Put the strongest works at regular intervals like the posts in a fence. To strengthen and support the rest of the work. Start your portfolio with your strongest image. And end strong too.
Tell a Story
A portfolio can have a unique personality, an attitude even. It should be interesting in some way, perhaps exciting, thought provoking, beautiful, informative, or fun. It shouldn’t be taken for granted or just thrown together if we can help it.
Consider what story your work is telling about you, and what experience you are presenting with your portfolio. Organize your work like chapters in a story – your story. You can arrange them in categories based on themes. That way you will clearly introduce what you are interested in doing, and others can more easily find what they might be interested in from your work.
Your first portfolio can start as a short, improvised story. Telling the story of where you are now, and suggest where you might be headed. And as that story is written over time , pages and chapters can be added to fill out the narrative.
Sooner, is better, than Later
It seems like the human condition, especially an artist’s condition, is that we are forever in pursuit of perfection – or running from imperfection. We perpetually feel like we are not ready, or our work is not where we want it to be.
Here is a little industry secret … you will never be ready, and your work will never be where you want it to be! We humans are purpose built to never be satisfied, as though it is hard wired to keep us on our toes, and forever striving for more. So start showing your portfolio right now, there is never going to be a better time – certainly not a perfect time.
It’s also good practice. Portfolio building is like any other skill, it needs iterative practice to get good at.
Humble Pie
Numerous poems, films, songs have been written about artists and their craft. How many have been written about plumbers or accountants? However, the reality and life of a designer may be more closely recognizable to that of the plumber or an accountant. As we likewise offer a service and a product just like those more mundane pursuits.
Art has been so heavily romanticized and idealized that it can be detrimental to the creative health, and pocketbook of an artist.
Every business professional follows similar processes, including artists. Study business. Read books on it, check out some tutorials, watch videos, take courses, or observe and consider how your favorite businesses work and succeed.
Just Business
An illustrator or designer in Canada is viewed as a sole proprietorship. This is an automatic designation once you start receiving payment for work performed or products sold. My dad ran a business when I was a kid. He sold, installed, and repaired overhead doors. I run my business exactly the same as he did. I sell, create, and license artwork.
Like my dad, this is the way I do business:
- I network and market my work.
- I quote jobs that come my way.
- I contract to do work.
- I perform a service and/or provide a product.
- I charge based on usage, not only by the hour.
- I invoice the client and do the bookkeeping.
- I make sure I get paid.
- I deduct the expenses from what I pay in taxes.
- Repeat.
Getting to Know You
A portfolio is not only about the images, illustration is a service industry so it is about the person making the art too. Your art tells quite a bit about you. What you are interested in, your creative range, your attention to detail, what you value, and such. This helps others decide if they want to work with you, but there is still a question of trust, I want your work, but do I want to work with you? Trust can be built by showing your process for some projects. Choose some case studies to show your creative process and how you think and iterate creatively.
Finally, don’t forget to include the basics, an about page with contact information. Also consider adding a personal statement, share something about yourself that tells something about your person (not something personal).