PRO PORTFOLIO CRITS

Mimi Simon

@Katherine I like this idea for getting feedback on the business side of things but I would be careful about taking too much stock in what agents say is good for an illustration portfolio. I've heard a lot of stuff from literary agents about illustrators flying around the web that isn't really true or helpful. They aren't artists and are not technocrats in the way that we are so they tend to approach art more emotionally which makes it much harder for them to give specific advice. Some agents might be better at it than others but my advice is to take anything you hear about art specifically with several grains of salt.

Lee White

@Mimi-Simon I'm going to push back a little bit on this advice (hope you don't mind! : ). The reasons you listed is exactly why illustrators SHOULD listen to agents. What you mentioned, emotion, is often the exact thing that is lacking from a lot of illustrators work. If you tell a good enough story and can bring in enough emotion from your viewer, all the art techniques don't actually matter that much. Most of the people who didn't make the top 16 in our contests could paint well enough, but the emotion was lacking.

You are right, agents don't care about what brush you used or how you did a certain thing in photoshop. They look at what you are actually saying with those things. And most of the time, us illustrators aren't saying enough. We are trying to impress other illustrators instead of being true to a narrative or emotion.

davidhohn

@Lee-White You raise a good point but I don't think that's what @Mimi-Simon was saying.

Mimi please jump in and let me and Lee know if I've misunderstood you.

What I would say is that literary agents (who started out with a passion for writing) often don't know how to communicate what an illustrated piece is missing or how to correct it, so they respond with personal (aka emotional) feedback. The agent offers random ideas, or suggestions that don't take into account the core of what the illustrator is trying to accomplish.

Now Lee, having said that, you are also correct. The best literary agents DO understand how to communicate with artists. AND they understand that it's the fundamental emotional core of an image that is the most important (as compared to what brush was used to make a cool glow-ey effect)

The trick, as @Mimi-Simon pointed out, is knowing which kind of agent you are talking to* And until you do, I agree, take that feedback with a grain of salt.

*You can be sure any agent SVS teams with will know how to work with an illustrator's goals and guide you in the right direction.

von_Nimmermehr

i wish a had a real portfolio to show already...i'm just so so slow in my progress.

Lee White

@davidhohn David is right here of course, any agent we get would have to be fantastic at seeing the work from an illustrators perspective. The agent we are talking to has over 20 years experience as an illustrator first, then became an agent. He has over 70 published books (some as only illustrator and some as author/illustrator). So we should be good to go - if we can get him to do it! lol! : )

Jeremy Ross

Dang @Lee-White! Now that’s an agent who can “walk the talk”! Shall we refer to this agent as a “Special Agent”?

ArtistErin

I definitely want to be in, where do we sign up? Thank you so much you guys!!!

Lee White

We are getting the final details done now, the crits should be up and avialable soon! Each teacher is only offering ONE crit per week for the first month or so as we get into the program. So be ready! Here's the instructors:

LauraA

@Lee-White So, did this happen yet? And how is the sign up handled? Is it an email, on the site? I assumed I had already missed it, because I didn't see an email or visit the forum for a few days.

I am actually hoping to get in on the second or third round, because I want time to get my portfolio more in line with my current way of illustrating, but I am very interested. Thanks!

Sarah VanDam

@LauraA I also haven’t seen it, and I’ve been checking frequently.

Lee White

@LauraA launches tomorrow!!

ArtistErin

@Lee-White Thank you for the update! Thank you guys so much Been checking every day... what a great list of pros! Looking forward to this for sure.

LauraA

@Lee-White Thank you! Is it under all classes?

Lee White

@LauraA Yep! It's in your dashboard. Just search "Power Portfolio Critique" or just "Portfolio" and it should come up. The link is in that class shell. : )

MimiHecher

@Lee-White said in PRO PORTFOLIO CRITS:

Power Portfolio Critique

Are they also available for people that are no subscribers? A friend of mine talked about needing feedback on her stuff and I wanted to tell her about the portfolio critiques you offer.

Fey Realme

@MimiHecher from what he said in his first post its only for subscribers

Lee White

@R-Fey-Realme
@MimiHecher Due to the massive amount of time the crits took, and the lack of people signing up, we have decided to shelve the portfolio crits for now... they may come back in the future at some point.