Help! Would love advice on best things to add to portfolio (or edit, or remove!)
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@lpetiti hello! Thanks so much for your response - and yes, this makes sense. I do see that there’s a number of different styles in there; I’ll edit things down a bit, or possibly add a few sections if I end up with more scientific illustrations. Thank you
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@Mimi-Simon hello! Thanks so much for taking the time to respond to my post! I completely agree about the composition and storytelling and can see a way forward to address these (new pieces!), but I’m not quite sure what you mean by draftsmanship - would you mind clarifying? Also, I love your website - can I ask what platform you use? Thanks again
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@kayleenartlover hello! Thank you so much! It seems like the consensus (which is super helpful) is that I need more interactions, more emotion, more complex compositions. I see this is true. Once I’ve addressed this, I may look into one of the pro portfolio reviews down the road, but I except for now they’ll point out this same major flaw as you all have, so I’ll focus on making things a bit more interesting and emotive first. Thanks for your input; I appreciate it!
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@Robyn-Hepburn hello! Thank you so much - this seems to be the consensus and it’s super helpful that you’ve weighed in. I think I get really exciting about rendering and forget to make things look alive or interesting. I do see what you mean, though, and I think courses - or drawing people from life - are both good paths forwards. Thank you!
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@tom-barrett thank you for this detailed response! I’ll take a look at this video, and will make some of the edits you’ve suggested. Good path forward, hopefully away from the uncanny valley! Thanks for your input!
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@allysa You'll do great!
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@tom-barrett thanks again for this response; watched the video you suggested. Hard not to be precious in terms of taking things down, but do you have thoughts on the weakest/strongest pieces - anything you would scrap immediately, or definitely keep? Thanks again!
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@NessIllustration thanks for this! Yes, the website is a bit clunky (and I definitely agree with your other points as well). Your website is lovely - can I ask what platform you use? I think I need to move away from Weebly…
Thanks again!
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@allysa It's on Wix! But previously I had my website on Adobe Portfolio (which is free with the Creative Cloud) and I was really impressed both by how easy it was to build and how smooth the navigation was
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@allysa As I said previously, what to take down will depend a lot on what area of illustration you choose to focus on. My best advice without going thru a list of what to keep and what to remove (a very subjective choice) would be to take a very close look at your portfolio and decide which pieces will best put you in a position to get the work you truly love doing. Which pieces are you drawn to? Which piece(s) would you choose to put on a postcard to art directors? If it is editorial, showcase those on the homepage; if it is storytelling—whether for children or teens—showcase those. Then put the rest under category links in the top menu if you still want to keep those on your site.
I do have my ideas for what I believe should be there, but without knowing your preferred career direction, telling you those would be a moot point.
