Hi everyone,
I work as children's book illustrator full time for about two years now. But honestly, most of the books I've done are very poorly executed... I was making all the possible mistakes.
I wasn't sticking up to my style and I was trying to please the author by adjusting everything, even though I was thinking it's wrong. I've completely ignored the perspective, the characters looked different on every page, the composition was wrong and I was using the digital tools badly. And of course - I was a beginner, so my "style" was just terrible in general. Now I think I am finally finding my way through the craft, but I also have all these bad stuff behind me. The books with my name on it.... So here's the question. Should I keep my name and try to find work with my bad background as an illustrator, or should I try to have a completely fresh start with only new portfolio, which also means new name, because everyone can google my previous work now with my current name.
(And I hope I'm expressing myself somehow comprehensively. I'm not a native english speaker and I was always struggling with it a little bit. So please excuse the mistakes... 
Thank you!
Change the name?
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Hi everyone,
I work as children's book illustrator full time for about two years now. But honestly, most of the books I've done are very poorly executed... I was making all the possible mistakes.
I wasn't sticking up to my style and I was trying to please the author by adjusting everything, even though I was thinking it's wrong. I've completely ignored the perspective, the characters looked different on every page, the composition was wrong and I was using the digital tools badly. And of course - I was a beginner, so my "style" was just terrible in general. Now I think I am finally finding my way through the craft, but I also have all these bad stuff behind me. The books with my name on it.... So here's the question. Should I keep my name and try to find work with my bad background as an illustrator, or should I try to have a completely fresh start with only new portfolio, which also means new name, because everyone can google my previous work now with my current name.
(And I hope I'm expressing myself somehow comprehensively. I'm not a native english speaker and I was always struggling with it a little bit. So please excuse the mistakes... Thank you! -
I'm not in the children's books business, so I can't tell you what publishers emphasise when looking at a portfolio. But I am in the graphic design business, and when the big companies hire, they only want to see your best work. So make sure that the pieces you are most proud of gets the best spots. I also think it's nice to show progress and diversity - I wouldn't be ashamed of previous work if I were you. We all develop, and as long as your most recent work is featured on your site, they will see what you can do
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Sometimes I feel really silly to step into this business so early. I am also glad someone did hire me back then - where I am now is because of them...I just really really want to do a higher level now and I'm afraid this will not be possible with the package of my old amateurish art.
Thank you for your comment. I sure will think about what you've said. You've got a point there - with the recent work featured on the site and the progress and diversity.
I still will not show some of the worst old work in my portfolio though
As they say - a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.