More portfoliio possibilities?

[MOO]

I am putting a portfolio together for Sept. 16th. Here are some pencil drawings I did several years ago in a class. Are there any of these that would work? Thanks. I would probably need to rescan or photograph them better. The perspective is off on the studio with cat but, it does show skill in pencil work, I feel.

and charcola

[MissMarck]

Hi Marsha! These drawings definitely show off your technical skill with charcoal and pencil! What event is your portfolio for?

[MOO]

I'm going to an SCBWI Illustrators Day in SF on Sept. 16th. I guess I don't really HAVE to have a portfolio but, I decided to at least put a small one with 10 pictures. I just watched the portfolio Perfection video with a list of 100 things to include I'm sure I won't have them all but, I thought I'd try to get some variety. I'm not trying to build a career because my husband is about to retire but, I want to be good at what I do. In other words, I'm not looking for jobs, I just want to do my own books so I probably don't even need one but......who knows....

[TessaW]

I think to get the most out of your portfolio review, you want a portfolio that reflects the children's market, since that is what SCBWI is all about. I don't feel these pieces reflect that. To me these look like studies and not illustrations for the children's market. If you were getting a portfolio review from an art instructor on how you can improve your skills, then I think these would be appropriate. With a SCBWI reviewer in mind, I would really choose pieces in the style, medium, and subject matter that you want to create children's illustrations in. If you want to do children's illustrations in a realistic style, in graphite, then I would do some drawings in that style, with subject matter more suited to children's illustration and show those.

So my question would be- what do you want to get out of this portfolio review? Do you want validation- meaning, are you hoping they say you are a good artist, with lots of skills? Do you want them to give their opinion on which style they like best of yours? Do you want to know which areas you can improve?

Again, I'd encourage you to choose pieces for your review that show the subjects, styles, and mediums you are really into doing as far as children's illustrations go, and I'd include more than one example of that style and medium. I know you want to show variety, but for a portfolio, sometimes the variety is just in the subject matter itself and not necessarily in the style or medium.

[MissMarck]

I agree with @TessW : these are lovely pieces, and definitely show skill with the tools, so that's good! But like Tess said, I think you need to ask yourself what you'd like to do. If you want to do illustrations in this style, that's cool! But still-life studies aren't children's book material, so I think you need to take these skills and add in some story telling elements to make them portfolio-appropriate!

[MOO]

@missmarck Yes. I see what you mean. I don't really have time to do something new before the 16th so I was just pulling from what I had but, if it isn't what I want to do for a children's book, you're right, I should leave it out. I think I'm just freaking ou ta bit too much and need to relax and finish my dummy and not worry about the rest right now. I have enough to put something together for now.

[MOO]

@tessw You're right. I can include pencil drawings that reflect children's literature later, after I've doen some Thanks.