Portfolio review, zero to hero! Update: working on Portfolio, sharing progress
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@Jordi-Ventura hi! I’d have to agree a lot with @NessIllustration Most educational publishers nowadays turn to illustration agents when looking for illustrators. My first 2 books with my agent were educational books for kids. And yes, they were very restrictive and pay quite low. Are you really set in only illustrating educational books or are you open to trade books too?
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@Jordi-Ventura also, if you’re looking for a coach/teacher, you can approach pro illustrators and ask them if they offer mentoships. Sometimes they’d take you on for a fee. Or you can continue posting here. Sometimes Lee, Will and David poke their heads in here and offer some useful advice. Most of the time you’ll have us. I think our combined experience and gut feel make up for a well-rounded pro illustrator.
feel free to ask us more questions. We’re happy to help. -
@Jordi-Ventura I know that illustrator Stephanie Fizer Coleman offers some classes and advices, so she might be doing individual portfolio reviews/mentorship as well. Here's the website if you want to take a look https://www.learnwithsfc.com/ . But I also agree that people here are super helpful
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@Nyrryl-Cadiz @NessIllustration @TamaraDomuzin thanks for all the feedback!
Im going to use this post to show my portfolio progression. So anyone is wellcome here to share their opinion and feedback!
I started working on fairy tale as Nyrryl told me, I choose cinderella. Probably I will do more fairy tales was funny but challenging.
I share here what I did also If you can help me to choose what version of the 3rd images work on I will appreciate it. Thanks for all the help awesome forum!
1 - This for me is 100% finished
2 - This one still need a little bit of work, but Im quite lazy to finish it
3- Here I dont know what image will work better, if you can tell me what version do you like more i will appreciate it!
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@Jordi-Ventura Looking awesome! You’re so fast! As for the third illustration, I prefer 1. That blue background compliments nicely with the yellow carriage.
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@Jordi-Ventura This is amazing!! I really like version 1
Is the cat in illustration 2 the same as in the last illustration? If it is, the cat looks inconsistent and not "on model" so be careful with that! Make sure we can recognize the characters from one illustration to the next. I do like that you did include the cat as it adds a little "story inside the story" feel to the illustration. You could include the cat in the first illustration as well so it's a constant presence accross all 3 illustrations, and have the cat do a secondary action in the scene (like hide behind Cinderella, scratch at the step-sister's dress, etc).
I think it's interesting that you took a spot illustration approach for these. But since all 3 are spots it makes me wonder, do you plan to have full bleed illustrations in there as well? It's important to have a variety
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@Jordi-Ventura I think the 1 is better because the blue background makes everything pop more. In the 2nd one you can see her hands a bit lost in the green. If you put a black layer on top of everything and turn it into Color mode you can tell which values are right between colors so you can avoid that overlapping (if you want to). Keep in mind that if they are complementary colors they will make a contrast even though the values are the same.
And from the other ones I really like the one with the fairy! I think maybe it's because of the color scheme and the lighting.
Hope this helped. You are doing great! -
@Nyrryl-Cadiz @NessIllustration @cristamay Finally I didnt finish that illustration I thought about what Ness said about spots illustration and its true that I have too much of them, maybe I will redraw it and make a "normal illustration". Anyways thanks for the feedback!
I have a bit update! Finally I got my website, a friend of mine help me to do it! Is code copypaste, and upload to amazon it only cost me 9€/year so its cool for starting.
So here it is! https://jordiventuraart.com
Any feedback is very wellcome. I divided the webiste in two sections, one for Children Illustration and other for educational resources. Children illustration shows more elaborated art, other side the educational resources is also cool but more simple and easy. I prefer not to do to many changes in the layout-structure of the web, but Im very interested if you think I need to work in more diferent topics or Im ready to go.
So, do you think Im ready to go to start looking for an agent? I was thinking to do 3-4 more images in Children illustration portfolio. What do you think?
Is agust a bad month to looking for an agency? I mean usually this month people do vacations, I was thinking to take this month to do more illustrations and learn and wait for september, is that wise? or I just start sending mails and contacting with agencies?
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I will like to add some personal reflection I had these past weeks.
My brother is a music composer and works for a videogame company in Barcelona, called Social Point. He told me that they opened a position for concept artist, and he encourage me to give it a shot. At frist I was very excited to give it a try, but that means start working in a new whole portfolio and changing totally the style I been working on. I did some master copys to catch up with the style of the company and start drawing and painting in the style they have.
But I dont know, I didnt feel it at all, Also it means doing a lot of work and start over a new portfolio, working on diferent styles from scratch, looks like a titanic work, also I dont have expirence in working on videogames.
I spend some months working on my children illustration style and I already finished my website. And I think Im very near to start looking for an agent and have a good feedback from them.
I like children illustration, I mean, as an artist I think its important the value and the impact that your work have and what service you put on. I like the idea that the children that will read an illustrated book by me can be fascinated by the magic of illustrations, that the story awaken something good in them in some way.
If I put my service on the videogames for me the meangiful and constructive impact that you can do on children get lost, is just feeding a money maker machine that encourages wasting time and "kill" creative. I mean if you are playing you are not devoloping some hobbie or talent, and I speak for personal expirence! So many time lost!
I think Im just starting at children illustration, is still a lot to learn, last day I was checking the Wizard of Oz contest and I saw really amazing illustrations and very good ideas but one of them shock me! the illustration @carriecopadraws did was just to much! I realized "Man, I dont know nothing! Still to muuch to learn!!"
I think drawing can be the "easy part" of children illustration, the most important is how to conceptualize an idea, how an image can explain something, make you feel something more than wow its a good drawing...as we say here...A picture is worth a thousand words
What I want to say to excel, to master something requires sometimes a life commitment. Jumping to one thing to another doesnt feel right for me anymore, I did a lot in the past, I think it has good things to know a little bit of everything but at some point you need to focus and specialize in some area.
Sorry for the wall of text, but I need to take this out hehe
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@Jordi-Ventura cool! great job on the website. i'm actually working on my new site myself and I think we have similar layouts.
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Hi Jordi,
You have lots of potential!
Relax, and keep creating.
Best of luck!
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@Nyrryl-Cadiz I just checked your website, you already update it, right? Looks really good! Amazing illustrations
@jsnzart Thanks for the kind words, yep, relax take it easy and keep creating!
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@Jordi-Ventura Thanks! I finally switched to Adobe portfolio and bought my own domain. It's still not finished tho. I still have to add a tab for the previous books I worked on but I just wanted it to be up as soon as possible for any potential clients. I'll just have to work on it again soon.
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@Jordi-Ventura That's awesome news. Before going into illustration, I must warn you that you will receive very few and low paying projects at the beginning even if you have an agent. You'll definitely have to supplement your income with a side hustle. Maybe you can work in that game company or some other part time job for the mean time.
I do understand the struggle of learning a new art style and redoing your portfolio. it's not easy. It might take you months. I also understand your dilemma in making games. I'm not a gamer because I think they waste a lot of my time and to actually work for a company that makes games is not something I'd want to be a part of as well. I was considering being a concept artist a few years ago but after learning that most jobs are in the mobile games industry, it just kinda turned me off concept art all together.
Whichever path you choose, choose the one that will provide for your needs for the time being and will allow you enough time to work on your portfolio while you wait for your big break.
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@Jordi-Ventura Aw, thanks!
It sounds like mobile game illustration is not a field you are interested in. You have a goal in mind and that type of job will not move you forward in the direction you want. That's great! A lot of laypeople will hear you're an artist and assume all kinds of jobs are right for you - graphic design, logos, etc. Mobile games tend to have their own look. It was smart of you to try the style, even if the outcome is that you don't like it. Keep developing your skill/portfolio for the job YOU want.
I have a slight issue with the general phrase that video games are a waste of time. It's like saying reading a book is a waste of time. I'm a gamer, I'm fascinated with art in motion and storytelling. I AM developing my talent by experiencing games. There is a huge range of video games out there. The ones I play I study:
- their art direction
- the way they use color
- how they make you care about characters
- costume design
- prop design
- environment design
- how time of day and weather affect the mood
The recent Ghost of Tsushima is so beautiful, I'm constantly taking screenshots for reference on colors and composition ideas.
That said, I don't put time into mobile games because they don't have these qualities I'm looking for. Just like you noticed for yourself.
Your portfolio looks strong, your use of shape and color is very appealing! I think if you keep going you will get that agent and the work you want!
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@Jordi-Ventura Jordi, your new portfolio looks fabulous!! I really like how simple and clean it is, with focus on your beautiful illustrations. This is a winner!
I'd suggest starting to send it out right away! Sure you can always add more pieces, refine, etc. But that's a constant work, your portfolio will always be evolving. Also it can take weeks or months to hear back from agents and publishers, so you can always add more pieces while you're waiting to hear back. It looks very good as it is now, so why wait?
You can always improve it at any time anyway!As for the concept art, you did great with those master copies but as you say, you weren't feeling it. That's a very important feeling to listen to
I think in every different industry of illustration (children books, games, editorial, advertisement, licensing, etc) there is so much to learn, that to truly master anything you have to focus on one. This was hard for me when I started because I can draw in many different styles and I enjoy many of them. I didn't really want to specialize, and this made me not really master my trade for a long time. In the end I realized that just because I could potentially do all these different style, it doesn't mean I should. I realized the power of focus and decided to go into children illustration. I've really been able to improve my skill from that point on, and I made strides in my careers. If children's books are what you want to do, then go all in on that and don't get distracted by all the other open art positions that are unrelated I'm sure your brother means well, but as a musician I think he can understand that if say, jazz is someone's true passion and where they shine most, then it's not a good idea to try to convince them to do hard rock just because there's an open position for a job in that style. Even if that person was able to do it, their heart wouldn't be in it. -
@Jordi-Ventura Oh btw one more thing, the one thing about your portfolio you could really improve actually, is your about section! I think it's kind of.. dry. It reads like a resume with a list of your qualifications. Your work speaks for itself. You can summarize a little bit your background like what you worked on in the past, but instead of listing your skills you should say what kind of work you would like to get, maybe what your career goals are or companies you'd like to work with, or why you're passionate about children illustration. Also, get a contact form in there so people can directly write their message to you, instead of having to copy paste your email address into their mail service
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This is outside of my wheelhouse, but I noticed that your IG art looks like it's made by a completely different person. I'm not sure that's a good idea, it might lead to confusion down the line if you're trying to make a name for yourself in the kids illustration realm and someone sees that rather than your website, or tries to find you on IG. Maybe it doesn't matter if you want to work exclusively with an agent, but I feel like it might be limiting your visibility.
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Thanks all for the warm and wise words!
@Nyrryl-Cadiz Thanks, for now I can still substain myself for a while, but I need to start looking for something solid, maybe I have to much expectations on the agent thing.
About videogames and concept artist I dont dislike it 100%, but I prefer to work as a children illustrator, I feel the art you can make is more personal and the life style that I can have is more appeling to me I already worked in companys and I dont like a fixed schedule, going to the office etc. One of my dreams is be able to travel and stay long periods of time in forigen countrys, learning they culture, language etc while Im working, I think working as a freelance children illustration helps me to realize that dream!
@carriecopadraws Totally true! About the gaming thing, It depens on the use you do it, if you can take good references and inspiration and you have a healthy use of your leisure time I think its great! For me I think I abused to much of gaming instead of doing productive things in the past, always look for the middle point
@NessIllustration hey Ness! Thanks, I totally agree on what you say! Yes, this week I will start sending request to diferent agencys and see what happens!
About the about section yep, need to improve it! It was a fast copy paste from my linkedin, I need to do something more personal, I also will look on the contact.
@ina Hey! Yes, im still not sure what to do with my Instagram profile, there are works there that I did in the past, maybe I should start a new account or just put all the work I have in my portfolio, I dont know but I like to show my traditional art background i think it shows that Im a more well-rounded artist!
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@Jordi-Ventura I don't dislike video games 100% as well but they eat so much of my time. I'm the type of person who gets obsessed very easily. Once I get invested in a game, I go all out. I once spent almost 2 days with no sleep playing a mobile cooking game.
That's why I've decided that for me, if something is that addictive, I better get something more than entertainment out of it otherwise, I'm off. The same goes to other media. This is purely just my opinion tho.Now, that nomad artist dream of yours sounds amazing. I'd like to try that in the future once I earn enough money even just for a few months, just visiting different countries and soaking in the culture. I wish you all the best.
