What to include in your portfolio | Illustration portfolio tips

[@ArtBusinesswithNess]

Is your current portfolio specific enough, or do you have this problem? Raise your hand if your do and tell me "Yes girl, that's me!!"

[@LemonThrust]

this is the most helpful portfolio tutorial on youtube, needs more recognition. this has helped me get into university

[@ArtBusinesswithNess]

I'm so glad you found it helpful! Thanks for stopping by :)

[@jacquelinfinite]

You’re my favorite art teacher 💗 Everything I ever wished someone would help me with. Thank you for your channel!

[@ArtBusinesswithNess]

Awww thank you so much hun, that's so nice!😀 I'm so glad you're finding my videos helpful 💗

[@jacquieriley7101]

Thanks Ness! This is great!

[@ArtBusinesswithNess]

Thanks hun!

[@Isasinbela]

than you so much ness! now i know what i have to change! thats mean a need to draw new stuff, cause i did the same thing that you did, just putting backgrounds not characters

[@ArtBusinesswithNess]

I'm glad you found it helpful, and I'm glad I'm not the only one that made this mistake haha..

[@rohanlasantha1582]

Thank you Ness... This is so important

[@ArtBusinesswithNess]

Hi again Rohan! :D

[@TheArtMentor]

Very true about marketable skills shown through a portfolio. In your experience, How many artworks do you think should be in a portfolio?

[@ArtBusinesswithNess]

I think 15-16 is the perfect number! But 12 is enough to start with, and it should be no more than 25 for sure :)

[@astridarroyave]

Wonderful content. Thank you! ❤

[@ArtBusinesswithNess]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@majozajo]

Would you put something like illustration (book illustration), character design and background art (for animation prefferably) in one portfolio? Because illustration and animation does include background, character design and character sheets or turnarounds. So it seems quite fitting to have in one portfolio? But I also think that they are connected and need for one another, they are also separate things. And some people put their skill drawings like studies or sketches too, would that be too much to put it in? Or is something like exploration sketches and process art to finished product better then some studies and sketches? Also, do you need to have some professional experience to put title in your portfolio? Like Character designer (illustator etcc..), if you never actually been hired for character design, just something you've been doing on your own?

[@ArtBusinesswithNess]

I would not put empty backgrounds in a picture book portfolio. I actually did this mistake in my first freelance portfolio I come from an animation background and am very good at perspective so I wanted to show off my backgrounds. I sent the portfolio to over 200 publishers and got ZERO gigs out of it! Picture books needs to have a focus on characters and storytelling.

[@irenebuyolo3142]

You are not the only one ; p.....thank you for share your experience!!!!

[@ArtBusinesswithNess]

My pleasure!!

[@monislimdancer1]

Dies illustration also fall under designing patterns for dresses?

[@ArtBusinesswithNess]

Absolutely, patterns are illustration! It's a market that's often called "surface pattern design" or "textile design". Even though it has the word design in it, it is essentially illustration because the patterns are hand-drawn.

[@blueclift5582]

I'll save up money so when your next level 1 course is available i could availl aaa this is so good

[@ArtBusinesswithNess]

I'm so glad you're finding the videos useful, Leyliah! I hope you can join us in the bootcamp one day, it's a lot of fun!

[@monislimdancer1]

Fantastic! Common sense.

[@ArtBusinesswithNess]

I'm glad you enjoyed the video!

[@fatimahsimone7718]

This was so great 😃 I don’t have a portfolio at all so this was a good start

[@ArtBusinesswithNess]

Yaaass good luck with your portfolio hun! What illustration market might interests you?

[@annashal6010]

If I wanted to do illustrations for children's books, both my own books and books not mine, what should the portfolio graphics look like? And how many things I could put

[@ArtBusinesswithNess]

A portfolio can have as little as 12 illustrations! For picture books, the main things to showcase are examples of finished book pages, storytelling, and a focus on characters particularly children and animals. If you'd like more details on what makes a great picture book portfolio, I also have a class on the subject: www.artbusinesswithness.com/PPPcourse

[@tolee.m.illustration9280]

And what about if you want to work in several industries? For instance, I love to illustrate kid's books but also I love fantasy and sci-fi illustration. Sometimes I do more realistic stuff for editorial illustration or fan art and a lot of LGBTQ themes.

[@ArtBusinesswithNess]

It's a common problem for artists: we love to do many different things so it's hard to choose. You're more than encouraged to explore and experiment in your personal work, but in your portfolio it's best to focus on just one market otherwise your portfolio becomes confusing, unfocused, etc. In the end, if you mix different markets in your portfolio you are hurting your chanced of getting work, simple as..

[@tolee.m.illustration9280]

@@ArtBusinesswithNess the only satisfying solution I can go with this is to make portfolios of different kinds and styles and sending the apprpriate one accordingly

[@ArtBusinesswithNess]

@@tolee.m.illustration9280 That's one solution, but just consider that you're doubling, or tripling your work. I always suggest to start with one thing first, so you don't stretch yourself too thin and get in the way of your own success. You can always add other styles and other portfolios later :)

[@tolee.m.illustration9280]

@@ArtBusinesswithNess Thank you so much for your advice. Then I think I'll go first with fantasy artwork and landscape development which I love most

[@jas_094]

I'm using that map's illustration as reference 👀

[@ArtBusinesswithNess]

Really? :) For what?

[@jas_094]

@@ArtBusinesswithNess A page from one of the books I{m working on has a similar feel, like a map from a city

[@rivasmatas]

what if you want to do very specific projects that are not exactly in the same market or niche? Like, I'd like to do album covers, music flyers, book covers, article illustrations and commercial illustration. How can I project professionalism and credibility with such a varied portfolio?

[@ArtBusinesswithNess]

It's very tricky, which is why specializing in one is better. Or start with one, and once you're successful in it, start adding more, one by one. If you try to do all of those at the same time starting out, you're going in on hard mode (in an already difficult industry) and will appear amateur. You could start with album covers and music flyers (maybe even band merch) since those are related and for the same target audience.

[@littlepinkpebble]

listening to this as i paint thanks for posting, not that you're uninteresting to watch haha

[@ArtBusinesswithNess]

Thanks for listening!

[@sumudamar2667]

Hi Ness, How much do you charge to turned children's illustration into solid lines/vector.

[@ArtBusinesswithNess]

I don't offer this service, I only do original illustration :)

[@sumudamar2667]

@@ArtBusinesswithNess I have an opportunity. I have no idea on how to price. Can you tell me what the price should be ?

[@ArtBusinesswithNess]

@@sumudamar2667 I'm not sure how much that service usually goes for. A good start would be to calculate how long it will take you to do, and decide on a good hourly wage for yourself (more than minimum wage!) But also if you're turning existing illustrations (that you did not draw) into vector, be careful. Make sure the original artist has given permission for this, or you could be in serious trouble for copyright violation.

[@sumudamar2667]

@@ArtBusinesswithNess book owner ( the author of the book) asking me to do this for her. is it still violation ?

[@ArtBusinesswithNess]

@@sumudamar2667 The author is not necessarily the owner of the illustrations, if someone else drew them. Even if the author paid to have the illustrations done, it doesn't automatically mean that he own the copyright. You have to ask and make sure everything is on the up and up before accepting such a gig. In general, tracing over another artist's work in vector is pretty boring work, not creative and can put you at risk if the copyright situation is shady, so they're not great contracts. That's why I personally avoid them...