I’ve been getting a lot of emails lately asking me for
portfolio advice, so I thought it might be helpful to make a general post on
the topic.
When it comes to building a portfolio of work – to show
online or to a potential employer – the most important thing to remember is
that originality is key. Having work
that looks really similar to another artist (especially a well known artist)
isn’t always the best direction to head in.
It’s perfectly acceptable to be influenced and inspired by awesome work
– but it is NEVER okay to closely imitate a style you’ve seen before. (Yours won’t look as good as the original,
and it will come off as a cheap attempt to look “good.”) Have a unique voice and be your own artist!
In my opinion, the best way to look “good” is to fill your
portfolio with work that you love creating.
If you’re super into animals – draw all the animals you can. If it’s patterns that get you going, repeat
away! Don’t get me wrong, showing that
you can do a range of things is great, but it’s more important to show that you
love something. (Or a few things, if that’s the case.) Call me a hopeless romantic, but artwork made
in love will almost always have an unmistakable quality of joy between the line
work, brushwork, or colored patches.
It frustrates me to see a lot of my peers flustering around
trying to figure out what to “make” for their portfolio. Building a portfolio isn’t always about
creating a whole new body of work every time an opportunity comes up. A portfolio is meant to be a snapshot of an
artist’s abilities to date. That means
that at any given time – every artist has a portfolio of some kind. (Maybe that collection of work isn’t
applicable to every job opportunity or application purpose, but it’s still a
portfolio and it should represent the artist.)
If you’re giving your artwork consistent attention and time, improvement
will come and a portfolio will naturally develop.
Hate what you’re working on?
Maybe you shouldn’t be doing it.
Unless it’s a practical learning tool – like figure drawing or
observational painting – working on assignments that you hate won’t help you
breach new creative ground. The key to
helping yourself enjoy those assignments you “hate” is to find ways to turn
them into the ones you love. I realize this
doesn’t make complete sense – but go with me on it. If you’re crazy about surface design, but not
so into painting still lives – find a way to bring the aspects you love about
surface design into the painting. Spread
your colors, balance your negative space, and experiment with how various areas
of the canvas communicate or connect with another part. Love affairs can’t exist in a vacuum, so
finding ways to breach your design interests with fundamental learning
objectives will only make your work stronger – and probably help you accomplish
it all a little faster, too.
Do what you love – and find ways to see the “not so fun
things” as they may relate to your full time affection grabber. Building a portfolio shouldn’t be about
making things that will appeal to a certain company – it should be about creating
things you love. It’s your passion that
will attract an employer, not your ability to half-heartedly cater to their
design needs.