I’ve never had a “portfolio” – a document or a curated set of projects that I use to get illustration work. Folios are strange things because almost never are the criteria for folios clear or universal. Illustrators are told that “every publisher is different.” If that’s true, then a single portfolio will never be appropriate – we would need a different one for different clients or publishers; I don’t know about anyone else but that sounds tiring to me.
Instead of a portfolio, I have work. I draw. I paint. I write. Then, I share it – on my website, on Instagram sometimes, and on Twitter. Unless I’m working on a specific book or project, I don’t draw or paint or write for anyone but me. Then I share it. And, over time, through making the work I want to make and sharing it, different people see it. Some resonate with some images. Others resonate with others. I have people who enjoy my writing more than my drawing. I have people who enjoy my animals instead of the way I do plants. My dogs instead of my cats. My digital work instead of my analog stuff. There is no folio, there is just my work.
Most often, when people are hiring other people, they tend to need to know that you can do what they need done. If I’m going to get my toilet fixed, I’d like to know that the person I hire has fixed toilets before. If someone is going to install a pool, it would be good to know they’ve done many pools before. I wouldn’t let someone who has never successfully pulled a tooth safely from a mouth do it to me for their first time. But if they’ve done it before, I’m more likely to hire them to do it for me.
The fact is that the work you do is the work you get. And so if I don’t want to fix toilets, or build a pool, or pull a tooth from someone else’s mouth, I just won’t do it or tell anyone I can. But if I really want to draw dogs in children’s books then I’ll do that – then share it. If I really want to do underwater scenes, then that’s what I’ll spend my time drawing. Not for anyone else – not to fit a brief or pitch myself in some new or different light – but just for me.
The work I’ve got is the work I’ve made and shared. I love drawing Australian animals and making them more contemporary in style to anything that’s come before. In fact, I love anthropomorphising almost anything (but especially animals). I love the ocean (and especially rockpools), and sunsets, so I’ve made work that satisfies that deep desire. I love soft watercolours with a bit of pencil linework showing through. I love splashing ink with bold colours and character design. I’m not a fan of illustrating the built environment yet, hard lines and hard shapes (things like cars etc don’t really do it for me). These choices and biases are driven by a need to satisfy the requirements of publisher x or y – it’s just my work.
The thing is, publishers know where to look – Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Etsy – they are normal humans doing what normal humans do. They see stuff they like, or that fits a style in their mind for a book that they’re thinking of publishing, and they see an artist who can do it for them.
It seems to me it’s far easier to work this way – enjoying each and every illustration you make – rather than trying to draw things you don’t like because the goal is to published at all costs. Chances are, a publishing deal may come along anyway, and if it doesn’t, at least you’re enjoying your limited time on this planet.