MattBrady
07-18-2006, 12:57 PM
<img src="http://www.newsarama.com/SDCC06/NonPanelPanel/Day2/portfolios.jpg" border="0" align="right"><i>by Dave Elliot</i>
Love the Portfolio!
Just consider much of this a warning. A warning on how to be prepared to know how to react to portfolio viewings. It won't be what you expecting…
Okay… It's San Diego time once more. Pack your bag, got your tickets (planes, trains automobiles…), make sure you have your swimming shorts, suntan lotion, your bad collection of Hawaiian shirts (Union Jack T-shirts or at least underwear for us Brits), economy size boxes of breath mints, raid the piggy bank, and oh, yeah… The whole reason for going…
<i>Dust off the portfolio</i>.
You want to spend some time and love on this little baby, I mean you're going to be doing your utmost to track down the editors and publishers with the pull to give you work on the spot. You had a lot of positive encouragement last year from editors/publishers/artists/writers/your mom, so this year, after twelve months of solid drawing practice, you're ready.
But what goes in the portfolio?
Let's just take a quick look through it; your all time fave piece that you did ten years ago that won you that competition at school, the piece of your teacher as Wolverine, gotta have that. That ten page Spider-Man strip you did based on an old Gerry Conway script (and you used Ross Andru's art just for 'layouts'), got to include that. Of the fifty-seven pieces of work you have done over the last 7 and a half years you have managed to narrow your portfolio down to fifty-eight. Hold on, fifty-eight? Oh, yeah, there was that one page that you actually remembered to photocopy BEFORE you inked it. Yeah, might as well include that. Then at the back you find that 'special' section. Those pin-ups you did that your younger brother liked so much of all the X-Women… Naked.
Now, how to arrange them in your portfolio. Sure, put the most recent stuff in the back, the oldest stuff in the middle… and open with the naked shot of Catwoman and Elektra on the first page…
Yeah, that'll score you some work, won't it?
Maybe… if you're Frank Cho, but otherwise <b>FORGET IT</b>. You'll get more use out of it by using it to start a fire to roast marshmallows over.
Okay, let's start afresh...
Find the most recent piece of artwork in the last three months that you feel most proud of. That is your first page. If you pencil and ink, have a side-by-side comparison to show. Some guys just aren't born to ink their own work, but if the editor can't see you pencils in the portfolio he will never be able to tell what lies beneath the inks (I have seen an artist produce fantastic pencils and then ink them in such a fashion it looked like a three year old did it) and will judge you only on what he sees.
Then your next five or six best pieces. I hope these are sequential story-telling pages as not many people can launch themselves as just cover artists, if you think that you're that good, best of luck to you.
What next? Nothing. If they really like your work they will decide by the third or fourth page if they want to give you a try. Showing them what you did in fifth grade isn't going to do you any favors and they will have closed your portfolio, made their excuses to leave or fallen asleep by the time you get to anything recent. It doesn't hurt to try doing three or four pages within a week of a convention to show both the publisher and yourself that if you are given an assignment you might actually be able to turn it in on any sort of deadline. Remember, most companies are looking for people that can do 22 to 24 pages a month. If that is all you've done in the last year, you going to have to do a lot of convincing, especially to yourself. 24 pages a month equals 288 pages a year. Think you can do that? Guys like Jack Kirby even reached points in their careers when they were doing one thousand pages (don't try this at home, folks).
Know what you want to do <i>and</i> what is achievable!
Don't show your zombie drawings to a company that just does superheroes (unless its Marvel), likewise, don't show superhero material if you trying to get Dark Horse to let you draw <b>Star Wars</b>. Also it is best to try not to spend you time learning how to draw a character that is owned and drawn by somebody else. Yes, Mike Mignola sometimes lets others draw Hellboy, but don't stake your career on his letting you, same goes for <b>Sin City</b> or <b>Usagi Yojimbo</b>.
If you want a shot a drawing Spider-Man or Batman, you'd better have examples in your portfolio. Some editors also don't like it when an artist shows them a portfolio full of another companies characters, you aren't going to do yourself any favors there.
Show the editor that you can draw not only characters, but buildings, cars, lots of different types of people. As well as a portfolio you might want to consider bringing a sketchbook along with you. Editors can see in that what you really like drawing and how well. It often shows another side of you that they might see something in you don't (the artist is often the last person to be able to judge their own work).
Alright then… You've packed you bag, reworked the presentation for your portfolio and packed your most recent sketchbook. You've remembered everything you want to take, but is there anything you should leave at home?
Try leaving any ego you have at home as well. Go there with an open mind and be ready to take the criticism of everybody you show your portfolio to with an open mind. If an editor tells you that you need to pay special attention to something, whether it is perspective, composure, anatomy, try not to launch yourself across the table at him like he has just cussed out your mother. It is his opinion and he is in the position of handing out work, so somebody thinks he or she knows what they are talking about. Also don't get defensive and start making excuses for anything they find wrong with it. Take notes or at least try and absorb as much as possible, there are worse things the editor could say.
For years now, many editors have become more and more like Hollywood producers. Never say anybody's work sucks, because tomorrow they might come up with the greatest idea in the world and you get fired because the only reason your company didn't get the project was because you said his last project sucked a rather dirty piece of a particularly nasty smelling animals anatomy.
This unwillingness to tell you what they really think ranges in various degrees, but these are the worst things an editor can tell you while trying to sound as nice as possible.
"I can see you are heavily influenced by Adam Hughes… Well, Adam is doing a project with us right now so we don't want to compete with ourselves." Bald faced lie. If you drew that closely to Adam Hughes and could possibly produce anything close to a monthly book you'd probably be able to do any book you wanted. They didn't like your portfolio and just didn't want to say it.
"Oh, wow. Love your stuff. The work is fantastic. Yes, I'd hire you tomorrow, but… (here it comes…) I've got teams on all my books right now and don't need any one. Mail me some copies and let's stay in touch." This from the guy Rich Johnston just said had two artists walk off their books and he is scrambling, nay, desperate to have them replaced. Or he may have all the artists he needs, don't however tell him that you are better than any of them, he thinks they're good even if you don't and now you're insulting his taste. Truth is, if you're good enough he will try and fit you in somewhere, most of these artists need a month or two off at some point.
"Oh, wow. Love your stuff. The work is fantastic. But I'm totally booked up. However, I do know that editor X from company Z is looking for artists, you should show them your portfolio."
This could mean that he is telling the truth or it could be part of a vendetta between two editors where they keep sending people to the other that they know the other won't hire. I remember two editors that were friends and would only recommend artists to show the other editor if they were really bad to see if the other could keep a straight face.
Cruel? Sure, but you still want in, right?
"This work is amazing. You're just right for this project we're working on right now. What other commitments do you have, can you start next month?" Sounds fantastic, doesn't it? There is a good chance you have either spoken to the assistant editor trying to make an impression on his boss, or an editor who is just standing there fishing. Every time he sees a portfolio he likes, he says the same thing. Probably has ten different artists thinking about the same project. This doesn't just happen to new artists, it happens to those who have been in the business for years as well. I know one artist that was about to quit several jobs to do a project for one company thinking that he was going to be doing it when he spoke to another artist who thought he was doing the job too. Neither got it in the end.
And there will always be the artists that you think shouldn't be allowed near a pencil, let alone drawing a comic book, standing at the bar chatting away to the editors, having a drink, and getting that mini-series that you would have considered your dream job. Get over that too. Someone might be thinking that way about you sometime soon.
Just remember, take a pinch of salt with whatever you are told. Talk to the editors of the books you want to draw. Hopefully they will be as honest and as fair as they can be. You have to look between the lines. If you really want an honest opinion walk up and down the lines of people waiting to get in and ask them. Those are the people you're going to have to please eventually.
And if you're offered a job, don't give up your day job until you have the first check or at least a contract in your hand and even then, only if you get offered something else straight away. Keep two jobs going as long as possible until you know you're on a regular book.
And if, as an artist you've got it bad… Think of the poor writers out there where it takes longer than four seconds to decide if you're any good or not.
The editors actually have to read those.
<i>Dave Elliot, a comics industry veteran, is currently the editor at Thrill House Comics (http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=70064), and will not be attending this year’s San Diego Comic Convention, so don’t worry about trying to test him and see what he’d say.</i>
Love the Portfolio!
Just consider much of this a warning. A warning on how to be prepared to know how to react to portfolio viewings. It won't be what you expecting…
Okay… It's San Diego time once more. Pack your bag, got your tickets (planes, trains automobiles…), make sure you have your swimming shorts, suntan lotion, your bad collection of Hawaiian shirts (Union Jack T-shirts or at least underwear for us Brits), economy size boxes of breath mints, raid the piggy bank, and oh, yeah… The whole reason for going…
<i>Dust off the portfolio</i>.
You want to spend some time and love on this little baby, I mean you're going to be doing your utmost to track down the editors and publishers with the pull to give you work on the spot. You had a lot of positive encouragement last year from editors/publishers/artists/writers/your mom, so this year, after twelve months of solid drawing practice, you're ready.
But what goes in the portfolio?
Let's just take a quick look through it; your all time fave piece that you did ten years ago that won you that competition at school, the piece of your teacher as Wolverine, gotta have that. That ten page Spider-Man strip you did based on an old Gerry Conway script (and you used Ross Andru's art just for 'layouts'), got to include that. Of the fifty-seven pieces of work you have done over the last 7 and a half years you have managed to narrow your portfolio down to fifty-eight. Hold on, fifty-eight? Oh, yeah, there was that one page that you actually remembered to photocopy BEFORE you inked it. Yeah, might as well include that. Then at the back you find that 'special' section. Those pin-ups you did that your younger brother liked so much of all the X-Women… Naked.
Now, how to arrange them in your portfolio. Sure, put the most recent stuff in the back, the oldest stuff in the middle… and open with the naked shot of Catwoman and Elektra on the first page…
Yeah, that'll score you some work, won't it?
Maybe… if you're Frank Cho, but otherwise <b>FORGET IT</b>. You'll get more use out of it by using it to start a fire to roast marshmallows over.
Okay, let's start afresh...
Find the most recent piece of artwork in the last three months that you feel most proud of. That is your first page. If you pencil and ink, have a side-by-side comparison to show. Some guys just aren't born to ink their own work, but if the editor can't see you pencils in the portfolio he will never be able to tell what lies beneath the inks (I have seen an artist produce fantastic pencils and then ink them in such a fashion it looked like a three year old did it) and will judge you only on what he sees.
Then your next five or six best pieces. I hope these are sequential story-telling pages as not many people can launch themselves as just cover artists, if you think that you're that good, best of luck to you.
What next? Nothing. If they really like your work they will decide by the third or fourth page if they want to give you a try. Showing them what you did in fifth grade isn't going to do you any favors and they will have closed your portfolio, made their excuses to leave or fallen asleep by the time you get to anything recent. It doesn't hurt to try doing three or four pages within a week of a convention to show both the publisher and yourself that if you are given an assignment you might actually be able to turn it in on any sort of deadline. Remember, most companies are looking for people that can do 22 to 24 pages a month. If that is all you've done in the last year, you going to have to do a lot of convincing, especially to yourself. 24 pages a month equals 288 pages a year. Think you can do that? Guys like Jack Kirby even reached points in their careers when they were doing one thousand pages (don't try this at home, folks).
Know what you want to do <i>and</i> what is achievable!
Don't show your zombie drawings to a company that just does superheroes (unless its Marvel), likewise, don't show superhero material if you trying to get Dark Horse to let you draw <b>Star Wars</b>. Also it is best to try not to spend you time learning how to draw a character that is owned and drawn by somebody else. Yes, Mike Mignola sometimes lets others draw Hellboy, but don't stake your career on his letting you, same goes for <b>Sin City</b> or <b>Usagi Yojimbo</b>.
If you want a shot a drawing Spider-Man or Batman, you'd better have examples in your portfolio. Some editors also don't like it when an artist shows them a portfolio full of another companies characters, you aren't going to do yourself any favors there.
Show the editor that you can draw not only characters, but buildings, cars, lots of different types of people. As well as a portfolio you might want to consider bringing a sketchbook along with you. Editors can see in that what you really like drawing and how well. It often shows another side of you that they might see something in you don't (the artist is often the last person to be able to judge their own work).
Alright then… You've packed you bag, reworked the presentation for your portfolio and packed your most recent sketchbook. You've remembered everything you want to take, but is there anything you should leave at home?
Try leaving any ego you have at home as well. Go there with an open mind and be ready to take the criticism of everybody you show your portfolio to with an open mind. If an editor tells you that you need to pay special attention to something, whether it is perspective, composure, anatomy, try not to launch yourself across the table at him like he has just cussed out your mother. It is his opinion and he is in the position of handing out work, so somebody thinks he or she knows what they are talking about. Also don't get defensive and start making excuses for anything they find wrong with it. Take notes or at least try and absorb as much as possible, there are worse things the editor could say.
For years now, many editors have become more and more like Hollywood producers. Never say anybody's work sucks, because tomorrow they might come up with the greatest idea in the world and you get fired because the only reason your company didn't get the project was because you said his last project sucked a rather dirty piece of a particularly nasty smelling animals anatomy.
This unwillingness to tell you what they really think ranges in various degrees, but these are the worst things an editor can tell you while trying to sound as nice as possible.
"I can see you are heavily influenced by Adam Hughes… Well, Adam is doing a project with us right now so we don't want to compete with ourselves." Bald faced lie. If you drew that closely to Adam Hughes and could possibly produce anything close to a monthly book you'd probably be able to do any book you wanted. They didn't like your portfolio and just didn't want to say it.
"Oh, wow. Love your stuff. The work is fantastic. Yes, I'd hire you tomorrow, but… (here it comes…) I've got teams on all my books right now and don't need any one. Mail me some copies and let's stay in touch." This from the guy Rich Johnston just said had two artists walk off their books and he is scrambling, nay, desperate to have them replaced. Or he may have all the artists he needs, don't however tell him that you are better than any of them, he thinks they're good even if you don't and now you're insulting his taste. Truth is, if you're good enough he will try and fit you in somewhere, most of these artists need a month or two off at some point.
"Oh, wow. Love your stuff. The work is fantastic. But I'm totally booked up. However, I do know that editor X from company Z is looking for artists, you should show them your portfolio."
This could mean that he is telling the truth or it could be part of a vendetta between two editors where they keep sending people to the other that they know the other won't hire. I remember two editors that were friends and would only recommend artists to show the other editor if they were really bad to see if the other could keep a straight face.
Cruel? Sure, but you still want in, right?
"This work is amazing. You're just right for this project we're working on right now. What other commitments do you have, can you start next month?" Sounds fantastic, doesn't it? There is a good chance you have either spoken to the assistant editor trying to make an impression on his boss, or an editor who is just standing there fishing. Every time he sees a portfolio he likes, he says the same thing. Probably has ten different artists thinking about the same project. This doesn't just happen to new artists, it happens to those who have been in the business for years as well. I know one artist that was about to quit several jobs to do a project for one company thinking that he was going to be doing it when he spoke to another artist who thought he was doing the job too. Neither got it in the end.
And there will always be the artists that you think shouldn't be allowed near a pencil, let alone drawing a comic book, standing at the bar chatting away to the editors, having a drink, and getting that mini-series that you would have considered your dream job. Get over that too. Someone might be thinking that way about you sometime soon.
Just remember, take a pinch of salt with whatever you are told. Talk to the editors of the books you want to draw. Hopefully they will be as honest and as fair as they can be. You have to look between the lines. If you really want an honest opinion walk up and down the lines of people waiting to get in and ask them. Those are the people you're going to have to please eventually.
And if you're offered a job, don't give up your day job until you have the first check or at least a contract in your hand and even then, only if you get offered something else straight away. Keep two jobs going as long as possible until you know you're on a regular book.
And if, as an artist you've got it bad… Think of the poor writers out there where it takes longer than four seconds to decide if you're any good or not.
The editors actually have to read those.
<i>Dave Elliot, a comics industry veteran, is currently the editor at Thrill House Comics (http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=70064), and will not be attending this year’s San Diego Comic Convention, so don’t worry about trying to test him and see what he’d say.</i>