Illustration-Portfolio Review Information Pack
Online Studio Chat with Margrete Lamond
Hello, and thank you for your interest in my online Illustration-Portfolio Reviews. This Information Pack covers everything you need to know about preparing and submitting your illustration portfolio, as well as what to expect from your portfolio review.
What is an illustration-portfolio review?
An illustration-portfolio review is all about you, your illustrations and your dreams of becoming a picture-book illustrator.
Our Studio Chat will help you with all those things you’ve been grappling with and wondering about … especially how to select your most appropriate and engaging samples, how to balance the content of your illustration portfolio, and how to tweak each of your chosen samples to give them the best possible chance of making a lasting impression on the people who count: picture-book editors, children’s book publishers and art directors.
What elements of illustration does a portfolio review cover?
Everyone’s work is different, and everyone has different strengths, so the review will be individually tailored to the work you send in. Overall, though, every illustration portfolio review will address the key elements of narrative illustration:
Character - development, consistency, emotion and gesture
Narrative sequence - consistency, drama, emotional arc
Focus - variety and relevance
Setting - mood, narrativity
Point of view, proportion and composition
Tone and colour
What should I submit?
Ideally, the samples you submit will be indicative of your usual range of visual expression. That is, the kind of mark making you most naturally engage in and with which you feel most comfortable. If possible, your selection could also show that you have some ideas about how to tell a story in pictures. If you have a distinct illustration style, be sure to submit one or two of your best personal interest samples, too, especially if these are very different from your usual illustration style. Otherwise, submit whatever you feel is the best of whatever you have!
‘But I am new to this!’ Relax! Don’t panic! If you are still in the very early stages of developing your portfolio, and you don’t know which way to turn or how to even start, that’s totally okay! Simply select what you feel is your best work from your sketchbook / folders / website and submit it. We can work on building your illustration portfolio from there. NB If you are new to the whole process, you may wish to sign up for follow-up feedback, as your initial submission might undergo quite a bit of revision, and you might want a second review before you take the plunge and send it to a publisher.
‘I already have a body of work suitable for picture-book illustration’. Totally fabulous and fantastic! If this is you, you could think about compiling a selection of character studies, a sequence of 3 or 4 full illustrations of a well-known story (a folk tale is a good starting point), and a selection of varied samples that demonstrate how you evoke different kinds of narrative mood.
How many illustration samples should I provide?
Send around 12 to 16 illustration samples, including your personal interest samples. But if making this selection is what makes your brain explode, don’t worry. This process is all about getting you started on the exciting path of children’s book illustration, and where better to start than at the beginning? Simply follow the advice for #1 in the section above.
How many different illustration styles should I submit for review?
Over time, it’s best to focus on developing a single recognisable illustration style. This is the style you will become known for, that will be your ‘brand’, and that jumps to mind when an editor is thinking about matching an illustrator to a picture-book text. Of course, there will always be variations within your illustration style. But your overall ‘look’ should ideally remain consistent and recognisable so that publishers keep coming back to you.
However … if you are at a stage where you can’t yet decide which style to embrace, simply provide a variety of your styles for me to review. This will give me a snapshot of your range, as well as a glimpse into various aspects of your visual ‘personality’. We can then discuss which of your samples look most suited for picture-book illustration, and you can work up an illustration style based on those conversations.
How do I submit my illustrations for a portfolio review?
Here comes the bossy part! Unfortunately, I can only accept illustration portfolios that are digitally delivered (I never thought I’d hear myself utter those words … But logistics, distance, cost and storage all play a part in making digital delivery easier for all of us). Also, because I would like to spend more time reviewing your work, and less time wrangling with various file formats, I would hugely appreciate it if you could please:
Submit your illustration portfolio as a pdf document
Submit it as a SINGLE document, rather than as multiple documents
Set up your file so it has ONE or TWO images per page (that is, not too big and not too small!)
Clearly LABEL and NUMBER each image on the pdf (this will make it so much easier to comment on each one)
How long will the portfolio review be, and how is it delivered?
The written talking-points will vary in detail from person to person, because everyone is different (I know, that’s old news), and each illustration portfolio will inspire different responses. On average, however, a Studio Chat review will last up to one hour, and will be based on a set of talking points that I will email to you ahead of our chat, to give you time to digest the feedback and formulate questions.
How long before I receive my feedback?
I know just how ghastly it is to be left waiting and wondering after you have submitted work for review. To minimise your agony as much as possible, I aim to have a Studio Chat with you within 4 weeks of you submitting your portfolio.
What if I’m a complete beginner?
We are all beginners at some stage, and it can be a lonely experience to have a passion, but to have no community of like-minded people who can mentor and support us. Everyone benefits from professional feedback, whatever stage they are at, and this includes you. It is also tremendously exciting to work with illustrators from an early stage, and to watch them grow and develop, so if this is you, I very much look forward to meeting you and seeing your work!
I’m an experienced studio / editorial / advertising artist: What kind of feedback can I expect?
It is always a delight to work with a proficient and experienced artist. You will know your way around technique, you will understand the principles and elements of design, and of colour theory, and you will have an established style (or two or three). This means we can dive straight into the adventure of how to apply these skills to narrative.
Interestingly, although picture-book illustration and other art practices may appear to belong to the same category of mark-making, they are actually very different skills. There are some things an exhibiting artist, for example, may need to learn in order to illustrate effectively, and other skills he or she may need to lay aside for the sake of narrative. The things we will discuss include narrative arc, emotional arc, sequence, mood, page design, palette, understatement and ambiguity, to name a few. I look forward to some interesting conversations!
What if I need follow-up feedback after my initial portfolio review?
It can feel disconcerting to diligently follow advice, but then be left wondering ‘Have I followed the advice in a way that works, or have I wandered off down the wrong path?’. My ‘Follow-up Feedback’ options offer a second feedback, as well as encouragement and direction to keep you building a portfolio that will catch the eye of the right people.
How much does an illustration portfolio review cost?
Initial Studio Chat $250 - A comprehensive and personalised deep-dive analysis of your illustration portfolio, including assessment of characters, setting, composition, narrative impact, style and presentation. Includes a comprehensive set of talking points and lasts up to one hour.
Portfolio Review + one Follow-up $350 - This option allows you to revise your illustration portfolio following the initial review and then receive a second Studio Chat and round of feedback on your updated portfolio.
Additional Follow-up Feedback $125 - Sometimes building an illustration portfolio requires more than a single feedback. This is where additional follow-up reviews can help. Additional follow-up reviews offer the benefits of mentorship in the form of an ongoing conversation. You can purchase one-off feedback extras at any time. Each follow-up Studio Chat lasts half an hour.
Speed Review $75 - Speed reviews are for when you don’t have a comprehensive illustration portfolio ready for review, but would love some immediate feedback to kickstart the process. Speed reviews take a quick look at your strengths and weaknesses, offer suggestions for the most effective way to get started. ‘Speed reviews’ are limited to two full illustrations or character studies per review, and an intensive 15-minute Studio Chat.
What an illustration-portfolio review does NOT cover
My illustration portfolio reviews focus exclusively on making your illustration portfolio the best it can be. For a whole range of reasons, I am unfortunately unable to offer the following:
Personal recommendations to individual publishers, editors or art directors
Contact details for individual publishers, editors or art directors
Contact details for authors, designers, agents or illustrators
Lists of publishing houses relevant to your style
A contract with Dirt Lane Press
But despair not! I offer tips on how to find out many of these things out for yourself, and you will quickly become addicted to ferreting through a publishing company’s website, not to mention bookshops and libraries, to research style, publishing history, current and past catalogues, key authors and illustrators, list composition and much more.
Just keep in mind that children’s book publisher and picture-book publishers are always looking for fresh voices, whatever their current books look like, so your best approach is to develop a unique and expressive illustration portfolio that stands out from the crowd, and that delivers the visual information every publisher needs to make a decision as to whether or not to sign you up!
Margrete x