For my portfolio I shopped around online for the best deal I could find and not compromise quality. I eventually came across the website www.cassart.co.uk which sold a vast range of portfolios, boxes, cases, books, ringbinders that I could present my portfolio in all in different sizes and colours. I eventually settled on the A4 'Mapac Quartz Portfolio' which had a 5* rating and all positive reviews, it also was their featured portfolio so had a nice discount on the price. I chose A4 size as it lends itself to the majority of my artwork and also for practicality reasons (carrying it to and from interviews, travelling, book fairs).
With an A4 Portfolio in the seleciton of my pieces to display I had to take this into account. The majority of my artwork lends itself to A4 but I have a few older pieces (screen prints, stencil prints) that are larger, however, my most recent work is A4 as I have recently invested in an A4 scanner.
Below are the following pieces I have included in my physical portfolio: (and why)
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| Self-portrait. Fine liner & water colour. |
To start, a self-portrait. Establish who I am, what it is I do. My "signature" style in fine liners, black and white with a hint of colour/water colour.
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| Tote bag design. Fine liner & digital collage. |
Secondly, a piece I created to use on my promotional items (tote bags). A talking point, recent work, flows from the previous piece.
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| St Basil's, Moscow. Fine liner & digital collage. |
Next, another piece used on promotional items this time a design I made for throw pillows. Similar media and colour palette to the adjacent piece in the portfolio.
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| Sketchbook work. Fine liner. |
Then some development sketchbook work for the next piece in the portfolio.
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| Illustrated map. Fine liner & digital collage. |
An illustrated town map of Cheltenham. Included to show a variety of work and how my illustrations can be used. Leading onto the next set of illustration, talking points.
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| African elder. Fine liner & digital collage. |
The map leads into the travel inspired series of illustrations. This is an elderly woman I met in Africa, these illustrations are drawn from photographs I took on my travels. The media is also continuous in these pieces.
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| African girl. Fine liner & digital collage. |
The next two pieces are much the same. This is a girl I stayed with on my community project.
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| African boy. Fine liner & digital collage. |
And another. This time a little boy, the portraiture ranges in ages and genders to display versatility. These pieces could be used in and aimed at educational books, editorial.
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| Illustrated travel journal book cover. Fine liner & digital collage. |
Lastly (in the travel pieces) is a current personal project I am working on. A cover for my illustrated travel journal. I keep a sketchbook with my when I go travelling and I hope to develop and refine my sketches into a series of pieces and bind them together in a small book.
Displays some sketchbook work and typography.
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| Fiesta de Picotas poster. Stencil print. |
Leading on from the previous example of my typography work is this piece. Stencil print poster designed for Pink Sky publishing which is an inclusion of previous pieces, typography, portraiture and bold colours. Also, a new method of illustration.
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| Catwoman. Silkscreen print. |
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| 'Letters of War', Olio 10 submission. Fine liner & water colour. |
Which leads me onto my Olio piece. A focus on portraiture and this soldiers face complimented with water colour.
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| Fox. Fine liner & water colour. |
And continues with my water colour pieces created in the same media, water colour and fine liners.
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| Hummingbirds. Fine liner & water colour. |
Again, the same media, subject matter, creating a flow to my portfolio.
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| Harpy, Crow Press. Digital Collage. |
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| Character sheet. Digital collage. |
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| Book cover. Digital collage. |
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| Character design. Digital collage & fine liner. |
Same content (characters, story) in a different media. Current project.
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| Educational book illustrations. Fine liner. |
Continuing on with the children's book theme, this time in educational children's book with colouring book designs.
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| Promotional item Peacock. Fine liner & water colour. |
Finishing on the only landscape piece in the portfolio (at the end of the portfolio to avoid changing rotation) and the next talking point. A piece that features on the promotional items created in fine liner and water colour.
The selection process and ordering of my portfolio was not only based on my strongest and most relevant work but also arranged to have a flow and continuous talking points. The layout of my portfolio was something important to consider as a mismatched and all over the place portfolio reads difficult and not entirely memorable. With this in mind I also had subject matter I wished to display which included some of my children's book illustrations and posters/prints, whilst not the work I do as regularly it is also an area of illustration I enjoy working in.
Other things to consider were text, positioning. Removing text on some pieces was necessary as whilst in the original piece (for example, the tote bag design, the map) it was required with regards to the portfolio which displays my artwork it in fact distracted and drew your attention away from the illustratons themself and became too cluttered. Removing the text on some of my pieces keeps the portfolio clean and only when relevant (typography) it remained.
Having selected my pieces and bought my portfolio the next step was printing. For this, I chose to use a 'Bright white card, 160gsm, 200 micron' suitable for laser printers, photocopiers and inkjet printers for my paper choice and tested it on my own HP Deskjet printer at home. I was surprised with the quality of printing, some finer details were lost in initial printing and needed re-printing but once corrected I decided to print my entire portfolio on this paper and from home. The bright white card gives a clean backdrop for my illustrations and a sturdier feel than paper which can be qutie flimsy.