What is an illustration portfolio

The two things your portfolio needs to say.

A portfolio is not a CV; it is evidence that you can do the type of work you want to do.

I didn’t know this when I was 20, for 20 years I intentionally did not keep a portfolio, because in my mind I wanted to get the job first, then work out how to do the job.

That’s not how it works, How it works is the jobs you get directly correlate to the work you have in your portfolio.

Your portfolio needs to say:

1. This is the kind of work I want to do.

2. This is proof that I can do the work.

As I work on various book projects I find much of the work has already been done in a portfolio piece, the book project is merely an extension of the portfolio piece.

If you want to start on a particular type of book project, start a portfolio piece.