The Art of the Portfolio Review

How illustrators can get the most—and least—out of a portfolio review.

I’m sitting at a table in a sort of tucked-away room at some forgettable hotel. When I close my eyes to try and recall the memory, all I can see is beige. It’s early on a Sunday morning. I’m a faculty member at a children’s book conference in St. Louis, or Chicago. I can’t remember. The morning is booked with portfolio reviews. The first illustrator is late. She’s very late.

At conferences and conventions, portfolio reviews with faculty are limited to 15 or 20 minutes. It’s barely enough time to catch the attendee’s name, let alone say anything that would justify paying anywhere between $85 and $200 (those are real numbers). Most of the time, all you get in the way of helpful advice is, “You should take some figure drawing classes.” Or, “Go digital. Everyone else is.” Or, “Kids like bright colors. (Wrong. They like everything.) So, like, use brighter colors maybe?” Or better yet, “Don’t do dot eyes.” There. I just saved you a lot of money.

With the illustrator’s time slot coming to a close, she shows up—absolutely hung over. Let’s call her “Alice”.

The night before, faculty, volunteers, and attendees descended upon the hotel restaurant for dinner and drinks. Alice had more drinks than dinner, apparently. As she tells me, she spent the night and part of the morning vomiting in a toilet. Her roommate forced her to get it together enough to get the review. “You’ll regret it if you don’t,” she said.

I crammed as much as I could into the remaining minutes. Much of it was spent consoling Alice, reminding her that mistakes happen. It wasn’t that big of a deal. She did good work. I told her so. When the review was over, Alice said she was going back to sleep. By the shade of what I can only describe as sage-infused milk, more vomit was in her future.

As an illustrator, it’s a good idea to get your portfolio reviewed. At least once. Preferably once a year. Preferably sober. You don’t always have to pay for it. That’s where critique groups can come in handy. Ask an illustrator friend. Heck, reach out to an illustration hero of yours. You never know. They might say yes.

Here is how to get the most—and least—out of a portfolio review. And, I’ll share a few eyebrow-raising anecdotes along the way…