A guide to putting together your sequential art portfolio

[Symson]

Your entire portfolio should be no more than 12 to 15 pages. Any more and you're just boring the person. The portfolio should be the original 11" x17" art.

Target your portfolio to the publisher you are submitting to; such as don't show Marvel characters to DC Comics.

Present a complete scene within 3 or 4 pages. Each scene should showcase a different mood - action, normal, romantic, quiet, horror, humor, whatever will showcase your range whether with superheroes or not.

Show that you can draw normal people as well as muscular. People in costumes, uniforms and regular clothing. Different backgrounds and realistic city or fantasy city. Show variety in your characters; different type of people ethnic and physical builds.

No pin-ups or covers. If they like your pages you'll get your chance soon enough after being hired.

Also the portfolio should include only samples you've done in the past six months.

Anything beyond six months tends to make your art look weak and inconsistent since you should have improved since then.

Important: At conventions or an office visit always have a leave behind. The leave behind are letter size photocopies of your portfolio suitable for filing by the editor to remind them of you. Put your contact information on every page. So when they go looking through their files for someone, they know how to reach you.

[Inkthinker]

Good advice across the board. Would you equate an online portfolio with a physical portfolio, using similar guidelines such as the number of pieces presented?

[Symson]

Answer to Inkthinker

Yes, Inkthinker the same for online sequential portfolio.

[mjcurry7294]

Things editors look for

Im about to start on some new sample pages to start showing editors and wanted to know some stuff to put in them that editors look for, like perspective, drawing hands, and so on. Any ideas?

[Inkthinker]

I am not an editor, but I have had cause to review portfolios for hire. I can tell you that what I look for is a solid basic understanding of drawing fundamentals, because I know that the artist with that basis can be relied upon to be flexible and should be able to create anything I throw at 'em.

Warning signs (that you do not possess the needed skills) include any number of tricks to cheat out backgrounds (general avoidance of backgrounds is a red flag), poorly drawn mechanical objects (indicating you didn't lay them out in perspective or aren't familiar with their actual form/function. Guns and cars are two easy offenders here) and compositions that crowd out the space for the bubbles or lead the eyes in bad directions.

Another thing to avoid is going off on a tangent with the script. If you feel strongly about adding panels or removing them, go ahead, but you MUST ensure that the action and story continue to flow as directed, even with your modifications, and you must ensure that you're still hitting the page beats as directed by the editor (that is to say, you might add or remove stuff, but you had better start and end in the places called for by the script).

Again, I'm not a comics editor, so anyone can feel free to contradict me (and probably be more correct than I) but I feel pretty confident that it's a good set of points to be aware of.

[TGping]

To build off of Inkthinker a little more, stick to showing only sequential work, If you have pin-ups, keep them in the back or in a separate folder, the editor can always ask to see them.

But really show that you can tell a story and that you can place figures in an environment. Make sure the samples include facial expressions, body language, and figures interacting with each other as well as the environment.

Oh, and dont forget to draw females and males equally well.

[Inkthinker]

Ach, absolutely... I spaced on this most basic rule.

The editor/art director needs to see SEQUENTIAL PAGES. No character sheets, no covers, and try not to include splash pages in your sequentials unless the script specifically called for one. Those things may be called for later, but that initial review is about your ability to draw comics, nothing else.

I think Quesada's 3x3x3 rule is still a pretty good basis for a comics portfolio; 3 subjects, 3 pages each, for a total length of 9 pages (good and short). You can have extra stuff available in case you're asked, but focus primarily on a collection of sequential art.

[Symson]

You can check out my guide to putting your portfolio together here.

[TGping]

In response to symson, why isn't there a sticky guide for putting together a portfolio for editors?

[dfbovey]

Composition
Basic comprehension of story telling and flow
Conveying emotion through body language and facial expressions
Perspective
Anatomy
Believable scenery and details
Allow space for word balloons

[Symson]

In response to symson, why isn't there a sticky guide for putting together a portfolio for editors?

Good question. Only the moderators can make things sticky, I can't.

[Inkthinker]

Good question. Only the moderators can make things sticky, I can't.

I can do better than that... I can merge the two threads AND make it a sticky. Done and done.

[Thales]

Kind of Art

Your entire portfolio should be no more than 12 to 15 pages. Any more and you're just boring the person.

Target your portfolio to the publisher you are submitting to; such as don't show Marvel characters to DC Comics.

Present a complete scene within 3 or 4 pages. Each scene should showcase a different mood - action, normal, romantic, quiet, horror, humor, whatever will showcase your range whether with superheroes or not.

Show that you can draw normal people as well as muscular. People in costumes, uniforms and regular clothing. Different backgrounds and realistic city or fantasy city. Show variety in your characters; different type of people ethnic and physical builds.

No pin-ups or covers. If they like your pages you'll get your chance soon enough after being hired.

Also the portfolio should include only samples you've done in the past six months.

Anything beyond six months tends to make your art look weak and inconsistent since you should have improved since then.

Important: At conventions or an office visit always have a leave behind. The leave behind are letter size photocopies of your portfolio suitable for filing by the editor to remind them of you. Put your contact information on every page. So when they go looking through their files for someone, they know how to reach you.

Just one question, my portifolio need to have different art styles, like some stuff in a Jack Kirby style and anothers in a Neal Adams way? I ask this since most artists that a know started their jobs simulating others styles.

[Symson]

Just one question, my portifolio need to have different art styles, like some stuff in a Jack Kirby style and anothers in a Neal Adams way? I ask this since most artists that a know started their jobs simulating others styles.

First, there is no requirement to draw in someone else's style when submitting your portfolio.

If you don't have your own style, then there' s nothing wrong with doing someone else's style. Use the style, but don't copy them line for line.

Many people have started using someone else's style. Steranko and Barry-Windsor-Smith used Kirby's. Bill Sienkiewicz used Adams. Travis Charest used Jim Lee. Bryan Hitch used Alan Davis.

So it's okay to start out with someone's style, but it's important not to stay there. It should just be a jumping off point for your growth into your own style, as each of the aforementioned artist's have done.

Others have stayed stuck and are always compared the person they copy. They may get some initial buzz, but it doesn't last long.


Thanks Inkthinker, you da mod... uh man!

[Inkthinker]

All things considered, I wouldn't suggest attempting to draw in anyone else's "style" attempting to get a break with an editor... it's a risky proposition. Even if that's what they want at that moment, you're establishing yourself initially as "the guy who draws like that other guy".