[Spiral]

Well, at last I have been able to overcome various technical
difficulties and I have some black and white work of mine available. I
am going to put some of this together real soon as a portfolio to send
to pen and paper RPG companies in hopes of maybe getting some b&w
work. If anyone can suggest any other kind of industry that needs such
work I'd appreciate the info.

I have some images here done with ink and some with pencils. I don't
like all of the stuff so I'm not going to use some, also there are
afew I want to redo or finish in order to put in the portfolio.

I just need some critisism about my work. Not all of it is recent and
all of them are pretty mediocre I know, but I would like suggestions
on the quality, if you think it is good material for a first time
portfolio and for such an industry as the pen and paper RPG industry,
or even if you think that none of these are worth anything at all. I
am ready for anything.

Most importantly I would like suggestions on improvement on any
aspect you can point out, to see if my observations are accurate
enough or if I have missed anything. Thanks for even reading this far!

The Inks














The Pencils












The Unfinished















Thanks again!
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"Don't judge a book by it's cover" -Frank Frazetta

[Spiral]

Whoa! Am I ever dissapointed! Isn't any of this stuff worth it? At least give me the dignity of telling me so.

Oh well, back to the drawing board then I guess.
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"Don't judge a book by it's cover" -Frank Frazetta

[shft5]

Cool images but at the same time most don't seem like something you'd want to put in a portfolio you're presenting - Well maybe a few of the ink ones.

[Spiral]

Hey, thanks for replying Shft5. I wasn't planning on using all this stuff, for instance inks number 4,5 or 7 are lazy and awful, I never liked them and wasn't going to use them anyway, also these works aren't the best I can do, they are casual sketches that either were dropped or continued up to a level of finish (like the sketch of that devil thing) or I was just interested in turning them into inks.

I am troubled by your response though, because I found it logical to have images that were made with less attention because these companies order small illos that usually don't pay much and aren't very good. Wouldn't I be shooting myself in the foot if I sent a portfolio with images that took some planning and more time just to make a better impression and then have to live up to the quality at my expence?

On the other hand, I do feel that the themes aren't varied enough, still though isn't a porfolio supposed to be a sort of display of one's ability generally?

I have already decided to give myself a month to make new images to complement some of these, have more variation in themes, some more environments and a couple with different styles than these. Still though some advice on what I should use (give me some examples) would be useful, and most importantly I am interested in comment concerning my technical abiliy.
_________________
"Don't judge a book by it's cover" -Frank Frazetta

[Dekard]

Your portfolio should always show your best work. If it's not good it shouldn't be in there. You are showing a company your best work that you'd like to do for them, I'd suggest redrawing your drawings you have on notebook paper as well. The problem I see is they are good, you do have talent, but they look inconsistent and unfinished, which is why they don't seem to be portfolio pieces.


sketch0077tq.jpg down looks like your best work though, very good skeleton warrior and demon, would like to see them inked up and or in color..
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.::astrochimp.net::.

[Dekard]

Here's a nice article on building a portfolio it's mostly for a game company outlook on your portfolio but its a nice and useful read none the less.

http://boards.polycount.net/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=73945&an=0&page=0#73945
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.::astrochimp.net::.

[shft5]

Again Spiral, in a sense you answered your own question when mentioning about the lack of quality of some of the images. These companies know that you have the drawing skill and are well aware of the process that is taken to make a finished piece so the question is: Why show them incomplete works or sketches?

If anything I would say select a few images and turn them into finished pieces and place those in your portfolio. You have talent, that is apparent, but showing a portfolio of unfinished works will make you look both lazy and lacking in comparison to others with fully finished and polished works.

Put it this way: Your portfolio is a representation of not only your artistic talent but also of yourself. Would you wear a t-shirt and jeans to an interview? Or would you dress up and present yourself in a professional manner.

I'm speaking from the aspect of a student but I'm sure there are tons of people on here that could help you out with getting a job in your desired field. Sounds like a cop-out with what I've just typed but I'm just being honest.

I guess if anything maybe put a little more than goblins, ghools, and werewolves in your drawings. Show some range in what you can create, not just one theme of imagery.

[Spiral]

Thanks for the advice people, and for the compliments. Let me say afew things.
I wasn't planning on using the unfinished stuff in the portfolio. Sorry if I hadn't made that clear.
I was planning on finishing a couple of those (like the one with the werewolf) to a level of
finish like the demon image, or the one with the two buildings.
For the inks I was planning on using 1,2,6,8 and maybe 12 (after doing a little more with it).
As for the pencils I was only gonna use the demon and the one with the buildings. The rest
of the stuff I posted to get some opinions on what I should use but in a better state. Also I used
half-finished or unfinished stuff, and not my best so that I can get a crit about my stuff at it's
worst, so that I may build up.

Dekard: I know that I should have my best work in my portfolio but (I don't know if you agree with my
thoughts) I was thinking of showing stuff of good quality for the work I am aiming on getting, that will
also not require me to work for hours, because I feel that if I send my best works to, say, Steve Jackson
Games, they will expect my quarter page b&w work to be of the same quality when most of the
stuff they use isn't even of the quality of the images I have posted (ok, maby the same). So, if they ask me to make
40 images in 3 weeks and I have to spend more than an hour on each one, and get paid only $10 per
image, I figure it would be like suicide to promise quality for a 1/4 page image that is appropriate
for a full page image. But if you think my logic is bad then I can't do differently than to show my
best stuff, because I felt that that was what I should do, it was my brain that suggested otherwise.

Shft5:As I mentioned earlier, I wasn't going to use the unfinished ones, and as told Dekard, the lower
quality was a strategic decision. I didn't calculate that fact that those guys might expect different quality
or a different approach on 1/4 page stuff. Still, your knowlege. even from a
student viewpoint, is more than I have were I live. The only resource I have is this and two or three more
forums, without which I wouldn't have ever learned about commercial art and what to do to get in!

Thanks guys, I would like some more info, like what else to make, stuff to try ect.
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"Don't judge a book by it's cover" -Frank Frazetta