This past Monday night (the 15th), I had a portfolio consultation with Penguin Books Art Director, Giuseppe Castellano, via his online school, The Illustration Department. I’ve learned there are other art education sites that offer similar consultations, such as Society Of Visual Storytelling (group setting) and Schoolism (one-on-one, limited spots). I went with Mr. Castellano for a few different reasons: 1) the consultation was very affordable; 2) it’s a one-on-one consultation, so it was going to be personalized; 3) I would be talking directly with someone whose job it is to give illustrators work: an art director. This was important. While he’s also an illustrator and a designer, he’s an art director, and that meant that I could expect him to give me the perspective of someone who looks for certain things when hiring and as a fellow, trained artist; 4) I’d read good things about his services.

It had been years since I’d had my portfolio reviewed, but never quite like this.

My past portfolio reviews generally consisted of 5-10 minute reviews with other artists and editors at comic book conventions, mainly the San Diego ComicCon. These reviews are obviously short, and editors tend to point out very obvious things they can spot quickly: anatomy problems, storytelling problems, background problems, perspective problems… They tell you what you need to work on and you move along. I remember a few noteworthy reviews:

DC Editor (whose name escapes me): Do you like Quentin Tarantino? (Why, yes, I do.) Because your stuff has a very choreographed look.

Paul Smith (artist): You need to work on your perspective and anatomy. You have about 10 years of work ahead of you.

Will Eisner (yes, THE Will Eisner): Remember, black is the absence of light. You have to think about that when deciding where you want to put black on the page.

Everyone else: Work on your anatomy, backgrounds, and perspective.

These reviews are fine. And had I worked on those basic things more studiously, more intensely, I probably would’ve broken in to mainstream comics some years ago.

Things are different, now. My status in life is different, my goals are different, my work is different, my focus is different. I’m mature enough to know there are still fundamental areas in which I need to improve, like all artists, even professionals. But assessing whether one’s portfolio is good enough to bring in work is a whole different game.

I’ll keep the critique to myself (as Morpheus said to Neo, what the Oracle told him was for him alone), but I will say that the experience was quite good. Aside from the normal improvements all representational artists need to make, Mr. Castellano, through pointing out his favorite and least favorite pieces and his critique, gave me some things to think about as I prepare to start new work for my portfolio.

What made this experience different is that it was a long conversation. It was not the short one-sided critique, the kind you get at the aforementioned comic conventions. As one would pay a business consultant to aid them on their business venture, I paid Mr. Castellano to consult on my current portfolio for at least an hour. And he wanted our time to be conversational, encouraging me to interrupt with questions and even to disagree with him if I felt the need. This is much different than the “shut up and listen” approach we’re told to take when showing a portfolio to an editor. And it was fun. It was fun talking about my art with someone who could professionally critique it. It was fun being able to ask questions about what I was trying to do versus what he saw. It was fun trying to find ways to present the pieces in my portfolio in a way that conveyed what each piece was intended to be. And it was fun learning another way to approach a finished piece of artwork to achieve a different result.

I plan do another consultation later this year, once several pieces in my portfolio have been replaced with newer, better pieces.

Critiques are just a person’s opinion, of course, and you don’t have to agree with everything the critic is saying. But if their critique is coming from an educated place, as Mr. Castellano’s did, then their assessment should at least be considered. Careful consideration of a critique should, hopefully, lead to some rectification of your own views about your art, your goals, and what information in the critique you want to use. Ultimately, it’s your decision on how you want to proceed, but a professional critique should never be dismissed.

All artists can benefit from a portfolio consultation, from hobbyist to amateur to professional. For the hobbyist, it’s a chance to learn something about the craft that he or she enjoys so much, so that their next artistic endeavors are met with a fresher approach and new ideas. It keeps the hobby exciting. For the amateur, it’s a chance to learn what might take their work to that proverbial “next level”, helping to refine any potential they have and hopefully get their art to the point where it still stays true to their vision but is also worthy of getting paid work.

As for the professional? I’ll use Rush drummer, Neil Peart, as an example of a seasoned, well-respected professional who still understands that there’s always something new to learn.

Peart, before the recording of Rush’s album, Vapor Trails, decided to go take drum lessons. The man who composes on his drumkit, is highly revered by nearly the entire pop/rock drum world, the man who is pretty much the father of progressive rock drumming, decided he needed to take drum lessons. So he did, from a jazz drummer named Freddie Gruber. Peart learned new things about motion and relaxation. It affected him in such a way that, upon playing once again with his bandmates, they noticed that while he sounded like the Peart they knew, his drumming felt different as they played.

A professional knows there’s always something to learn. If they don’t, they stagnate. It’s fine if a professional illustrator wants to draw the same way over and over again, but I’m sure the artist would grow bored and tired, which would just affect the artwork. Not to mention that it would be a huge blow to the ego if that stagnating professional became irrelevant.

Every artist should seek out a portfolio review once in a while.