Hello everyone, I hope you're all doing well. Im a junior concept artist who recently got laid off (to no fault of my own) and been trying to get my footing, but Ive been struggling to find another job (alot of places are asking for Senior positions). I thought maybe I should try my hand at illustration since I have a background in it. However, I dont think its a good idea of me to use my concept art portfolio for illustration works. Should I completely revamp or can I utilize some aspects and add on top of it?
Thank you for reading!
My Artstation
@Roselyn-Jerome Hi Roselyn, sorry to hear you got laid off. That really sucks. You obviously have the skill to draw figures as well as backgrounds really well! It looks amazing. What sort of style in illustration would you seek? Your work seems more oriented towards graphic novels, not sure about picture books for young kids. In your current portfolio there is no storytelling yet. That's the most important thing in illustration. So I would say you really need to rework your portfolio. Check out previous posts about the place of character design in an illustration portfolio. Can't remember which thread it was, but it's been discussed thoroughly before. Check out other's work and see how you can fit in. Best of luck!!
@Chantal-Goetheer Thank you so much for your insight! and the complement 
. I would like to do something along the lines of "Imaginative Realism" (A nod to James Gurney's book,But I swear its an actual style). You're definitely right about the lack of storytelling, I'll probably use the concepts I already do have here and make some narrative pieces for it, So all is not lost!
@Roselyn-Jerome Hi! Chantal's right--you really do have really nice work! I could see it adapting to YA covers. (The older the reader, the more room for realism there seems to be.) If you have lettering skills, all the better. But as Chantal said, and the SVSLearn guys says constantly, book illustration is all about storytelling, storytelling, storytelling. So you will have to revamp your portfolio. Check out some of the past Critique Arenas, because they talk about this a lot there. There is a class/handout somewhere with a portfolio checklist. (Sorry, I can't remember where at the moment. Maybe someone else will!)
I can relate because I had a previous career doing realistic art, and it took me longer to transition than I thought it would. You almost have to unlearn some things. But if you can accept the amount of work it will take, your drawing and painting skills are definitely there. And the good news is that there's not just one style for kidlit.
While you're at it, check out SCBWI and start following kidlitartists on Twitter and Instagram. That too can help you to get an idea of what art directors are looking for.
Good luck!
@Roselyn-Jerome your work is very nice and I can see you have great painting and drawing skills! Solid all around.
That said, I do think you will have to make a totally new portfolio and I'm not sure you should use development work you have already done for your images.
The first thing you will need to do is decide what kind of illustration you want to move into. They all require different things from your images. If you want to do book covers, that is one kind of portfolio and can utilize some "collage" type scenes that show multiple parts of a story all at once Think of a movie poster idea or the harry potter book covers. Then there is narrative illustration, which is typically publishing work. But even that is broken into graphic novel, YA, and children's book. Editorial is another type of illustration and solves yet another kind of image based problem.
So, first decide which direction you are headed, then start making new work for that area AFTER you have thoroughly researched that market. Too many concept artists try to switch over and rely on flashy painting but that doesn't actually get you too far in these other areas.
@Chantal-Goetheer Thank you so much for your insight! and the complement . I would like to do something along the lines of "Imaginative Realism" (A nod to James Gurney's book,But I swear its an actual style). You're definitely right about the lack of storytelling, I'll probably use the concepts I already do have here and make some narrative pieces for it, So all is not lost!
