Portfolio Feedback Request

[mcucchi]

Hi friends

I just added some images to my portfolio and I was wondering if anyone would have some time to take a quick look.

I feel a little conflicted because I see my work as being a little too old/weird for a picture book audience but younger/more whimsical than "adult" illustration. I am very inspired by the likes of Chris Riddell, Brett Helquist, and Chris Mould lately so I've sort of determined that the mid-grade/young adult world may be a good fit. I would also be open to commercial/licensing work because I've been a designer for the last 12 years.

Would this portfolio successfully attract those jobs? Am I missing stuff? I have ideas but I've been staring at it for way too long haha. Perhaps someone with fresh eyeballs can give me some insight that I hadn't considered before! Any time you have would be amazing. Thanks everyone!

moniquecucchi.com

[Jeremy Ross]

Hi @mcucchi, I really like your first piece with the bicycle and animals, definitely geared towards children’s picture books.

Many of your other pieces feel geared towards middle grade, but I absolutely love the sketchiness and hatch work.

Some of the pieces with more detailed faces feel like they would be used in magazines or editorial publications.

Your work is really good but you may have too much variety, unless of course that is your goal.

Who is your target audience?

[mcucchi]

Hi @Jeremy-Ross, thanks os much for the feedback!

I'm definitely most interested in mid-grade. A dream assignment would be something like "A Series of Unfortunate Events" or one of Neil Gaiman's kids' stories (think "The Graveyard Book")—anything weird and fantastical.

Failing that, lol, I'm happy to do commercial, licensing, or editorial work. I've been a designer for several years.

The variety question bugs me as well. I'm not sure if I should go all in on the mid-grade stuff or if it's worth keeping some of the more commercial-looking pieces in there to show depth.

[Jeremy Ross]

Hi @mcucchi, glad it helped.

If middle grade is your goal, my suggestion would be to include your best 12 - 20 illustrations with some mock-ups to show how they look in a book for agents and publishers to get a feel for the finished and polished look. You might want to move picture book style illustrations to a separate page.

[mcucchi]

@Jeremy-Ross Great ideas! Thanks I hadn't considered mockups.

[Nyrryl Cadiz]

@mcucchi hi! I like your work. You have a lot of great pieces but a lot of them are one-offs, or single characters just standing there. You lack a lot of narrative works. Try illustrating more characters interacting with their environment or other characters. Also illustrate more sequential pieces showing the same characters over multiple illustrations. This will show that you know how to draw your characters consistently.

[mcucchi]

@Nyrryl-Cadiz I totally agree with this!! Great call. Thanks!