Student Portfolio In Need of Crit Please!

[GankerBanker]

Hey All,

This is my first time posting anything although I have been looking at the site for a long time. I would really appreciate a solid crit on my work because Im starting to hit a wall.

vist my website www.thatguyomar.com

[magnut]

GankerBanker,

We need more context of what we're critiquing. I have no idea (based upon these 2 images) of what you wish to do, or if you wish to do it professionally full time, or...?

This would help make the critiques better and more specific for you, instead of getting off-track, not knowing what your goals and aspirations are.

[Hitsu//San]

Agreed, anyway you'd better change your coloring cause they're not so fit for this kind of work you're doing.

[look]

I like your comic works. They are neat and have a cool style.
You indicated this is a student portfolio, what major are you studying? And like others mentioned, what field you are thinking of heading to?

[magnut]

GankerBanker,

I must have been sleepy when I posted earlier. I didn't see your website link.

Duh.

Now that I have, I do know one thing; if you wish to pursue a career in illustration and/or design and/or animation, in addition to comics, then I suggest you do what you can to broaden your range of stylistic ability. You have a set style that you use for your comics, which looks the same when you do comics, or superhero comics (like the flying woman), or caricatures.

Having only one level of ability - perceived or real - will gravely limit you as you get out into the real world.

I would suggest you figure out what various kinds of things you can do with a broad range of stylistic ability. I suspect you know this already, looking at your online portfolio.

However, if you can do your research and find 5 people whose quality of work you would most like to aspire to, then find out how they assemble their professional portfolios, and then emulate those portfolios - not by copying content, but the format of what is being presented - then you will be well on your way to assembling a portfolio that will make you look like someone who can do 'Job A' in one style, then 'Job B' in another, while being able to take on 'Job C' because you know how to do caricatures, and 'Job D' because you know how to storyboard for commercials, 'Job E' because you know how to storyboard for animation, etc., etc., etc.

You get my drift, yes?

I once got to visit the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, CA. I sat with someone who looked at my portfolio, and he told me a few ways to really impress people with my presentation. He suggested something along the lines of...:

Take your 10 best character designs, and then do the turnarounds on them. Show in your designs how your characters work from every angle; how they move. Remember, you won't be traveling with your designs to Korea or wherever they will be sculpted/manufactured/animated/whatever. Your work must speak for itself. THAT's how good a job you must do with everything you design.

After you get those character designs done that way, then do the same for props & vehicle designs. Do a total of 10 of those combined.

Then do 10 different environments.

Then, take your favorite live-action television series or movie, something that everyone would recognize. For instance, let's say you pick The Sopranos. Then you make FIVE different style versions of character designs, as if you were going to each version differently:

1) As if they were designed for an Anime series (which one? Pokemon? Something that resembles the style from Ponyo? Akira?)
2) As if they were going to be made in a very realistic-ishly fashioned Pixar or Dreamworks-type 3D movie
3) As if they were going to be animated in the 1970's Hanna Barbera style
4) As if they were being designed in the style of Bruce Timm's Justice League animation work
5) As if they were being designed in the fashion of Spongebob Squarepants

Include several environments (no more than 3) for each category.

This could work if you picked Battlestar Galactica, Big Bang Theory, Law & Order, The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, whatever!

DO YOUR RESEARCH ON HOW PROFESSIONAL DESIGN WORK IS DONE.

(Remember, each character/prop/vehicle set must show the turnarounds - side view, straight-on, back & 3/4!)

What's the purpose of this? TO SHOW THAT YOU HAVE RANGE. To show that you can take a concept and run with it in many different directions! You MUST see how this will make you look like you can do ANYTHING, yes?

The more you expand your range, the more you are able to do SO MANY DIFFERENT THINGS! Toy design IS NOT THE ONLY THING YOU CAN DO WHEN YOU DEVELOP YOUR SKILLS. YOU DO NOT WANT TO LIMIT YOURSELF TO JUST ONE KIND OF SKILL.

How do you think your portfolio would be received if it looked like that, as compared to what you have in your portfolio now?

You have the ability to do all sorts of various stylizations. I see it in your portfolio. However, I think you have to push the contrast quite a bit, to show you have the ability to be flexible when a client requests something that doesn't automatically make you poop yourself out of fear that you can't do a particular style.

Do you want to make a living from your creative skills? If so, I'd suggest you really start pushing yourself toward an all-encompassing portfolio that will show everyone that you have what it takes to do any kind of job!

Good luck. =)