Create a Strong Children's Illustration Portfolio
What should go into a children’s book portfolio? That’s a question I hear often from aspiring illustrators. Here are my Top 10 tips to help you craft a strong portfolio that will get you ready to submit to agents for representation or directly to art directors to land your dream children’s book illustration project.
#1: Understand your target market
Children's publishing is a huge market and you’re likely not going to want to or be able to work across the entire spectrum. Research the market you’re targeting (e.g. Picture Book, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Education) and make sure your work is age-appropriate for the market you choose.
Show the kind of work you want to be hired for.
Example 1: Picture books are for children from 3-7 years old so the theme and subject matter you are illustrating have to be appropriate and appeal to this age group. Although you can explore serious topics like death, your illustration needs to convey this in a sensitive, child-friendly manner (e.g. no gore and violence).
Example 2: If you only want to do Young Adult books, a portfolio full of cute children and animals will not help you land those projects.
#2: Draw what you love
When you start researching your target market, you’ll likely see common topics that always show up. It’s tempting to tick the box and create a list of illustrations that meet this checklist of sorts, but I recommend that you embrace the things you love so you don’t end up with a cookie-cutter portfolio.
Although the early iterations of my portfolio did contain artwork from topics I love, the majority of them were created for topics I felt I had to do because they were popular and/or trending.
While it made my portfolio seem versatile, there wasn’t a strong, consistent voice. By shifting my focus to creating pieces that I was truly passionate about, a natural voice and theme emerged, and I ended up creating my best work. See my revamped portfolio here.
#3: Don’t include things you don’t enjoy drawing
If you don’t like drawing specific things (e.g. vehicles, classroom scenes, etc.), do not include them in your portfolio. The last thing you want is to be hired to draw the things you dislike just because it’s prominently in your portfolio.
I’ve heard this happen to many illustrator friends (including myself)!
#4: Demonstrate narrative / storytelling abilities
Children books tend to be narrative-driven so you need to communicate a story and form an emotional bond with the audience through your illustrations. It’s not enough to just draw a cute character with a generic smile staring straight on towards the audience.
I’ve heard some art directors mention that the ability to tell a story with your art is actually more important than your technical skill in drawing when it comes to illustrating children books, so if this is something you’re struggling with, keep working on your story telling skills.
Need more guidance on how to create captivating, story-driven characters? I have a free guide here with more in-depth advice.
#5: Show various characters with expressions and poses
Characters can be humans, animals or even objects. Related to Tip #4, your characters should be telling a story. Don’t draw a generic smiling character that’s just standing still - include them in action (e.g. running) and showing emotions (e.g. sad).
And make sure your characters are age-appropriate for your target market (see Tip #1). For example, the main character in a middle-grade book is unlikely to be a toddler or baby.
#6: Show a variety of environments and settings
It’s rare that a children’s book only features characters against an empty backdrop.
You need to demonstrate your ability to draw environments and settings that support the narrative (relating to Tip #4 again) and show the interaction between your characters and their environments.
Try to include a variety of settings (e.g. indoor scenes, outdoor/nature scenes).
#7: Show a variety of illustration types
Children books contain a mix of illustration types like double-page-spread, half-spread, vignettes and spot illustrations. Your portfolio should therefore include these different types to demonstrate your understanding and skill to do these.
If you want to illustrate Middle-Grade books, make sure your portfolio includes Black & White illustrations.
Interested in book cover illustrations? Include cover art in your portfolio.
#8: Quality over quantity
Don’t include everything you have ever illustrated in your portfolio. You may have heard the saying that your portfolio is only as strong as your weakest piece - this is very true so only show your best work (10-18 pieces).
#9: Get professional critique
Get your portfolio professionally critiqued by agents, art directors or successful illustrators you admire. These are usually advertised through professional illustration/publishing bodies like SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) or BookTrust (in the UK).
I know it is daunting to hear less than glowing reviews of your work when you’ve put your heart and soul into it, but don’t be too proud or afraid of criticism. Getting constructive feedback from professionals is essential to your growth as an illustrator.
#10: Update your portfolio regularly
Review your portfolio every couple of months to refresh it and switch out older pieces with newer, stronger work.
Your skills and style will evolve over time so make sure your portfolio is always showing your best work and is still relevant to the market you are targeting.
Do you have any other questions about children’s book portfolios? Leave a comment or drop me an email.
