Updating my portfolio
Today is a slow day... and I don't particularly like slow days. A slow day means I don't have any clients banging down my door* trying to get a design or illustration from me - and I subsequently don't have any money coming in. Fortunately, my presence online has been diminished lately because I've not had very many slow days. Business has been good and I've been able to create some interesting pieces.
*Metaphorically speaking of course - most of my clients aren't local enough to come to my house... and those that are would have to get past the front desk downstairs, so I'm not worried!
Today is a slow day, though, so I decided to work on my portfolio.
One of the ways I find clients is by looking at projects posted online and bidding on them. Usually, I try to attach examples from my portfolio that are relevant to the project at hand, but sometimes I just don't have anything to post. I know I can do the job (that's why I bid in the first place), but I don't have anything but my word to support that... and that's where adding to my portfolio comes in handy.
This morning I made a list of five things that I see posted a lot, but I don't have examples to show I can do it. One of the items on my list is something I've been working on for a couple of weeks (in my down time) and it's still only about a third of the way done. I'll continue to work on it, and once it's ready I'll be posting here**.
**That's my way of saying I'm not going to tell you what the project is - mostly because I want to get you to check back, but also because I don't know how long it's going to take to complete and I don't need the added pressure of people trying to get me to work on it faster.
One of the items on my list is a fashion illustration*. A lot of clients are looking for illustrators who can create fashion illustrations, and though I did plenty of that during my time in college, I've not created a new one since then. Add to that the dominance of vector art and anything I would have drawn during college would be dated by now anyway. So this is what I came up with:
*What is a "fashion illustration?" Well, an illustration that highlights... er... fashion. Typically these might be done for magazines or ads, but they usually are created to promote a mood or highlight a garment.
Continuing in the tradition I stared with a previous entry, I'll let you guess who this model is. Of course, there are probably plenty of you who know who it is just because I'm the illustrator, but if you're genuinely guessing I'd love to see what people come up with... and if you get it right, you'll get the reward of knowing you can identify the model in this drawing***
***Okay, as rewards go, it's pretty lame. Did I mention I'm having a slow day? I can't afford to do anything more expensive!
Keep checking back and I hope to have more updates to my portfolio posted soon!
Janet Jackson?
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Nope... though not a bad guess since she's professionally related to my model... sort of.
On a side note, as I was thinking about one of the other projects referred to in this post, Janet crossed my mind as subject matter - and then she left it.
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Professionally related... Paula??
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Er... while it's true that Paula and Janet are related professionally (kudos for remembering that!), this isn't her...
Though that could be a whole new game: Seven Degrees of Janet Jackson!
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Who is it then?? I'm totally clueless! Janet and Paula were my only 2 guesses.
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Okay... it's been a week so I'll end the suspense of those who were interested enough to guess the identity of my model.
My model is.....
... Diana Ross (circa 1969)
And for the record, her professional connection to Janet is more directly through Michael - and if you don't know what that connection is, I'll be happy to fill you in... or you can just get his first album (Diana Ross Presents the Jackson Five) or watch his first movie (The Wiz - starring Diana Ross) or remember his first nose job (said to be an attempt to make him look more like Diana Ross)...
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It is terrifying to think of what a commodity art has become
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