How to Start Your Artist Portfolio for Freelance Illustrators

Written by a human. Mistakes, opinions, and all. Imperfect on purpose.

Like most artists, I once dreamt of drawing whatever I wanted and being able to sell that. Some illustrators are living this dream, and that's amazing! But what if we're still trying to figure out how to get there?

Honestly, I'm not there yet. I'm everywhere, but "there" at this time. But if I had a penny for every time someone has ever told me to make a proper portfolio when I was starting out, I'd probably have a ton of money now.

While grateful for the advice, how does one even start making a "proper portfolio"?

Research, Research, Research

Ha! Another vague piece of advice!

Fear not. I'm not going to leave you hanging. We're going to cover what kind of research you need to do for your portfolio.

Much like in life itself, you need to know your goal and understand your purpose. By having all this information, you start getting a sense of direction of where you're going, THEN you get to figure out how to highlight your work for your end goal.

Questions You Need to Answer as a Freelance Illustrator

Where do you want your art to be?

This question has to be the most important question you need to answer as a freelance illustrator before you start working on your portfolio.

Understanding where you want your art to be really narrows down what you need to have in your portfolio.

Your artist portfolio is not going to look the same for every single gig out there. There's a HUGE difference between a children's book illustrator's portfolio and a surface designer's portfolio.

Once you've answered this question, the next ones will be much easier to process.

What kind of art should be in your portfolio?

Your artist portfolio should include artworks that are relevant to your goal. If you want to do art commissions, include artworks that reflect your offers. If you want to be a game character designer, include character designs in your portfolio. Yes, it sounds like a no-brainer, but sometimes it's hard not to include every single thing when you love the art you make.

I personally suffer from this, but that's why I have two separate Instagram pages now (@cozdeam and @cozdeamdraws).

Do you need to use a specific medium?

If you plan on doing art commissions, then any medium or drawing software should be fine. However, this changes if you want to work for certain industries or specific companies.

For instance, some companies want their artists to be experts in Clip Studio Paint or Adobe Photoshop. If you're aiming for a children's book project, then some clients prefer traditional watercolor illustrations.

Your portfolio needs to align with the kind of company, client, or project that you want to be a part of.

What part of the industry, company, or project inspires you?

Aside from knowing where you want your art to be, it's also important to understand why you want it to be there.

What about this dream job inspires you? Do you really want to be a part of the production team, or do you just like their product?

Understanding what inspires you to aim for that industry, company, or project will help you understand which of your artworks need to be in your portfolio. It helps you understand the essence that you need to capture.

I play some Trading Card Games, and I admire the artists who work on the cards.

Am I inspired by these artists?

Yes. Absolutely.

Do I think my own artwork is inspired by these trading cards?

No.

Do I think I can capture the essence they might be looking for in an artwork?

Based on the ones I play? Also no.

Understanding all this tells me that I need to start working on art pieces that align with the industry.

The Final Say

Understanding where you want your art to be, what kind of art your portfolio needs, what medium you want to highlight, and what about your dream job inspires you can make a big difference.

There's more than just one way to start your portfolio. For some, it's just a matter of organizing their existing artworks. For some, it's starting from scratch.

Ultimately, doing your research helps pinpoint where you need to go more clearly.