Continuity of Subject: A Portfolio Checklist from Rosanne Kakos-Main courtesy of Harold Underdown's

Getting out of the Art File over at Harold Underdown's The Purple Crayon website has lots of great advice for illustrators.

Harold's amazing resource, Writing, Illustrating, and Publishing Children's Books: The Purple Crayon website

What struck me most was the list of tips from designer Rosanne Kakos-Main for illustrators to consider when putting together their portfolios, that included:

Continuity of Subject: Can you illustrate the same subject from different points of view, in different situations, showing different feelings?

It's a point well-worth considering, because it can prove to an editor and art director that you're ready to handle a project where we visually follow the same character in different circumstances.

Read the full article here.

Thanks, Rosanne and Harold!

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee

Tips for Illustrators from Rosanne Kakos-Main, courtesy of Harold Underdown

In Harold's article, Getting Out of the Art File, designer Rosanne Kakos-Main offered seven tips for illustrators to consider when putting together their portfolio.

Here are three:

Composition: interesting points of view, above, below, foreshortening, distortions, what is in the foreground and background. Consider what you do when you have your camera in hand, how you choose the contents, edges, and positioning of what enters the frame, how different lenses affect how much is included.

Subject Matter: What is (are) your subject(s) doing? Who are they? Do they have unusual expressions or clothing? Are they in an unusual predicament? Do they evoke an emotion? Are they up close or far away?

Lighting: Where is your light source? Dramatic lighting can often catch the eye... a candle lighting a dark room, the late afternoon sun casting huge shadow

Though it's not mentioned in Harold's article, Brian Selznick's The Marvels offers many examples of these three tips... often in a single image, like here:

The full article is worth checking out. Okay, one more tip that was really good:

Continuity of Subject: Can you illustrate the same subject from different points of view, in different situations, showing different feelings?

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee