Plain Sailing with Kris Sale: Portfolio Visit

Taken from Sale's Twitter, search Kris_Sale

I've known Kris Sale for a long time, I respect his opinion as a friend and an Illustrator in equal measure so thought it would be beneficial to ask him to take a look at my Portfolio and website as I knew he'd be honest with me. He graduated Stockport College two years ago and was one of the very people to recommend it to me in the first place, sometimes it's nice to get opinions from people who know you and your capabilities well.

One of my favourite pieces of his 'VS', taken from cargocollective.com/krissale

After showing him my Portfolio and Website he commented on how much my work had improved since last time he saw it, which must be well over a year ago now, and how it seems I'm starting to find myself and a consistent working style. This has been something that has preyed on my mind for a while now, worrying whether all my work has a similar look and if potential clients could link pieces as my own through the style. I contrast to this, I would never want my work to be over-stylised and lose the raw edge my drawings tend to keep. 

One of the main frustrations when organising my portfolio had to be finding a balance between my preferred black and white drawings and more colourful paint and mixed media piece. Luckily this was something Kris picked up on and helped to re-order so that everything flowed much more easily with balanced intervals between the different illustrations.

The main bit of advice Kris had for me was also related to organisation, to start and finish the portfolio (and to some extent the website) with two very strong pieces, so that the viewer is instantly impressed and left remembering you on a high. In reguards to the order of my portfolio at the moment, my opening piece 'Nevermore' I would consider one of my strongest pieces, featuring on my business cards alongside my portfolio and website. However the final piece 'Headache' doesn't say anything extra about my work. Kris suggested either creating a new piece intended for the final page or use the wolf that features on the other 50% of my business cards, food for thought and something that I will definitely switch around.

Thank you for all your help and worldly guidance Kris!