#that said almost every SINGLE person in artist alley did……. i feel like im in a different world like Hello did you not get the memo | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

overdrivels · 6 years ago

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hey torby do you think a one column or multi colum tumblr is better, portfolio wise? im not looking to apply to any artist alleys or whatever any time soon but im curious

Personally, I like multicolumn. I can see your art in a single instant without needing to scroll or make it overly complicated for myself. Some other judges might be cool with single, but everyone has their own opinion.

Though I would be careful about using Tumblr to showcase your art for artist alley. If you do, make sure your Tumblr only has your art and nothing else. Some people have literally just given me their main and left me guessing as to which is their art and which isn't. I don't have time for that--over 100 portfolios an hour, Duck, 100 an hour, that sort of speed is illegal in some states--and some judges will ignore it even if you have a 'my art' tag or something on the side. Make it easy for us to review your stuff.

This goes doubly for Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or any platform not made for solely for art. (But to be fair, even a few of those platforms are really rough for me to go through. The best I saw which I don't recommend because some people might not react well is someone creating their portfolio on imgur solely for the application. That was so easy to scroll through. But some judges don't like that, so YMMV.)

I had an applicant where they linked their Facebook page and the first six posts we're about them getting rejected from artist alleys. I couldn't move past that to find their art. And when I finally did, there was only an image of their table and some merchandise at really hard to see resolutions.

There is a surprising amount of thought that should go into portfolios, but just some minor points:

Should be semi-professional and contain what you feel is your best work up front. I hate link hell where I have to click through 5 or 10 links to get to your images or there is a link for every category that shouldn’t be a category. (e.g. Site > Works > choice of pencil/charcoal/oil/Photoshop/Adobe/Maya/whatever > Fanart > TV Shows/Anime/Manga/Movies/Comic Books > Dr. Who/Supernatural/etc. YOU GET THE POINT.) Not to say that you can't have sketches or doodles or need a paid website, but just make it easy for me to determine what you're trying to showcase or sell as your product.

Test loading times. If it takes forever to load your images, you may want to resize, lower resolution, or use a different file type (unless it seriously compromises your image quality).

Too small or too low of a resolution. I know what I said in the previous point, but if your image is so small that I can't tell the quality, chances are I'll think you stole it or have no idea what you're doing. If you don't want it stolen, you can watermark the shit out of it.

I love seeing people showcasing their specialty instead of what they think is popular or what might sell. There was an applicant who is skilled, so fucking skilled, at drawing plants. So much plant theme. It was in almost every piece and they did it so fucking well. I didn't care it wasn't anime, but it showed they knew what they had confidence in and what they were doing. They made that a centerpiece and I'm like, '...yeah. YEAHHHHHH.'

More than one or two pieces, please. I can't tell your skill level or what you plan on selling from just one piece or picture. Please, give me some shit to work with.

Please update and clean up your portfolios. I see portfolio where there's been 3 gorgeous pictures in the last year and then there's work from 6 years ago immediately after where the art is miles apart. That gives me whiplash. Don't give me whiplash.

I don’t recommend putting your art in chronological order. For the same reason as above. Best works first.

There’s a lot that goes into this stuff and I sometimes wish I could call these artists and be like, “Hey. Your link is broken” or “Hey, I would love it if you could display some of your [specialty] stuff because it showcases your talents better” or just give general advice on what to do so that they have a better chance. but I can’t do that for several hundred people. So this is all I can do.

#ask #aliceinmisanthrope

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