For this exercise, I looked at the illustrations I had created for this unit and put my favourites side by side. I then sorted them in different categories to try to understand the style or styles I am interested in:
Although I like these pieces for various reasons, they do not always feel finished. Also I am still experimenting and there is a lack of cohesion even though I can see some trends (funny characters, sketch-like illustrations). However, even when I draw cartoony characters, I still hesitate between watercolour and different types of digital rendering.
I would normally would choose to create a portfolio online but at that stage, I felt that this would not represent my work in the best way and that my work is evolving too much and still goes in many directions. I therefore created an InDesign document with a few pieces.
The intention was to create a first page with all the illustrations followed by a page for each piece with some comments. However it does not really work as I could see that these pieces would not necessarily be in my portfolio.
Nevertheless, this exercise has been very useful to reflect on my portfolio and what I would like to include in it even if I have not found all the answers yet.
I looked at the portfolios of a few illustrators I like, in order to understand how they achieve some coherence with the different pieces they exhibit. It included the work of Clare Lewis (https://www.clarelewisillustration.co.uk/), Jason Lyon (https://www.jason-lyon.com/) and Alex Green (https://www.alexgreen-illustration.co.uk/). These illustrators have a strong style. They tend to use one particular technique that they have perfected throughout their work and have complementary colour palettes.
In a way, I feel that I will have to make some choices at some point and focus on some techniques I enjoy the most.
Catherine Roux Degree in Illustration 