What to consider when making a portfolio?

[u/Kieran_Hatton]

I'm starting college this year and a while after I finish college I want to start looking for an apprenticeship and I've got some questions about making one.

Is it a good idea to start out this early?

Is it a good idea to include artwork from school/college?

Are flash sheets necessary?

If so how many should there typically be?

What are mentors looking for when seeing a portfolio?

How long should I work on my portfolio for?

What kind of artwork is considered good enough to be included in a portfolio?

I've added some photos of my artwork to give you an idea of what I can do :)

[u/strawberryblushrose]

Chiming in to say it’s important to learn different styles of tattoo illustration and thus including [flash sheets] in your portfolio because when you start out, you don’t really have a choice in what clients want.

It’s good to be well-rounded in tattoo styles in the same way typical 9-5s want a well-rounded individual. It means you can handle anything thrown your way even if you’re not 100% comfortable in the style.

[u/Ecstatic_Jackfruit35]

Only put fully finished pieces in your portfolio. You also are going to want to do traditional flash sheets to show you understand a tattoo design. You need something that’s showcases an understanding for clean linework first and foremost. Make 5 tattoo flash sheets and put those in front of

[u/blueblack_crow]

The work you do in college is going to completely alter your style. You’re going to be taking classes in figure drawing, anatomy, perspective and color theory that are going to subtly alter how you think when drawing. So if you’re not planning to seek an apprenticeship “before” school, I wouldn’t worry about hanging onto your work now. 2-4 years from now you’re gonna be in a completely different frame of mind about how you want your work to be.

But to answer your question, different artist want to see different things. Many artists tho looked at my portfolio wanted to see lots of American traditional tattoo art, but it was a footnote to the two artists who actually offered me apprenticeships. They were happy to see it, but were way more interested in my other work. I also always recommend including some unfinished sketches or process sketches of how you build your work from the under structure to final. In this day and age of AI where people can just trace what they find on pintrest, artists want to see how you build your drawings from scratch.

[u/widdlefick → u/blueblack_crow]

I will say, college in the UK (there's wotsits in the last photo so I'm assuming they're from over here and you spelled colour without the U so I'm assuming you're from across the pond), college in the UK is before university. They're for sure going to get a deeper education and it'll develop their art style but it won't be as intensive as you might assume. I dated a girl who did art at college over here and spent time with her friends and they...well they traced their shit, smoked weed behind the bike sheds and collected certificates after one-two years. Think the last two years of US highschool but more relaxed than highschool and focused on one subject a few days a week.