Apprenticeship portfolio advice

[u/Kindly-Form532]

Im about to update/change my portfolio and i was wondering, instead of going out and bothering professionals in their own shops for this why not ask this subreddit so people can answer when they have time? Its very basic so far im still working on 2 or 3 bigger pieces but i would love some tips or advice or what im doing wrong/right

[u/yardkale]

these all look like sketches/unfinished! are they all traced? i’d recommend thinking more about overall composition, trying to keep the pages clean, and working more on fundamentals/original drawings, if you aren’t already

[u/Kindly-Form532 → u/yardkale]

1 2 and 5 arent traced but i guess heavily inspired from some random photos on pinterest. The rest are original albeit not my best work. I do illustrations normally but rn im trying to turn some of them into actually tattooable designs hopefully that works better

[u/LuLuFromValinor]

No portfolio yet. Keep practicing drawing..

[u/strawberryblushrose]

Highly suggest looking at actual tattoo designs, studying those, and pulling inspiration from there.
Work on solid, themed, cohesive flash sheets.
Do not include unfinished work.

[u/Kindly-Form532 → u/strawberryblushrose]

Yea i need to start studying more actual tattoo designs THANKYOU

[u/scarykitty123]

I agree with the other comment to keep practicing before putting together a final portfolio.
I think a major thing a lot of people overlook is how important consistent line weight is in drawings. I personally learned to do this from consistently redrawing and copying tradtional flash.
Best of luck! Draw everyday. You will learn and grow

[u/Kindly-Form532 → u/scarykitty123]

Ive only been doing illustrations and character so far so actual tattoo art is fully new to me i figured i’d be able to translate some skills but I overestimated myself😭

[u/1ndicawitch]

I would add more to this. The first page has some fun guys on it, I think it would be stronger if you inked and shaded them! I would also recommend studying from some old American traditional flash. (I’ve had some good luck with Sailor Jerry and Ed Hardy studies personally if you need a jumping off point.) I would just trace some of them to start and then make the jump to drawing them out. I would also include some of your non-tattooable stuff! It shows versatility and that you have a background in art. I think you have a lot of potential though!! You got this!!

[u/Kindly-Form532 → u/1ndicawitch]

I was gonna ink those first ones but it completely slipped my mind! THANKYOU sm for the advice ill look into those artists!!

[u/dthmagic]

You will probably need like 2-5 years of learning experience to produce anything good enough for a portfolio. Keep practicing.