Portfolio Project
Island in the Sun by Barbara Burns
This year for day job hunting, I put together a black portfolio book [9" x 12"] to carry around in a black bag which has one side clear photo size pockets. I put some of my ATC’s in them for decoration.
You can find the correct size folder or book locally or online for original artworks or reproductions. I chose the size that would be easiest for me to make digitally, carry easily and easy to layout on a table for illustrating my skills.
The sample artworks are mostly from various graphic design projects from different day jobs and self-employed projects … the combination book and bag make it much easier to carry the portfolio around than the zippered business portfolio I was using.
I had an interview last Wednesday and I was showing various graphics to the recruiter as I talked about my skills … on the inside of the very first page though, I have a watercolor painting - yes, this painting shown above - I carry the original in the book.
This is one of my favorite watercolor paintings … it is so pretty with lots of emotion and energy … most people do not think of “pretty” as a goal for serious artwork … but think about it … the world is full of lots of ugly things and it is the pretty things that capture our attention, make us smile and lift up our spirits.
This watercolor painting caught her eye immediately as I was paging past it to get to another selection … I stopped and showed it to her … it made her smile … and it set the tone for our entire meeting … relaxed, informative and art focused.
Graphic design, whether it is advertising for a product or precise measurements for equipment overlay painting is art just as much as fine art watercolor or oil paintings.
I bought the portfolio at a local Hobby Lobby store and the bag came from the sewing section of a local Michael’s store … the book project came together because I needed to show my artwork at interviews … the bag happened after I went to an interview and nearly dropped the book trying to juggle a purse and portfolio book. Appearing clumsy and off-balance is not how I want to present myself at interviews so I found a solution to keep myself prepared and relaxed for interviewing.
