I draw all my illustrations on a very simple, traditional no-screen graphics tablet. It's what I got used to as a kid.
Huion sent me their Inspiroy Frego M graphics tablet in exchange for a review: store.huion.com/de/products/inspiroy-frego-m?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=frego-kristina
(Use the discount code KRIS10 for 10% off!)
As a longtime user of the very old Wacom Intuos 4, I've been looking for alternatives for when it will no longer run. However not all graphics tablets feel exactly the same way, so I was happy to find out this one does!
The size is very similar to the Intuos, it's a bit more lightweight and compact even. I don't need any touch buttons or other controls. Just the right feel, and good pressure sensitivity, which this one has!
My only critique: the included pen is too thin - more like an Apple pencil. When I make this Inspiroy Frego M my main tablet, I will need to get the thicker pen that Huion also offers.
Pen nibs are also included, which is nice! Now I feel prepared for all eventualities :)
I also love that Huion also has an anti AI/pro human art policy!
(The artwork included in this post is an older one.)
Hello!! I just saw your “Portfolio Tips” post and I had a question: do you think it would look bad on a portfolio to include pieces that aren’t entirely “finished,” sketches or concept pages? I’m applying for a job and I can’t decide what to show them. Thank you so much!!!
I think it can be a great thing! In many art directors' interviews about portfolios they mention that they like to see an artist's approach and thinking.
There are different ways you can do this. At first, I think a portfolio's job is to give a great and coherent first impression of your strongest work that clearly communicates your style and desired market(s), and displaying an arrangement of finished images, at first, will create that. Now you have a potential client's attention!
Then in some portfolios, when you click on a work, it will open a page that also shows sketches and process images for that very work, and maybe that art on the finished product, or mockups or whatever, along with some information. From what I gathered, art directors love this.
Now unfortunately, my own portfolio builder has limitations that don't let me do this exact thing. T_T If you click on any work at www.kristinagehrmann.com , it can only provide a bigger image plus a description, not more images.
I try to get around this by providing an extra page about my process in "About": https://www.kristinagehrmann.com/process . At least for now.
Now this is only for my own experience with illustration. If you're looking to go into fields like concept art, then your process will be a more important part of the portfolio - because concept art is about the ideas, the concepts, and you have to demonstrate an understanding of the production pipeline. There's excellent advice on that in videos like these: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HSjXZCx468
"Happy Place", endpaper illustration I drew for "Sistah Samurai" by
Tatiana Obey . For the special edition published by The Broken Binding! 😊
My goal was to capture the most relaxing and happiest mood that I possibly could.
I also contributed 2 manga-style interior illustrations and slipcase art.
hello! im sorry if you get asked this a lot, but I was curious how you got into doing art ttrpg? and what should an interested artist have in their portfolio? thank you 💖
hi! so i wrote out a big "how to" before re-reading your message and considering you maybe just... asked how it happened for *me*, not necessarily how someone else should do it LOL.
so, how it happened for me:
i've been actively courting freelance art work since ~2009, and fantasy ttrpg is a natural extension of my interests - my portfolio was already full of world of warcraft fanart by the time ttrpgs & D&D really started having their modern moment. TTRPG is a good low-to-mid level place to find leads, as well, because the barrier for entry is super low for creators, which means a lot MORE projects to go around. (If you want to make a board game, your artist has to know a LOT about packaging, printing, manufacturing, graphic design, etc. if you wrote a D&D module and just want to publish it on itch.io? your artist only needs to know how to send you a decent sized .jpg.)
as far as portfolio goes, when i started getting consistent replies to my cold emails, my portfolio had mostly covers and half-pages (ie, narrative illustrations), portraits, and animals. If you want to be more well-rounded you could also include pieces focusing on environments, items, and creatures. Don't include anything unless it's GOOD though. (i am so serious about this - bad work in your portfolio makes the good stuff look like a fluke.)
now.
if you wanted a "how to" answer, here is 600 words lol.
I'm gonna start with the base assumption that your work is already hirable so we can focus on just like, specialization + client acquisition tips. getting a folio up to snuff is a whole other can of beans
short version goes like this:
this whole thing only works if you have the ability to honestly self-assess.
new work & skills: you should have fresh stuff that's a snapshot of what you can do *right now.* this doesn't mean old work can't stay in your folio if it's still good, but a small, current folio that really hits is WAY better than a bloated old one with irrelevant studies or student work.
new artistic peers: as you continue to evolve as a professional, you should have an idea of which other working artists your work is most similar to, in terms of skill/tone/specialties/other relevant skills (3D/graphic design/etc) in order to see how you stack up to your """competition""" for lack of a better word. Additionally those artistic peers have hangout zones (discords or FB groups, etc) where you can talk shop & pass around job leads.
research peers' clients: research who those peers are contracting with. See if your work would be a fit for them; if so, find their contact info and put it on your list. Those clients are probably also promoting other similar projects or publishers on their feeds; twitter has a handy "you might also want to follow" list that has other similar accounts you can explore. You can also work backwards from the product to the creator (see any cool battle maps, CCGs, board games, etc? find out who made it and whether they're the ones doing the art hiring.) Additionally, those discords & fb groups I mentioned will have leads (of varying quality) shared around that you should be assessing as they come in.
reach out to new batch of clients: cold email. be realistic about who's worth contacting, but don't self-disqualify. that part is a balance. art directors are people with problems to solve, and you need to be able to A. anticipate the problems they need solving, and B. confidently (and honestly) let them know exactly what you can do for them. Attach A FEW, SMALL, RELEVANT jpgs that they can easily download and keep for reference. do not send massive high res attachments, their inboxes are full enough as it is. If you're responding to a specific call, attach relevant pieces or curate a page on your portfolio site specifically for work that would fit the project.
If reaching out to clients doesn't result in a lead - *or*, if it takes them 3 months to get back to you, you should spend that time doing your own stuff and bolstering your skills. eventually your portfolio will be good enough that it kicks down doors for you.
you'll notice i never included "be active on social media! post your new work! feed instagram's ad revenue by giving it more content!" in this strategy because it doesn't matter. i'm not professionally active on any social media. we were getting hired before twitter existed and we'll still get hired after it dies. just do make sure you have an online portfolio (your own website >> artstation >>> other free folio builders >>>>>>>>>>>> an instagram feed.)
the more times you do this cycle the easier it gets; both because you'll just get good at every step of the process, and because more people will know you and have known you for *longer* so you seem like a safer bet.
I'll be honest: it's a ton of rejection lmao. I would get a rejection in my inbox at least once a week - even more than that i'd just get radio silence. But eventually you'll get a yes, and if you're lucky that yes will result in high quality new work you're proud of and can put into your folio (taking you back to step 1 lol.)
the freelance life is (INSHALLAH!!!) behind me since i now have a full time job doing marketing/supporting art for video games. But my portfolio never would've gotten there if i didn't have the experience of going through the freelance meat grinder first. it really taught me how to be an actualized *creative* (who can stand up for her own expertise, think like a project manager, and take creative ownership of / responsibility for my assignments) and not just a hired hand. my team likes that. i think
What exactly is happening here? No idea, because we know so little about religious rituals in Minoan culture. But war and warriors also very likely played a role in them. And here my task was to imagine what it could've looked like if you were there. I always love a challenge like that!
Painted for the upcoming boardgame expansion pack "Minos: Dawn of Faith" by
For the boardgame expansion pack "Minos: Dawn of Faith" I was asked to imagine how religious ceremonies in ancient Minoan culture could have looked like. Here, young men demonstrate a dangerous acrobatic stunt. Ritual leaping over bulls is a motif in Middle Bronze Age figurative art, especially in Minoan art.
And yes, this was challenging to draw! I looked at many pictures of gymnasts to figure out the jumper's pose.
For the boardgame expansion pack "Minos: Dawn of Faith" I was asked to imagine how religious ceremonies or rituals in ancient Minoan culture could have looked like. This is one of 4 illustrations I made for them on this topic.
Client: Board & Dice
The story of Mary Tudor – oldest child and daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, sister to the famous Elizabeth I – as never told before. This graphic biography was very good! Review--> #Bookthreads #Booksky #BookBlogger #BloodyMary #GraphicBiography #AndrewsMcMeel #ARC #BargainSleuth
It was only ~6 months ago that I learned my graphic novel "Bloody Mary" would get an US release in English. Now it's officially published!
"The story of Mary Tudor –– oldest child and daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, sister to the famous Elizabeth I. A chronological telling of Mary’s life as “told” by her spans her life, starting from her “first memory” at the age of two to becoming the first queen to inherit the throne of an England in disarray." https://publishing.andrewsmcmeel.com/book/bloody-mary/
Hi, I'm Kristina, a freelance illustrator who's also born deaf. I was fully raised in the hearing world without sign language. I use 2 cochlear implants. With them, I'm hard of hearing and still face barriers in everyday life.
As an illustrator I'm privileged to be able to do this job from home, with almost all communication via email & minimal reliance on spoken language. I've always loved drawing so this was always my dream profession.
Find a lot more art on my website https://www.kristinagehrmann.com/ !
This LotR movie fanart is the second assignment I illustrated for the SmArtschool class with Cynthia Sheppard, "Illustrating the Emotional Narrative". In this case, a Frodo&Sam drama where Gollum is very literally driving a wedge between them 😨
The story of Mary Tudor – oldest child and daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, sister to the famous Elizabeth I – as never told before. This graphic biography was very good! Review--> #Bookthreads #Booksky #BookBlogger #BloodyMary #GraphicBiography #AndrewsMcMeel #ARC #BargainSleuth
my illustration blog @kristinagehrmann - Tumblr Blog | Tumgag
