aberleigh asked: That is really interesting that you have a style based on what work you want to do! At this point I'm thinking I need to have two separate portfolios too, one for more highly realistic technical stuff and one for more animated, stylized work.

Haha, yeah!  My professors actually used to tell us about artists who even marketed themselves under different names when they wanted to work in multiple directions.  I think tailoring your portfolio is actually a really important skill and I wish it were discussed more.  You can do anything you want but that doesn’t mean every successful piece belongs in your professional body of work.

jennaleeauclair asked: Hey Courtney, firstly I love your artwork! Secondly, my question is about illustration style. I am currently working on my portfolio but it is difficult because I love to explore different styles and therefor I haven't been able to find my OWN style. I'm 22 and I think I am more than ready to get into the industry other than this problem. How did you come about finding your own style? Also I've noticed that your style changes a tiny bit, has that ever been a problem with getting work?

Heyyy!  Thank you so much!

I totally know how you feel; I struggle with this a lot, actually.  My approach is to basically decide what kind of work I want to do and decide which of my “styles” is most appropriate for gearing my portfolio towards that market.  Experimentation generally stays on the blog, with rare exception.  I have also toyed with marketing myself in two different directions - ie, maintaining two separate websites I can send potential employers to depending on which type of work best suits what they might be looking for.  (For example, I don’t generally put more painterly work in my illustration/lifestyles portfolio, but I will put it in a conceptual art portfolio).  I don’t know if this helps at all.

I don’t really know if style fluctuations have been a problem for me yet - there have been a couple times where someone approached me about a job but the samples of my work they chose as a direction were kind of one-offs, so that’s always a little strange.  

Also, I think there are going to be stylistic consistencies in your work even if you’re not aware of them - style is, in essence, basically how you think and see, and that’s not going to truly change in a short amount of time.  So your work probably looks more consistent than you realize, which is a good thing.