What makes a strong illustration portfolio? What should you put in it? What should you leave out? How many images should you include, and when is your portfolio ready to share with the world?

What makes a good illustration portfolio website? How do you build one that attracts clients and helps you get hired?

In this video, I’m going to break down the essentials to help you create a simple portfolio website with everything you need to start making money from your illustrations.

If you’re new here, I’m James. I’m an illustration agent, and I help illustrators build their careers.

This is episode one of The Business of Illustration Essentials. I’m going to keep things concise and focus on the basics, and I’ll point you to other videos and resources if you want to explore anything in more depth.

Your portfolio website

Your illustration portfolio is your shop window. It’s where you show your best work and demonstrate to potential clients what you can do.

When I talk about a portfolio, I’m talking about your portfolio website. Not a printed portfolio. Not Instagram. Not Behance.

A Behance page is fine, but it isn’t yours.

Your portfolio should be your own dedicated website where you control how your work is presented and how people experience it.

It doesn’t need to be expensive. In fact, I’d recommend not spending too much on it early on. Website builders like Squarespace, Cargo, or Wix are more than enough to get started.

Your portfolio website is not for you. It’s built for potential clients.

You’re not the user of the site. You’re more like an architect designing a restaurant or hotel. You’re creating a space that customers want to visit and enjoy spending time in.

Keep it simple

The first goal is to make your website easy on the eyes.

There are beautiful portfolio websites with lots of visual complexity, but they’re usually designed by specialists. If you’re designing your own site, simplicity is your friend.

It also needs to be easy to use. Don’t reinvent layouts. Put menus where people expect them. Make it obvious how to find your work, your contact details, and your about page.

Your site should also be quick for clients to scan.

Avoid entry pages that say “click here to enter.” Lay out your images so clients can see a lot of your best work at a glance.

If you use large, full-width images stacked vertically, clients have to scroll for a long time to see everything. Most won’t.

A grid of four to six images across means that on a large monitor, a client can see most of your best work in one view. That’s maximum impact, very quickly.

A simple structure that works

Here’s a practical layout you can aim for.

Your name at the top left, possibly with a small logo.

A menu at the top right: Portfolio, About, Contact, and maybe social links.

Your portfolio page should be your homepage. When someone types in your website address, this is the page they see first.

At the top of the page, include a short paragraph about what you do. Mention your medium, your subject matter, and the types of clients you want to work with.

For example: “I’m James, a watercolour illustrator specialising in scientifically accurate dinosaur illustrations for museums, publishers, and education.”

This paragraph helps clients quickly decide whether they’re in the right place.

Below that, show a wall of your best illustrations. Make it easy to browse without lots of scrolling or clicking.

If some of your strongest work is hidden away inside project folders, many clients will never see it. Put your best work on the front page.

Curate your work carefully

Your portfolio should be a curated selection of your best work, not an archive of everything you’ve ever made.

Think art gallery, not warehouse.

Early in your career, you won’t have much work to choose from. Over time, you’ll improve quickly, and older work may no longer represent your current ability.

There’s no magic number, but around ten images usually isn’t enough, and more than forty often needs editing.

Imagine version one of your portfolio has twenty images. Over time, you add new work and remove older pieces. You don’t need to update weekly, but monthly updates can make sense early on while your style is evolving.

As you become more established, updates may only happen every six months.

Multiple styles

If you have multiple styles you want to pursue, it’s usually better to separate them into different pages rather than mixing them together.

Different clients are looking for different things. Mixing styles weakens the impact for everyone.

Separate pages make it easier to send the right work to the right clients.

About and contact pages

On your about page, include a real photo of yourself if you can. It helps clients connect with you as a person.

Add a couple of paragraphs about who you are, where you’re based, and what you do. Keep it relevant to what a client would want to know.

Include a client list or awards if you have them.

On your contact page, make it easy to email you. Forms are optional, but your contact details should always be easy to find.

The goal of your portfolio website is to get people to contact you. Don’t make that difficult.

That’s the foundation of a strong beginner illustration portfolio.

It’s simple, functional, and focused on showing your work clearly.

If you want more videos like this, check out The Business of Illustration Essentials playlist. I’ll be adding to it regularly.

I’ve also linked another video where I analyse one of my favourite illustrator portfolio websites.

See you next time.