Building a Portfolio and Leveraging Social Media

The idea of the “starving artist” was popularized in the 19th century, describing an artist who had to sacrifice their financial and materialistic pursuits in order to dedicate themselves to their craft, hoping for a breakthrough in the art field.

Nowadays, you can be an artist without the “starving” part, if you put in the effort and apply some strategic thinking. Of course, there is no lack of competition, so creating a portfolio that stands out and lets you land jobs will take some time and luck. At the end of the day, it always comes down to the quality of your artwork, but you also need to get your artwork in front of recruiters, too.

This chapter aims to showcase ways to generate attention for your artwork. First, we will do this by exploring the most effective subjects to choose for your portfolio. Not every topic is popular, and picking the right one can make the difference between going viral...

Picking your subjects

Whenever you start a personal project, whether just for practice or with the goal of creating a new portfolio piece, there are endless options for the subject of the artwork. Naturally, there are certain topics that will interest you more than others, but if you treat your art like a professional would treat their art, your personal interests should not be the only consideration for deciding what to create.

Ultimately, you are a service provider and you have to fulfill a demand – this is part of the mindset you need to have while building your portfolio. Here are some of the things to consider when you pick the subject for a project.

Can it generate attention?

Ultimately, some subjects are more popular than others. If your subject is not popular, even if it is executed flawlessly, you will miss out on attention. Here are some of the more popular themes:

• Fanart: If you create artwork based on a TV show, game, or other medium, the fans of...

Presenting your artwork

After you put in hours and hours of hard work into creating a stunning and detailed 3D model, it is time to think about proper presentation so you can get the most out of your work and present your model in the best light possible. Let’s explore practices for optimum presentation.

Picking the thumbnail

When you share your artwork on ArtStation, you have to pick a thumbnail for your project that is as catchy as possible, so it can stand out against all the other thumbnails. If you follow the tips about picking the subject in the first section of this chapter, you already have a great starting point for creating an effective thumbnail, but to get even more out of them, here are the main things to keep in mind:

• The focus should be on close-up images. Given that the quality is consistent, an upper-body will outperform a full-body shot, and a head will outperform an upper-body shot. Of course, there are exceptions, but as a general rule, using...

Sharing your art on social media

When it comes to making a living as an artist, creating great art is only half the work. If your work does not reach a wider audience, nobody will even learn about your talent and skills, and you will miss out on commissions, job offers, and other opportunities.

This section will focus on the best platforms for artists that let you share your artwork and build a following so that you can gain momentum and visibility over the long term.

ArtStation

ArtStation is not only the most popular portfolio hosting site for 3D artists, but it is also a social media platform in which artists share their work, write blogs, sell products, and more.

As a portfolio website, it is the most common way of sharing an overview of your best art when you are applying for jobs, but it is also an opportunity to be found by recruiters and other people interested in your artwork. After publishing a new piece of artwork, it will be seen by people for a short duration...

Summary

In this chapter, you learned about a strategic approach to building a portfolio that gets attention and, with some luck, attracts job offers and other opportunities. In the first section, you explored different criteria for picking a good subject for your artwork, which increases the odds for your social media posts to get viral and to get a lot out of it in general. Then you learned about the proper presentation of your work, and what to include in the project, so you can get the most out of the artwork you already invested the time and energy in. Finally, you got an overview of various social media platforms, their benefits, and how to use them.

This wraps up the book, which aims to give an insight into the most effective tools and techniques in ZBrush. It should make you a better sculptor and prepare you for a variety of tasks in the VFX, games, and 3D printing industries. If you were a complete beginner, some lessons might have been challenging and some steps require...