Making a children's book illustration portfolio

I met children's book publishers for the first time in November 2025. Having transitioned to working mostly in theatre about 5 years ago, this felt like a bit of a ‘moment’. To prepare, I updated my portfolio. I thought it might be interesting to share a bit about the process.

An illustration for my portfolio inspired by going to the library with my son (with the dungarees)

What makes a strong portfolio for childrens' books?

I focused on just two main points when it comes to this question. It kept me focused, and steered me away from any prescriptive lists (because they tend to make my creativity run a mile).

Recognisable visual voice in childrens' book illustration

The first element is consistency of visual language or voice. Essentially, a strong portfolio is a consistent collection of artwork that clearly shows the viewer how an illustrator makes work, what they are interested in, and perhaps (with a commercial hat on) where the work might find the most suitable home.

As my work has developed, my visual voice has changed. When updating my portfolio this time around, I noticed that some of my older work no longer looked like it belonged with my more recent work. So I set about removing older images and creating new ones.

A newer animal illustration in my portfolio

These changes have been a mixture of happy accidents made while experimenting with materials and growth in confidence. I was told early on that my line work was a bit too much - and I overcorrected into not using line for a year or so. With that shift, I actually lost my sense of authentic voice because I’ve always used line. And I added it back in, gradually and not really noticing I was doing it. But when I saw my work from different times sit together I could spot that this had happened.

Range of content, character, setting and emotion

The second element I thought about was range. By this I mean having a range of animal and human characters, full spreads and vignettes, interior and exterior, day and night, different emotions and so on. Showing range in a portfolio basically showcases that you’re not a one trick pony (although we all have our strengths and preferences). This is quite hard to achieve in a small selection of art, but recognising any gaps is a helpful map as to what you might fill them with.

For example, I realised I only had a couple of images with animal characters in. First, I asked myself if animals are something I’d like to draw. They are, so I added in some more work featuring them to make it clear that a) hey, I’d like to draw animals in books please and b) here, I can actually draw said animals.

Almost on the flip side, I’ve heard good advice that you should also make sure you don’t include anything you don’t want to draw again. Sod’s law is that would be the one image that gets you commissioned to draw a hundred cars and lorries (or insert your drawing phobia here).

Making new work

I made some new work specifically for this portfolio refresh. This might not always be needed, but I felt like to really nail the above points on making a strong portfolio. I had some gaps in terms of the range I talked about earlier. But how can you decide what new work to make?

character study based on sketches of my son.

I have realised that drawing from my own life, and likes and daily observations, is one of the main drivers of creative ideas for me. It’s why I love drawing from life so much. And even now, when I have less time than ever to draw from life (I have a toddler, say no more) I have a phone with a Notes app full of little observations.

I dithered for a bit about what to make for my portfolio, and got all existential. But then I chilled out and drew my own bathroom and a character who is basically my son.

I also made this piece based on going to sessions at the local library, and it’s half observational and half imagined. And then suddenly they start to connect - because I suppose the common thing is me.

A portfolio is an ever-evolving thing

Honestly I’m wondering if my portfolio is ‘ready’. But I think it probably does the job of showcasing my work how it is at the moment. I’m sure when I re-edit it again in future there’ll be new work to add, old work to take out, and a bit of fiddling around. But that’s fine, because as artists we want to be moving forwards and changing as we grow.

I’d love to hear about your own portfolio processes in the comments. And if it’s helpful, I can write my next post about dummy books, as I’ve been busy making some of those as well.