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...