Celebration V Final Preparation

Whelp, in less than a week, I'll be meeting with Troy Alders for a Lucasfilm Portfolio Review. I did some digging as best I could to prepare for this meeting, and stumbled across this SUPER helpful interview with him. Here's a snippet:

As Alders looks at the portfolio, an artist can expect his undivided attention as he may ask a few key questions about his or her ultimate goal as a creative professional and receive his honest opinion of how he believes this goal is best achieved, which may be crucial to their future success as a commercial artist. "It's always troublesome when artists come to me wanting a portfolio review and they really do not want my honest opinion after I have given it and it is not what they wanted to hear," Alders says. "Some just want a job and do not want to listen to my suggestions for improvement."

PLEASE read the entire article here. It's an extremely insightful read and I'm sure it'll help out anyone interested in preparing a portfolio for review in general!

Here's a brief rundown of my preparation for the meeting:

• A current, carefully selected portfolio displaying (dominantly) Star Wars pieces. I've also arranged and designed the pages so that the presentation is hopefully as dynamic as the art itself. Pacing and display are extremely important.
  
• All portfolio pieces are arranged in a book, professionally printed on high quality paper.
• 1 of each of my 7 artist postcards, should he want to take one and contact me.
• An audio recorder to record his feedback, should he be willing to be recorded. I don't want to worry about forgetting any criticism he may have, in case I falter at all and get too distracted by any negative feedback he may have -- or too excited! I'll do my absolute best to make sure I come with my thick skin intact, though!
• While unlikely it'll be requested, an up-to-date resume. This includes my latest work with TheForce.net and Rebelscum.com! Thanks to them for helping me add two huge names to my arsenal.

As mentioned in a previous entry, this is the first time in quite a few years I'm displaying my work to an editor for work and critique. As you can imagine, this would be a pretty huge break for me (and I'd almost instantly achieve my goal I've been working towards for years now). It's hard not to look at this as a "make or break" scenario, but no matter what happens, this is what I want to do. If he likes my work, great. If he thinks I need more work and gives me pointers, also great! If he doesn't like my work, or thinks I'm not right for Lucasfilm....there are other Star Wars outlets. And maybe sometime down the line, when I've continued to mature as an artist, I'll try to meet up with Mr. Troy Alders for another review with Lucasfilm.

Wish me luck (even though there's no such thing as luck)!

And finally, without anymore talking about MYSELF, here's this week's 4th Women of Star Wars Digital Sketch Card...Asajj Ventress!