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Peggy Baumgaertner writes that "You will be judged by the weakest piece in your portfolio", and I think that's an enormously valuable bit of advice. The portfolio isn't what you'd show yer Mum, who would love to see any progress in this goofy profession you've chosen instead of accounting or law. Leave the kitchen sink pieces out of your professional presentation. You're asking people to look at the very best that you can do, and you're saying, I can do this for you, too. Any "intermediate" grade work, no matter how pleased you were with it at the time, isn't "portfolio" work. (I happen to have a few things that I was thrilled to accomplish at the time and that I'm not ashamed to show [and that I've displayed ad nauseum to friends and relatives]. . . but they are not pieces that would market my current skills and attitudes and determination as a portrait artist.)
Your next piece is about 90% guaranteed to be better than the one before it, no matter how enamored you were of that earlier work. Show people your best work, and then present them with something even better, if you can, but at least equal to your best. It's all you can do. And gosh, post an image here and get some feedback if you need it, before you deliver the final. It's a great deal of fun for the rest of us to watch and learn from people doing the hard work.
Cheers,
Steven
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