What to Prepare Before a First Consultation

A first consultation works best when both sides know what the other needs. If you are booking a session to review your portfolio, discuss a specific rendering problem, or plan a personal study routine, a little preparation goes a long way. This post covers what to gather before the call so the time is spent on your actual work, not on explaining context from scratch.

Start with the piece that bothers you most. Pick one painting, sketch, or study that you want to improve, and be ready to share the file or a clear screen capture. It helps to note what you tried, what felt stuck, and where you think the problem sits — values, edges, color harmony, or something else. You do not need a perfect diagnosis; a rough guess is enough to give the session a starting point.

Next, think about your usual tools. Whether you work in Procreate, Photoshop, or Krita, mention the brush set you rely on and how you currently organize layers. If you have a specific brush that never behaves the way you want, bring that up. Knowing your default setup lets the conversation stay practical instead of drifting into generic advice.

Finally, write down one or two goals that matter to you right now. It could be finishing a character turnaround, improving your lighting studies, or building a faster speed-painting routine. Concrete goals help shape the feedback and give you something to revisit after the call. If you have reference images or a folder of artists whose work you admire, have those ready as well — they explain your taste faster than a paragraph.

That is the core of it. A few files, a short note about your tools, and a clear goal. With those in hand, the consultation can move straight into your work and leave you with a plan you can actually follow.