Question about changing client work after I've done it for my portfolio

[Burl]

Hey guys,

Just wondering if it's dodgy territory to change client work (after it's done) to put on my portfolio? I've done storyboarding work and other stuff in the past and whilst the client liked it, the style and quality wasn't on the level that I want my portfolio to be at. I had the idea of re-drawing this past work to fit the style and such that I want to go in, but I'm not sure if this is a dodgy thing to do or not (assuming nothings in the contract)? Any help would be appreciated.

[Elmst]

Old work is OLD work. Redoing old work generally is limiting and a wast of time, move forward with new work that you can learn from. You could rework the old pieces but don't misrepresent the work and state that it was work done for a client.

Always move forward, only look at back for a good laugh.

[Rognoll]

What a great advice! Let go even the good stuff.

[Maidith]

Depends what you've agreed with the client.

The copyright law gives YOU, the creator, the full power to decide where to publish your work.
The only limits are what you've agreed to with your client.
Example: if you grant your client "exclusive usage rights for printed book use for 5 years", for example, you're not allowed to use that image in a book for 5 years. But you can put it on the internet, for example, or have posters printed of it and sell them.

The clients receive ONLY those rights that YOU have granted them.
And you can expect your client to know the law as well as you do.

The copyright law exists to support us, the creators.

[Madzia]

I'm with Elmst. Spend this time on something totally fresh and new. It will come out much better than fixing old works. It might look like time saving but making shortcuts often hurts your portfolio.