Chinks in my armor.

[CKLamb]

So, I am in the process of creating a new portfolio of traditional work, geared towards Academia. Looking through my old portfolio, I have an issue with composition. I tend to get very repetitive and fail at breaking new ground. In my previous portfolio, all the work I created was done on the spot. Meaning I didn't have a preconceived notion as to what I was doing until I just started. It worked for me, or so I thought, then, but I really want to expand my compositional range at this point in my life.
From my observations, I am prone to:

Frontal views
Symmetry
Static Compositions
Isolated Subjects

Knowing this, I've tried to push outward, but I always seem to drift back in this territory. I feel like a broken record.

Any ideas on how to push through with this?

[Qitsune]

Loads and loads and loads of thumbnails on the same idea. You won't have choice to try new stuff if you do 50 thumbs for each idea. I have the same problem btw. But I'm working on it:)

Oh, and your characters should be doing stuff! Not just standing around looking pretty (harder to do with still lives.)

[Noah Bradley]

Check out the masters of composition. Howard Pyle comes to mind for me. Some of the most genius compositions I've ever seen. I recall hearing a quote by him that said that he tried to do somewhere around 50 thumbnails for every piece he did. If a man that amazing with composition did that many thumbnails, maybe it's a good idea. :)

[arttorney]

You might be able to combat the tendency to symmetry by making your drawing and setting it aside. Come back to it a couple of days later with some cardboard cutouts in typical aspect ratios and hold them over various parts of the piece as a sort of analog simulation of the crop tool (just fooling around until you see the drawing in a new light you like better). Just because you drew it symmetrically doesn't mean you have to leave it that way. Think about the shapes of the positive and negative space.

This could help some with static compositions too, though I agree about the thumbnails and "doing something" suggestion. Maybe while you are looking over a piece with the crop simulators you can go through a mental checklist like
1. How would a worm see this guy
2. How would a bird see this guy
3. What's he look like from the side, or behind? Visualize the old Matrix style spin around shot.
4. What is he seeing? Maybe that's an even more interesting view. If you were behind him you could see that and him at the same time.

All Right. I've looked through the sketchbook and I don't think the situation is as bad as you have described it. The facial portraits are a little straight on but there is a lot of asymmetry and nuanced posing in the life drawing and non-human subjects. I think I might even have left less open space above the raven on page 3 than you did. About characters, just don't draw them as though they are a china figurine. Get into the head of that character and think about what (s)he is thinking and doing. Is her coffee cold? Did he just smell something bad. Have they just finished a year long campaign to achieve vengeance? That can help you draft out some interesting poses and facial expressions. I like that last hand you drew quite a bit.